It says 5.11+ in the guide book, but that’s Bull Shit ha ha, it’s a total sandbag. Coyote Calling is a ‘physical’ 4 pitch desert climb on the Rectory feature in Castle Valley. I’ve heard the rumors, and I’ve wanted to try this for a while now, so I dropped the idea to my man Bean Bowers from Ridgeway CO, and he took the reins from there. We hiked up at 11am, WAY too late for our dream link up, but just good enough to climb the route and back down before sunset. The problem is that it’s fuggin winter up there and we showed up in the shade.
DOh!
We climbed on the windy side and the shady side all damn day. How I got roped into this I’ll never know, I hate the cold, but Bean has enough stoke for at least three people, so away we went. The climb wasn’t fast in any shape or form, it’s technical, it’s fragile, it’s thin, it’s flaring, it’s hard. The leader moves slower than expected, especially when your hands feel like clay pots. The fourth pitch is a thinker. You have to do a 15 foot unprotected traverse, it was Bean’s lead. We couldn’t see the exit, and the fall is right onto the anchor. See pics below. Bean took a “test” fall from five feet out and slammed me into the wall. We then sucked it up and he stuck it, slammed in a wire (that eventually popped out) and took us to the summit just in time to watch the fire ball drop behind the range. The routes crux comes at the first pitch (take the undercling with your right hand) but the anchor needs to be moved about 3 feet up and left. From the top, 2 – 60 meter raps took us back to our bags and one headlamp took us back to cold beers in the parking lot. It was nippy, it was steep, it was tiring, and it was perfect. Hope you enjoy the pics.
The sunny side. Fine Jade.
pitch 3, splitter fingers, with a sandy surprise.
The traverse.
The desert shadows.
This is the 5.11 sport pitch at the top.
In preperation for my upcoming trip to Patagonia Argentina, we climbed this thing as training. Bean wasn’t about to back down for nobody. We wore our puffy jackets the whole damn way. I was glad I brought it. It saved my life I think. ha!
