Power Failure

After half a day of rest from Moonlight Carlos and I planned to climb Touchstone Wall at 5.11 C2. I wanted to approach this as more of a free climb after the first 2 aid pitches. You can leave all of your aid gear at the top of the second pitch and grab it on the way back down if you rap the route. We woke up and had coffee at The Mean Bean to check the weather. 80% chance of rain and snow. "Won't be doing that route today. Sorry Carlos." We decide to head to the base and crag for the day. There are some amazing cracks in the vicinity but I've never been in Zion long enough to crag. We warmed up on Cherry Crack which despite a little awkward start was amazingly splitter. Seems to be the story of Zion. We decided on Tails of Flails a hands to fingers crack in a tight corner. I expected this route to be a bit awkward but it ended up being really cool. Lots of stemming/liebacking and jamming with just the right amount of groveling. Both of these routes seemed tough for me as I was still really sore and tired from Moonlight.

 I had really wanted to get on a thin stemming corner called Dire Wolf but felt guilty as this is still out of Carlos's ability and wasn't sure if I had it in me. I decided to climb Fails of Power instead. I thought this route was an 11a turns out to be an 11c. This thing is all #2s to the first set of anchors. I had to down climb 25 ft to grab more as a #3 wouldn't fit. To the first set of anchors is 10b and above that is 11c. I got to the first anchors fine, though having to milk rests. As I moved into the next section the crack began to thin. It moved down to .75 camalots, a size I definitely more practice on. I spent a couple of minutes on a decent foot trying to get my hands to feel solid. I really thought I had it as my ringlocks felt good but after a few moves I popped out for a 15ft ride. Straight Power Failure. I fell close to the first set of anchors and felt it would take me a while before I could climb to the top set of chains. I down climbed and we top roped the first section racing the ominous rain clouds. Managed to stay dry for the day and drove back to CA that night. Definitely going to get back on this one next time I'm in Zion.