Red Rocks, Winter '08

This was one of those wet trips. I arrived a day before the storms hit--just in time to climb Olive Oil and get rained on for two hours hiking back to the car.
Fortunately, I shared the misery with fine company: Katie, Chris, Nick, and a herd of bighorn sheep. Unfortuantely, it did not stop
raining for a couple of days, which means we spent three days off the rock. Doug and I made the best of it by hiking into Oak
Creek Canyon (in the snow) to get on the backside of Rainbow Mountain. We spooked another herd of bighorn sheep for my
second sighting (of five) of desert bighorn. Once it got dry enough to climb, we cragged for a couple
of days then started back on some longer trad routes. Most notably, Doug, Therese and I climbed Cookie Monster to Cat in the Hat, then
hiked the ridge to a final 5.7-ish pitch to reach the summit of Mescalito. The hike off the back of Mescalito is excellent and highly
recommended. Another notable route is There and Back Again--400 feet of fun face, crack, and corner climbing with a stellar, zig-zagging finish.

Bighorn in Juniper Canyon	Chris on the hike into Juniper	Katie on Olive Oil
Katie keeps warm at pitch 4, Olive Oil	Mount Wilson	Mt. Wilson
Desert Bighorn in Oak Creek Canyon	Bighorn herd on the run	Snow in Oak Creek Canyon
Doug on the hike above Oak Creek Canyon	Slippery slabs in Oak Creek Canyon	Mt. Wilson from the backside of Rainbow Mountain
Mt. Wilson from the backside of Rainbow Mountain	Cactus	Andy: morning shave
Andy on Side Effects, 5.10d	Andy on Side Effects, 5.10d	Therese warming in the sun on pitch 2 of Cookie Monster
Doug finishes Cookie Monster and heads for Cat in the Hat	Bridge Mountain	Doug on Straight Shooter, 5.9
Steve watches Doug on Straight Shooter	Doug on the varnished tiles of There and Back Again, 5.8	Doug leads pitch 2, There and Back Again