Summer Weekends in Vedauwoo, Part 2

The nights seem especially warm and short right now. Sunday, we woke up tired and sore. And determined to find climbs without an approach this time.

So, we climbed at the Nautilus on Sunday.

The shady side of the formation was already busy when we rolled in Sunday morning. We started our morning on Straight 4 Ward (5.5). Maybe we were sore, or maybe the rock was rougher on these less popular climbs. Whatever the reason, this crack HURT. My hands screamed as I jammed the sharp, toothy, crystalline crack. It felt harder than 5.5. It hurt more than a 5.5 should.

We swore our way up the warm-up. “Oh, Holy, OW!” “Mother OW!”

It was easy to top rope Par Four (5.8) to the left. This was a very fun crack. Hard, thin, painful. I lost the skin on my left ankle, and my right hand was bleeding when I got down. But I had some lovely finger locks. I used perfect fist jams. It was very fun.

We contemplated another climb, but decided we didn’t have the energy. It felt like Vedauwoo may have won this round. But we’ll be back for more.