The Palisade is a striking butte that rises above the small town of Gateway in western Colorado, not far from Moab and the Castle Valley in Utah. Reed and PeeWee flew into Denver to spend Memorial Day Weekend down here with me, and Dave had driven down from Seattle to join. With no easy route to its summit, the Palisade looked too cool not to climb.
Having spent the previous couple days in Moab, we had a long drive in the morning to get to Gateway and werent hiking until nearly 1pm in the afternoon heat. We parked our cars near the Delores River and hiked an old road that eventually enters a wash west of our objective.
hey buddy
the desert was abloom
approaching
hey buddy
getting closer
The draw that we used to approach the peak ended in a very impressive cirque with massive walls rising on 3 sides. The access The Palisades only real weakness we endured several hundred feet of unpleasant terrain that made me pretty cranky. I think Colorado is making me soft.
in the cirque
PeeWee on some desert choss
The scrambling terrain begins at the top of a rib, with a fun class 3 step with great sandstone. After a short traverse on ledges theres an even better 25 foot class 4 section up similarly high quality rock. The boys were all smiles.
the beginning of scramble terrain
Dave getting it on the class 4
PeeWee
blooming cacti everywhere
After the class 4 section, we traversed north on a series of ledges and slabs, sometimes very exposed. The route finding through this section wasnt particularly challenging but it was very interesting and fun.
ledges and slabs
Eventually there was no where to go but up. We climbed up a class 3/4 slab with occasional puckery spots. Much of this scramble is no-fall terrain.
Dave on a spicy section
PeeWee pulling one of the cruxes
Just below the summit ridge, there was one short slab that felt a little too intimidating for me to want to solo. I was thankful for Dave's belay off of a tree from above. The top of this butte or mesa is vast and very impressive. We kept making our way north toward the summit with another long section of sandstone slabs that felt like a sidewalk in the sky. There were a couple more short low 5th sections but it was mostly class 2 all the way to the summit at 7045'. The stoke was high!
The Delores River Valley
slabby
impressive
the last scramble section
looking down towards the car
After some food and hydration, we began making our way down. A lot of downclimbing and 4 or 5 rappels got us down to relative safety. We then found a much more pleasant way down to the flats of the desert, avoiding the unpleasant chossy section that we climbed on approach.
such a cool area
looking back
~Colorado P1k 7/408
freddyfredpants, MangyMarmot, awilsondc, neek, Sculpin, John Mac, Nancyann
freddyfredpants, MangyMarmot, awilsondc, neek, Sculpin, John Mac, Nancyann
Awesome video. Great work on those action shots. The occasional zooms to the valley and back were nice for context and perspective. Traversing those ledges was a bit hairy in places. ~z
This is Opuntia utahensis, which I have never seen blooming in the wild because I migrate to higher terrain before the flowers open in late May. Fortunately I get to enjoy the blooms every year in my yard north of Seattle because it is one of the few (only?) truly showy cacti that will grow and bloom just fine in Western Washington.
Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir
freddyfredpants
Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir
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