Desert Solitaire

The crux of this route seems to be the sixth pitch, moving past a small cactus on thin (equalized - in my case) gear - you really don't want to fall here. The first ascent of this route was done by Nick Nordblom, and he did it solo - way cool! I couldn't think of a better way to do the 2nd ascent, so I attempted to do it solo as well. After running out of rope on the first pitch (I set my belay too low..) in a thunderstorm, replete with lightning strikes in the canyon below, I decided I needed a partner - Brad Stewart

A basic aid rack with a little emphasis (doubles) on some of the thin stuff, FA recommends 9 knifeblades, 8 Lost Arrows, 3 Angles (2 1/2" & 1 5/8") and a couple of hooks (cliffhangers). FA also recommends a bird beak & a crack tack (although we didn't use them) & a #1 copperhead, probably for a drilled hole but I don't think we used that either. It's kinda funky leaving the ledge from the top of the sixth pitch - you need to go left to into a small left-facing corner with a decent crack, and work your way up past a gangly, dead tree in the crack. The rest is cake... just watch out for a couple of loose blocks - no big deal.