Diablo Canyon Rock Climbing: Feb 26th 2007

I'd been itching to get back on rock cliffs since my time at Seneca Rocks in October. The weather forecast for Albuquerque - 60 degrees and sunny - only heightened my anticipation after 2 days of numb fingers on the ice of Durango, Colorado.

Marc Beverly, my instructor for the day, picked me up at my hotel and we headed out of Albuquerque discussing what I wanted out of the day. My goal was to gain more experience with placing gear on traditional rock climbs (where the rope is secured to the rock by wedges and cams carried up with the climber, not by clipping pre-placed bolts). Eventually I wanted to feel comfortable enough to lead more technical climbs on my own.

Marc chose Diablo Canyon as our destination, an area normally known for its sport climbing (pre-bolted routes) but with some lesser well-known traditional climbing. We parked in a dry wash and walked a short distance to the Styx area. I'd brought all my own new climbing gear that I'd assembled in sales over the last 3 months, so Marc admired the shinny new gear for a brief moment before leading up the first climbing and proceeding to scuff it up with the real use it wasn't getting in my gear closet.

After setting up a top-rope anchor on Elysian Fields, Marc traversed left and setup the second rope over the climb called Path of Charon. Now Marc would have me solidly anchored from above while I would mock-lead the climbs, placing gear as if I was lead climbing. Once on top, Marc would follow and look over my placements, then we'd rappel and discuss how I'd done.

The rock was varied enough that I was finding placements for all the gear I'd brought along (various mechanical cams, simple wedges and hex-shaped stoppers and odd tri-cams). I felt really comfortable on the climbing as well - it wasn't as exposed as some of the routes in Seneca Rocks even for similar grades of difficulty.

Once while I was high up on Elysian Fields we heard the sounds of an approaching helicopter flying down the canyon. It navigated the canyon's varied winds and hovered just above my level as I waved at the cockpit. Marc said he'd seen the helicopter a few times previously in this canyon and the rumor was that it could be Harrison Ford who has a place nearby.

Other than the possible visit by Indiana Jones, we had the canyon to ourselves until late in the day when a few day hikers strolled down the canyon and back. Still, we were the only climbers and by the time we wrapped up and fled the increasing winds and creeping shadows I felt much more prepared for the day when I'd start lead climbing on technical rock.