More than jus the name of a Grateful Dead album, it's the way life is!

It's also the name of a 200' four pitch (?) 5.8 Chimney route on Merrimac Butte North of Moab...... With virtually no pro!

Put up by the late great Charlie fowler, desert hero and alround good guy, and Sue Wint. In 1991..
"The route is a classic offwidth Chimney" Said he.

It got on my radar as myself and a clutch of desert ruffians were driving down the hill from rigging an adventure race. - the adventure racers had to do a three hundred foot rappel, we had to insist that they buckle back their harnesses!

The mighty Ed Oak, pointed toward Merrimac Butte, a summit I had never trodden. "Ever do "Without a net? Three hundred feet of 5.8 chimney. Full value, all I got in were. A couple wires in four pitches"

The hook was set!

My original plan was to hike in from highway 313, solo and down climb the route ( a style I figured appropriate for the name..)and hike out.
A few days later I got a crack of brunch start & drove around trying to figure out where to start. Settling on a basecamp I set out on a trail that promised to be " straight forward" I took one book for the approach descrion and one for the route description - that can be Sumemerized as, " go up"

After a few miles, many wrong turns and a lifetime of crypto biotic soil avoidance I was getting close. A Hillary step of choss and juniper roots, stick out of horizontal, stuff, like ladder rungs, and I was in the final drainage.
A few more slogs and I was at the base of the route
Hmmm, I was expecting a chimney I could see all the way up...
bail!
The hike was pretty.
 the route goes behind the right margin of the prominent flake.

One of the things I discovered was that the saddle between Merrimac and Monitor buttes, was a popular destination with the four wheel crowd...
... My buddy, Michael " boom - Boom" Jeffereson Aka Ferretlegger
! mad scientist emeritus, and medical transport specialist, had recently obtained a new to him, bad ass Tacoma with 35" tires!
[photobid=405684]

A few days later, after consulting many 4wd guides and maps, we were off again, Michael chanting something about gear ratios, lack of winch, adventure....

In a little less than the time I had taken to walk up, we were there after passing the towers of determination, and the killer Bunny
it scares, no terrifies, me to even talk about it...
It was a spine shaking drive and with two bladders with an average age I estimate to be over 60, we took many stops...

And there it was;
Oops I mean,
Our approach from the north had revealed a weakness through the escarpment. From the rig it was a mere couple dozen minutes to base
We passed under a climb for another day
But on, to our easy day.....
I belayed on a ledge maybe fifty feet up and reluctantly left a blue cam, or " Donini" for an anchor, then began an awkward, slightly wider than my femur, chimney romp to the top, passing varying terrain, but few placements. I could have used our one blue near the top, but did get a green Camelot ( the little type, not a 'regular' green, in on the three pitches I ran together.

After a short bit Mike, I haven't done this particular kind of sh#t in twenty years" - boom- boom Jefferson parastalsed onto the ledge next to me.
This was the last photo I got, because I laid my phone down on the ledge, were the cold of the rock conducted the heat and charge (>50%!) clean out of said unit. I think I didn't mention that it was windy and never made it Much above thirty all day...

But all that was left was the "chasm of Doom", so, no big photo op, anyway.... No tales to tell....
One double rope seventy meter rap got us to the bottom where we drove out seven mile in about an hour and I was able to finish my taxes before dinner. I also forgot to mention that it was the ides of April!