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TR: My first trip to Indian Creek (October, 2006)

Enjoy this blast-from-the-past, a trip report from my very first roadtrip to Indian Creek, way back in the distant past of 2006.

Day #1, October 6, 2006: Travel

Flew Southwest from SJC to SLC with a stop in Reno. A whole bunch of us were on the same flight: Me, Derek, Patty, Nancy, Rick, etc.

We picked up the Rental Car (some generic SUV) and then went shopping at REI and a grocery store for gear and food for the week. We also trekked over to the Black Diamond store because Derek needed to get a new trigger wire for one of his Camalots.

Finally we got on the road to Indian Creek sometime in the late afternoon. Several hours later, after driving in the rain most of the way from Salt Lake, we ended up in Moab.

We grabbed dinner in Moab at the Slickrock Cafe. After dinner, Patty called hotels for at least an hour, trying to find a place to stay since Moab got hit by a huge rainstorm while we were eating dinner. Finally, she found one cabin at an RV campground between mile 79-80 on the road (Route 191) to Monticello. This was the last lodging anywhere within 100 miles of Moab. The cabin was nothing but a light and a bed, with a small porch and picnic table outside. Patty & Derek got the bed, and I sacked out on the floor, where I fell asleep almost immediately.


Day #2, October 7, 2006: Second Meat Wall (Right Side)

Lots of rain last night and this morning while we cooked and ate breakfast.

It turned out that some Indian Creek route developers were in the cabin beside ours The only name I got was Scott Carson. They put up around 100 routes, some of which are extremely popular even now. We chatted with them for a while about whether we would be able to climb because of all the rain. They assured us it would be OK as long as the cliff we picked wasn’t getting slammed with rain. The rock dries out pretty quickly if it’s not being heavily rained on.

Some of Scott’s route recommendations:

  • No Excuses
  • Black Aurhu (sp?)
  • Pente
  • Excuse Station
  • Fatted Calf

We drove to out to Newspaper Rock, and setup camp where the rest of the crew was already ensconced.

Then we took off for Second Meat Wall. Our climbing day started out overcast and rainy. It cleared to blue sky in the afternoon. Most of our group climbed here today. Patty, Derek and I climbed together. Nancy and Dan climbed near us, and Rick and Alexy were on the left end of the wall.

Cube Steaks 5.10

  • Climb #1: Derek (L)
  • Climb #1: Tad (TR)
  • Climb #1: Patty (TR)

Unnamed 5.10, right of Cube Steaks

  • Climb #2: Derek (L)
  • Climb #2: Tad (TR)
  • Climb #2: Patty (TR)

Unnamed 5.10, right of Climb #2

Long (130′ according to guidebook). Fun, had everything from face climbing up a tiered block to about 20 feet of bomber jams ending with an offwidth to the anchors. I left a sling and a carabiner at the anchor because I didn’t trust the ratty webbing, and there was only one rap ring.

  • Climb #3: Derek (L)
  • Climb #3: Tad (TR)

Day #3, October 8, 2006: Second Meat Wall (Left Side)

Evening XTC, 5.9+ (not in book)

I’m the only one that climbed this route.  The first half of the route was great — bomber hand jams up a nice crack. The crux of the climb is switching from the crack you start in to another crack about 2-3 feet to the left as the right hand crack starts to peter out.

Well, when I reached over to the left hand crack, what did I find but mud! My fingertips came out covered in wet mud. So I hung there while I thought about what to do. Eventually I figured out how to get above the muddy stuff, and committed to the left hand crack. It was scary. The rock was damp, and I had no confidence the gear would hold in the event of a fall. Luckily there wasn’t very far to go.

The crack widens out at the anchor, and all of the rock there was garbage. I stood up and clipped into the anchor. Phew.

Before I go on, let me describe the anchor: 2 bolts one directly above the other, with one rap ring attached to the bottom hanger, and a bunch of ratty slings connecting the ring to the two bolts.

Now where was I? Oh yeah, “Phew”. Wrong! When I weighted the anchor, the bottom bolt pulled out of the rock more than an inch! Yikes, that did not inspire confidence in me at all! At least the top bolt looked good. So I added another sling and a carabiner to the mix, and rapped off.

  • Climb #4: Tad (L) — hung at crux

Tofu Crack, 5.10

  • Climb #4: Derek (L)
  • Climb #5: Tad (TR)
  • Climb #3: Patty (TR)

Top Sirloin, 5.11

  • Climb #5: Derek (L)
  • Climb #6: Tad (TR)
  • Climb #4: Patty (L)

Day #4, October 9, 2006: Donnelly Canyon

Chocolate Corner 5.9

  • Climb #7: Tad (L) — hung at crux on Clemens #2 Camalot (no fall through)
  • Climb #6: Derek (L)
  • Climb #5: Patty (L)

Elephant Man (P1) 5.10

  • Climb #7: Derek (L)
  • Climb #8: Tad (TR)
  • Climb #6: Patty (L)

Generic Crack 5.10

Hard, wonderful splitter hand jams for the top 80 feet. Hard offwidth move down low.

  • Climb #8: Derek (L)
  • Climb #9: Tad (TR)
  • Climb #7: Patty (TR)

The Naked and the Dead (P1) 5.8

  • Climb #10: Tad (L) several hangs @ crux due to dirty/sandy/damp rock
  • Climb #9: Derek (TR)
  • Climb #8: Patty (TR)

The Naked and the Dead — Alternate Start 5.11

  • Climb #10: Derek (TR)
I should note that while watching Derek struggling up this nasty tips corner crack, I decided there was no way I was going to try it.  Patty decided the same.  Lucky for us!  While Derek was cleaning the anchor and rigging the rappel all hell broke loose!  Patty and I were sitting there chatting, when I noticed the dark clouds that had been moving one direction all day had turned around and were streaming back the other way.  I thought that’s weird.  Then I heard a noise that sounded like heavy wind whipping through trees.  Kinda like a roaring noise if you get me.  Patty and I looked at each other with questioning faces.  Then we see a wall of white moving toward us.  BAM!  It started hailing something fierce.  In minutes hail was piled up inches deep in some places, and water was pouring out of the cracks like they were miniature waterfalls.  We were soaked in seconds.  As we scrambled to pack the gear, Derek finished rigging the rappel and joined us at the bottom.  He pulled the rope, stuffed it in a pack, and we bolted for the car.  Needless to say, we ambled on over to Moab and slept at the Desert Inn that night.  The next day was a rest day anyway.  Arches here we come.

Day #5, October 10, 2006: Arches National Park

Our first rest day.  We dried out all of our gear overnight in the comfort of the Desert Inn while our mates toughed it out at the Newspaper Rock campground.  I think we were the lucky ones.

Some of the sights we took in:

  • Park Ave
  • Balanced Rock
  • Windows
  • Turret Arch
  • etc

We didn’t get to see Delicate Arch because the road was washed out and the rangers were turning people away.  Beautiful, unbelievable scenery.


Day #6, October 11, 2006: Supercrack Buttress

Incredible Handcrack 5.10

Awesome climb.  Lots of fun.  The roof is intimidating, but not particularly difficult.  Great rest after the roof.  Yeah!  Getting this clean felt great.  The crux looks a lot longer than it really feels.
  • Climb #11: Derek (L)
  • Climb #11: Tad (L)
  • Climb #9: Patty (L) — After Patty climbed this, while I was lowering her, the rope got jammed behind one of the cams on the overhang.  She was stuck.  Derek re-led up to the spot it was stuck and cleaned the cam to unjam it.  New lesson learned:  Rappel overhung-to-vertical climbs instead of lowering off.

3 AM Crack 5.10

  • Climb #12: Derek (L)
  • Climb #12: Tad (TR)
  • Climb #10: Patty (TR)

Supercrack 5.10

  • Climb #13: Derek (L)
  • Climb #13: Tad (TR)
  • Climb #11: Patty (L) Couple of hangs
  • Climb #14: Derek (TR) Derek re-climbed this on TR because Patty got the topmost placement (#3 Camalot) stuck.  Derek was able to get it out after about 20 minutes of futzing around with it.

Day #7, October 12, 2006: Scarface

Unnamed 5.9 (To the left of Big Guy)

  • Climb #14: Tad (L some, TR mostly)  This climb was wide, and I didn’t figure out that I could chimney against the block to the right.
  • Climb #15: Derek (L)  Ahhh.. So that’s how you lead a chimney-like-climb!
  • Climb #12: Patty (TR)

Twitch 5.11

This climb is tough.  It start out with an easy bit climbing up under a perfectly horizontal 5 or 6 foot roof.  Jam lots of pro in the crack that runs through it, and try to pull the lip.  Way harder than it sounds.
  • Climb #16: Derek (L)  Worked the crux.  Many tries … Many hangs… On the radar for the next trip.
  • Climb #15: Tad (L/TR) Didn’t get far enough pass the bomber nest of cams Derek placed at the crux to place the next one.  Someday!
  • Climb #13: Patty (L/TR) Same story.  This sucker is hard.

Wavy Gravy 5.10-

Derek skipped this one, saving his energy for working Twitch.  I thought this climb was a lot of fun.  It is a bit like Incredible Hand Crack over on Supercrack buttress, but it had two overhangs, which were both shorter and easier than Incredible Hand Crack.

  • Climb #14: Patty (L)
  • Climb #16: Tad (L)

Day #8, October 13, 2006: Battle of the Bulge

Railroad Tracks 5.10-

  • Climb #15: Patty (L) With a few hangs.
  • Climb #17: Derek (L)
  • Climb #17: Tad (L) 1 hang

Unknown 5.9 ish (in corner to right of Railroad Tracks)

This climb is short, about 50 feet long.  It was not in the book, nor could we find a plaque at the base with the name.  It climbed a pyramid shaped corner up decent rock at the bottom, and softer rock near the top.
  • Climb #16: Patty (L)
  • Climb #18: Derek (L)
  • Climb #18: Tad (L)

Our Piece of the Real Estate 5.11-

  • Climb #19: Derek (L) about three hangs at the crux, got the rest clean.

The Cave Route 5.10+

Cool route.  As the name says, this climb is inside a cave.  There is a big detached block that sits about 5 feet away from the base, and leans against the wall somewhere up high in the darkness.  The route climbs up the left corner by the entrance to the cave.  When we got there, we hit the light perfectly, as the bottom part of the crack was lit directly by the sun, and the rest of the cave was in shadow.
  • Climb #17: Patty (L) two hangs
  • Climb #19: Tad (TR)
  • Climb #20: Derek (L)  Very happy at this clean lead!

Crack Attack 5.11-

Fun climb to end the day.  A little bit of everything.  Starts with a bit of an offwidth, then a chimney, followed by some thin cracks to the top.  Lots of fun!
  • Climb #18: Patty (L) Many hangs, but finally got it
  • Climb #20: Tad (TR)
  • Climb #21: Derek (L) Very happy at this clean lead!

Day #9, October 14, 2006: Canyonlands National Park

Our last day. This was also a rest day  (Good, because the weather was pretty crappy).  Weather in the morning was bad, so it seemed to be a good choice.  Although we did hear that Alexy was able to get some climbing in later on after we left.

On the way to Canyonlands, we stopped in for coffee in Moab, and ran into one of Derek’s friends.  Anyway, it turns out that she had rotten luck on this trip.  Almost every day we were climbing, she ended up getting rained out.  I guess we got lucky choosing the canyons that we did.  Most days we could tell the weather was bad nearby, but the most we got was a few sprinkles our second day at Second Meat Wall, and the hailstorm at the very end of the day at Donnelly.

Anyway, what can I say about Canyonlands?  Beautiful desert scenery, Huge hole in the ground.  We didn’t get a great view on the drive out to the major viewpoint because there was massively thick fog.  We weren’t sure we would be able to see anything, but luckily it lifted at the same time we arrived.  This was a huge hole.  I can’t imagine what the Grand Canyon must look like!

This is it.  We drove about halfway back to Salt Lake City and stayed in a hotel in Price.  Sad to be leaving Indian Creek, but I’m missing Danielle and can’t wait to get back.


Day #10, October 15: 2006: Travel

Headed out fairly early.  Rained all the way back to Salt Lake City.  Stopped in at REI, then headed to the airport.  Flew home to SJC where Danielle picked us up and somehow we were able to fit all of us and our stuff into her Prius.  It’s great to be home again!

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