Climbing at Ibex

 Once we had eaten breakfast and woken up a little more after our night camping on the Tule Hardpan, the kids were ready to go scrambling. We just opened the door of the trailer and one minute later were on the rocks. That's why I love camping, you're right there at the fun places!

The kids were seriously into exploring and we parents had a hard time keeping up! I could feel my quadriceps burn with all the ups and big steps. It felt good to get some exercise.

Here is Desert Boy disappearing inside a boulder.

When he could choose to climb or walk around a section, he always chose climbing. We were thinking we should have had them put helmets on.

The views were spectacular, and I kept stopping to take photos. (Maybe that's why I couldn't keep up.)

We were at the bottom of the Quartermoon tower.

We could see a glimpse of water out on the lakebed.

Going around the corner, we could see that the rock island was perhaps really an island. With how dry it's been recently, we were surprised to see the standing water. We had wanted to go bike riding out there, but figured we might have to take an alternate route.

What the kids wanted to do next, though, was to do some real rock climbing. So we used James Garrett's book West Desert to locate an easier climb a bit to the south. It's been so long since I've done real rock climbing! I geared up and led the sport climb, and then it was time for the kids. Desert Boy couldn't wait. He took a slightly easier line on the side.

Moving around to where he was supposed to be.

Then it was Desert Girl's turn. She was definitely nervous, but willing to give it a go.

Look how high she got! She had to be talked through trusting the rope and coming down, but she liked it enough that she did it again, as did Desert Boy.

Hurray for climbing! It was a little scary, but oh, so much fun! I'm hoping to do more this year. Time to practice on my rock climbing pull up board and develop those little muscles in my fingers.

We looked at another climb and then decided it was lunchtime. Back at the trailer, the north wind had strengthened significantly, rocking the trailer. We ate quickly, fearing we might tip over with the 50 mph gusts. Biking was out of the question, so we packed up and left. But we weren't totally done with Ibex. We headed to a rock outcropping to the north to look for a geocache.

Desert Boy found it and enjoyed exchanging trinkets.

The rocks on the mini rock outcrop are the same as the main Ibex cliffs. This would be a great place for more exploring (or a game of hide'n seek).

We searched for one more geocache on the way home.

We didn't find it, but we did find our first wildflower of the year. In February!