San Rafael Swell, Utah
November 17, 2012
Getting There: Take I-70 exit #131 and follow the main dirt road on the north side for approximately 17 miles. This nicely graded road initially runs east paralleling the highway for several miles before heading more directly north toward the San Rafael River. Park near where the road crosses a gentle wash that originates on the north side of the peak.
Round Trip Stats: 3 miles, 900 feet
What to expect: An easy and rather short cross country hike gets you to the base of the summit area difficulties. From there you'll need to do some routefinding to keep the difficulty at class 3/4. Look around; there are several options, some easier than others. Finally, a small summit tower requires a few 5.2ish moves to surmount. The rock isn't exactly bomber and the moves are fairly exposed. If you fall and bounce off the small ledge below you will fall hundreds of feet down the south face! A short rope wouldn't be a bad idea here.
The purpose of this trip was to climb Window Blind Peak. It had rained significantly the night before and after hiking to the base of the technical portion (rated 5.7 R) we decided against attempting it due to the wet nature of the already horrible rock. Hoping to salvage the day we traversed to nearby UN 6,345 which ended up being a pretty cool little summit. Views from the top were excellent.
