After graduating college I was lost and lived on the road. During that time, I fell in love with the physical and mental challenge rock climbing provided, but I never got that great in comparison to others who’ve dedicated the same amount of time to the craft. In my hay-day, I would on-sight low 5.11 and project harder 5.11 rock climbs. My base has always been an average 5.10- climber. But, rock climbing has expanded my mind on what is possible and places to explore. A prime example, visiting City of the Rocks. If I did not rock climb, there is no reason I would have visited this Idaho destination. Sure, it is pretty, has a historical connection to the California Trail, and there is some good hiking, but there are a lot more places in the world I would visit first. However, with my climbing gear taking up substantial space in the back of van, this stop was a no-brainer.

Coiling the fresh rope as we pack up and move to our next climb. Photograph by Dalton Johnson, follow him on Instagram.

Our First Route Was A Disaster

Chestnut is the first dog Kristin has ever had and it is my first while living on the road. Together, we are newbie dog owners. Overall, I would say we provide Chestnut with a great life, filled with adventure, but I can’t say he is the best crag dog, yet. As we climb more, we learn more and this first route was a testament to that phrase.

After flaking our brand new Mammut 80m 9.5 dry rope (wow that is a mouth full), I quested off on the warm-up climb, Tail Feather (10a). After a few bolts I came to a slabby section that felt insecure and queue the disaster. As I am above my bolt and moving towards the next one, Kristin starts shouting for Chestnut, “Come back Chestnut. Hey! Chestnut, come back here!” Adding to the nerves I already had in the middle of this warm-up slab. My headspace dwindled and I knew if I whipped I would most likely smack my shins into the ledge below me.

“Kristin, please pay attention to me!” I shout down. We were becoming a shit-show at a crag. Thankfully, nobody else was around.

“Yeah, I got you. Chestnut just ran off.”

Big exhale, focusing, I make my way to the next bolt, pull out my PAS and clip directly into the bolt.

“Kristin, I’m in direct. You can take me off belay and go get Chestnut.”

Quickly, Kristin gets out of the belay and chases down Chestnut. The mistake, not tying Chestnut to something. A mistake we wont make again!

My nerves were still high as Kristin put me back on belay, but I wanted to finish the climb. My headspace was obliterated, Chestnut was now whining, and we were epicing on the warm-up climb. Not a great start to a day of climbing!

Thankfully, I made it to chains, set up the top rope, and returned to the ground safely.

Kristin, on top rope, just past the first bolt on the rock climb New York Is Not The City (10a). Photograph by Dalton Johnson, follow him on Instagram.

Getting Better With Time

After a longer-than-it-should-have-been debrief with Kristin, we moved along for more climbing. Many routes were taken, or didn’t have a place for Chestnut to lay in the shade during the 85+F temperatures, so we had to pass on them. For a while, I regretted having Chestnut without a van that has an AC unit and became envious of all the RVers who could leave their dog in the comfort of the AC while going for a day of rock climbing. But, this was all a learning lesson for us.

Our next climb was the right amount of scary mixed with fun. New York Is Not The City (10a), starts with a V1 boulder problem to about a 20-30 foot run out over a few 5.0 ledges. Then up about 6 more feet to your first bolt. I’ve gotta say, they could have given you two bolts before this just to prevent injuries. Starting up the bolted section, there are jugs to an overhanging section with good feet and a fun sequence that was deceptive. Up and down, up and back down, I was trying to figure out the sequence. Finally, I committed, made the cross body move, and passed through the crux of the route.

Once back on the ground, I was smiling. This route was much better than the first and I could feel the excitement of doing something hard building inside of me.

Pizza, Cows, and The City

Running out of water and snacks, we decided to call it a day and headed back to the van. There is a pizza spot just outside the boundary area of City of the Rocks that I had remembered being very good, so Kristin, who is gluten-free, gave me permission to head there and grab a personal pizza.

While scarfing down a large pizza to myself, we met a family that was traveling in a van from Boise. They often took weekend trips in their van, with two young kids, and a puppy, which gave Kristin and I a bit of hope for our future in the van. Also, they knew of a better camping spot on the other side of the City that was “five degrees cooler and didn’t have any bugs.”

They seemed trustworthy, so we packed up and headed to the other side of City of the Rocks. Passing lots of cows, getting views of the entire City, and finding a large green swath of grassy BLM land perfect to camp for the night.

Our new camping spot, all to ourselves. No bugs and cooler temps. Photograph by Dalton Johnson, follow him on Instagram.

A New Camping Spot

Needing to decompress from the day and consistent travel, we sprawled out at our campsite. Made jokes with each other about “are we really climbers?” and did some yoga to help the body recover. My belly was full of pizza, it was as good as I remember, and Chestnut ran around like a wild dog. He chased a few cows and we did our best to work on his recall. Yes, he is still a puppy, but we need to improve our training if we want to continue traveling with our adventure pup.

As the darkness came, we laid our heads down early, maybe 9:30pm, and drifted off into dreamland.