Danielle: This a shot looking down the Black Corridor. It's an absolutely spectacular spot for sport climbers. The routes are well bolted, plus there is a wide variety of different level climbs.

From reading trip stories on the web, the common theme was getting lost finding the climbing spots. The guidebook stated it would take 15 minutes from where we parked to hike to the corridor. It actually took us a good HOUR! We went way far right and ended up having to back track and ask the hikers we passed where to go. How many people do you think we stopped Tad???

It is well into the day now when Tad took this shot. We climbed mostly up above where the shot is taken from. There were three 5.9+ climbs side by side that we had fun climbing. Tad led all the routes and I seconded.

Tad: We must have asked about three groups of climbers where the Black Corridor was before we finally found it. "Black Corridor" is an appropriate name. The area, as you can see from the picture, is a slot canyon which at the widest is about 15 feet from wall to wall. The term black applies because the red desert sandstone is varnished by a smooth black substance. The rocks must have been covered like this for a very long time, because we saw some pictographs at The Valley of Fire State Park which were carved out of the black top layer into the red sandstone beneath.

We climbed two climbs on the left wall (on the right in the picture) of the lower corridor. The climbs were named Bonaire and Bon Ez. Both were rated 5.9+.

In the picture, notice the climber near the top of the right wall. That's where we were. Later in the slideshow you'll see a picture looking back down to the bottom from where that climber is hanging.

Here is a link to some more pictures of the Black Corridor which I found on the web.