Climber Scott Bennett has an interesting post up on his blog about his recent trip to southern Utah to do the Castle Valley Enchainment. The enchainment links up five desert sandstone towers near Moab: Castleton, Sister Superior, The Priest, The Rectory, and The Convent. In the process, climbers traverse the length of Castle Valley Ridge.
Bennett and partner Blake Herrington took a whole day to do the traverse, topping out The Convent as the sun began to set. While they took mostly 5.11 terrain, there are many different route options on the ridge, with climbs as easy as 5.8 and as hard as 5.13.
Bennett wrote on his blog that the crux of their traverse was the final route, The Value of Audacity (5.11+), which features a “massive roof” on its first pitch. After climbing the entire ridge, Bennett finished the day with a seven-mile bike ride to where the pair had parked their car.
When I lived in Moab, I got the chance to climb Castleton by one of its easier routes, the Kor-Ingalls. To put the pair's send in perspective, the hike to the first tower's base takes an hour by itself.
Photo Credit: Castleton Tower and The Rectory by Sharloch