Moonlight Buttress

The past two days I climbed a route in Zion called "Moonlight Buttress" with Andrew Fitzgerald, a ranger at Zion National Park. This route is considered one of the classic climbs in Zion. We started early the first morning having to cross the Virgin River during spring runoff. It was cold and tricky to get across thus we had the whole route to ourselves during the climb. It was slow going as we brought a "haul bag" with extra water, food and sleeping gear. The climb is almost 1400 vertical feet. We had good weather except for some gusty winds during the night which made sleeping difficult. The upper pitches of the route were stunning. Mostly a finger wide splitter crack extending to the top of the cliff. This was a very steep line with few ledges. We finished a bit early in the middle of the afternoon on the second day. The hike down the Angels Landing Trail was surprisingly difficult considering it was all down hill, but all the gear was rather heavy and our muscles fatigued. This climb was another one of my great adventures in Zion. I have done many in this park and hope to do many others. As I looked across the valley towards the Great White Throne I realized I had not stood on top of the great monolith. In fact, I personally don't know anybody who has done so. Maybe some day I'll do that one!