I photographed Royal Arches from our vantage point atop Manure Pile Buttress on Sunday afternoon and overlaid the path of our Saturday morning ascent of Royal Arches (5.7 A0) to the best of my ability. I marked the A0 rope swing and also where I thought the hardest climbing was. At the upper arrow marked as a hard part I almost fell by putting my foot in a stupid place and getting dangerously off-balance for a few seconds. That was scary. Besides that it was really non-stop fun!
Comments
Man, that is really neat. Where would the ledge be for the tent?
— Jay Fletcher
Oh right! I forgot to answer in your email. Hrm, there are a number of sizable ledges on the route, though I am not sure how many would be comfortable for a 2+ person bivy. At the base of pitch 9 (before the pendulum) would probably be the best... I think you could get a good-size tent in there and it is relatively flat. You can see the ledge in this pic, to the left of the tree on the right: http://www.pmjc.org/photos/display_image_detail.php?i=15172 After pitch 16 (end of the route) is a perfectly flat 6x9 foot bivy with a spring, too! Linking up Royal Arches and Crest Jewel as an overnight might be an awesome idea. There's a lot of good camping spots between the routes.
— John Hovell
So how did you choose the "stupid place" and what nearly happened?
— Margaret Hovell
So how did you choose the "stupid place" and what nearly happened?
— Margaret Hovell