What
a day! We started extremely early at 4:00 am to get a parking spot at Lake
Moraine and to have enough time for climbing. But it was worth it. First,
watching the sunset and the mountains glow while hiking to the foot of Tower
of Babel was really pretty. Second, it was an awesome climb. We had some
difficulties finding the start, but eventually we took the correct one. The McKay
Route, 5.8 is a truly alpine trad route (except with mostly bolted belay
stations). The quartzite stone was really interesting and sometimes felt a bit
like sandstone at home. While belaying, a bushy-tailed woodrat (I suppose) came
sneaking up to me, which was cute. From the top, you had a magnificent view of
Lake Moraine. As we walked down, it was a good feeling admiring the colossal Tower
of Babel, knowing you just climbed that ~350 m face. It was a wonderful but
exhausting day.