Layton Kor enjoys climbing desert towers. So some years ago he moved to Kingman AZ to take advantage of the relatively untouched local rocks.

I have always been in awe of Layton since we climbed together in the early 60s; and we occasionally stayed in touch over the years.

Flying is another of my favorite activities; and I have been hoping to take Layton up in the desert air; looking at climbs he has done and scouting possibilities for the future.

Layton was characteristically eager; but as most climbers know, it seems that society will always impose reasons to keep you out of the mountains. This trip was no exception, as combinatorial work requirements, aircraft maintenance and unfavorable weather kept postponing opportunities. Finally we had all the airplane maintenance up to date, schedules freed up and a period of fine weather. Even then we had to spend several days finishing up some work before we could break loose and jump into the plane.

Finally everything was ready. Chelsea and I made our way to the airport at first light. The Monterey Bay area is usually pretty comfortable, but we found an uncharacteristic coating of frost on the airplane and had to wait long enough for it to warm up a little bit.


Then we were airborne and zoomed off into crystal clear skies, from Monterey Bay and past Pinnacles National Monument.




Then down the coastal ranges of California and across the Mojave Desert. We had a great view of Edwards Air Force Base where the space shuttle often lands.

Flying a plane cross-country keeps you very busy. I got Chelsea interested in climbing and flying and she recently got her pilot’s license. She is a great help in the cockpit; which makes the trip more enjoyable. A ten-hour drive turns into a three-hour flight at close to 200 mph. As Layton later pointed out, it is really easy to get spoiled by flying, as you watch the semi-trucks slipping behind you, and wander around to look at interesting terrain features.

We landed in Kingman at noon and were picked up by Layton and Karen Kor and visited the local all-you-can-eat buffet. Layton demonstrated his unusual ability for consuming huge amounts of food and still staying skinny as a rail. He has a metabolism like a humming-bird; always running at hyper speed.

After dinner we drove off into the desert towards the desert towers that Layton had been exploring. We got there just at sunset. Then we drove back in the dark, exploring the performance envelope of Karen’s Honda on 4WD roads.



We enjoy exploring the corners of our memories about climbing and fishing and SCUBA diving, and we talked late into the night. Captain Chelsea is an expert rescue/salvage diver and very knowledgeable about ocean fishing; so Layton had lots of questions for her and stories to swap.

Early the next morning we went out to the airplane and Chelsea calculated the Weight and Balance on our Garmin GPS. I had fueled up when we landed, and with full tanks and the three of us, our extra baggage put us over gross. So we offloaded all extra weight into the trunk of Karen's car, which put us right at the proper weight. (After Layton's comments about flying upside down, Karen was not tempted by the idea of joining us). Then we launched into the crisp desert air.




It was a perfect day for flying. First we flew over to where we had been the previous evening and circled the cliffs and towers of the desert mountain range. Layton made the comment that climbing had changed so much that people were more worried about the style of an ascent than in getting up the rock and having fun. He stated that it was more fun when you didn't worry about what anybody thought about freeing everything; and could just switch to aid whenever you happened to feel like it was a good idea.



Layton soloed this pinnacle a few years ago.


Layton did a couple of routes on this overhanging wall









Next we cruised up to take a look at the recently completed bridge across the Colorado River just below Hoover Dam. Chelsea thought it would be great fun to take one of her smaller rescue boats up the river to climb the cliffs and then jump into the water.





After crossing Lake Mead and passing Las Vegas, we flew on to look at The Valley of Fire.






While we were in the air I received an email from Steph Davis inviting us to meet in Moab. However the GPS told us that with all the fooling around we did, it would take too long for us to get back to Kingman at a reasonable hour. So I texted back that we’d take a rain check for next time.


Then we set course for Zion National Park and decided to stop in St George airport for lunch. We heard pilots talking about landing on runway 19, but our current FAA chart said it was runway 16. We overflew the field and verified runway 16, and I made a teardrop entry into the landing pattern and set on final approach to runway 16. Then I noticed a big piece of equipment on the end of the runway with a big X indicating the runway was closed. I aborted the landing and we got on the Unicom to ask other pilots what’s up! We were told that airport had just closed and there was a big new airport across town to the east. We carried on over there and landed on a runway 19 big enough do several touch and goes in a straight line. Apparently the remote little town of St George deserves a runway for serving heavy jets! We parked and asked about lunch; but the only pilot lounge was a temporary trailer with a bowl of mints. So that was lunch for the day. Oh well, we happened to know about a really good buffet back in Kingston.


We were soon in the air again, after extracting Chelsea’s fluffy scarf from the tail feathers where it blew from the top of the cabin when we started the engine. So after flying over Ron Olevsky’s house we climbed up above 10,000 feet into snowy mountains for a look at Zion Canyon.









Now we were getting seriously hungry and noticing the missing lunch. So we headed back south over the Grand Canyon, avoiding the Special Flight Rules areas that are dominated by tourist flights.



Layton’s house is a short hop south of the Canyon, and along the way he spotted another interesting climbing prospect on a cliff at the edge of the plateau.



In a few minutes we had Kingman airport in front of our nose.


Layton was eager to get back to that buffet and another evening of conversation; including getting into a hot tub and swimming pool for the first time in a long time.

Layton waves to his fans and paparazzi!