Moab & Indian Creek

When I left off we were in Provo, Utah and we were heading to Pleasant Grove to visit Dianne, a family friend of Miles. Our time there was great. She let us take showers, do laundry, bought us lunch, made us a steak dinner and let us sit in her hot tub. She was a wonderful host and we all really appreciated her hospitality.

Trevor, Dianne, Miles & Dave

The next day we dropped Dave off at the airport in Salt Lake City and drove straight to the Moab area. Our plan was to climb Castleton tower so we stayed the night at the base.

Castleton Tower

We did the Kor-Ingalls Route (5.9). It was a great climb and my first on desert sandstone. The climbing itself was pretty straightforward except for a few slippery chimneys and frozen hands. We did all four pitches in a few hours and once on top our plan was to rappel off the N. Face. The book said that it took four 100' rappels to get to the ground. Well, turns out that the book lied and our first rappel put us about 25 ft. short of the anchors. Not exactly what I wanted to see after I went over the edge. Luckily there was a bolt at the end of our rope and we just clipped into it and down lead to the next anchor. It wasn't that big of deal except that it was blowing at least 40 or 50mph and we were frozen and wanted off the rock. After a few more rappels we made it to the ground and bolted to Moab for pizza and beer. We ended up finding an all you can eat pizza joint and we took them for all they were worth for about three hours.

Looking up from the top of pitch 1

Miles enjoying the last chimney

Miles rappelling down the N. Face

After this little adventure we were ready to be warm and enjoy the sun so we decided to call it quits with the towers and head for Indian Creek where we figured we could enjoy some warmer weather.

We have now spent three days in the Creek and have got on a bunch of classic climbs and have met some amazing people. The first day we met up with Josh and Krista and did a few climbs. The highlight of my day was leading Fingers in a Light Socket (5.11d). I definitely took a bunch of whippers, but it was still fun. After this climb we got on a (5.9) for Krista and it started to snow. We thought we were going to enjoy some warmer weather, but we were wrong. It really just gave us an excuse to make dinner with Josh and Krista and enjoy the evening with them.

Me on Fingers in a Light Socket

Taking a whipper & having a piece of gear pop

A little further down

Krista climbing in a snow storm

The next day we met a guy named Greg and did a bunch of classic climbs with him. He even helped us with some problems that we’ve been having with our RV, great guy. After that we went to a hot dog feed put on by Trango. We enjoyed lots of free hot dogs and met some great people.

Two of them were Eric and Alex. We climbed with them the next day and had one the best days that I’ve had in a long time. We started out the day with Supercrack (5.10+), which I onsighted. Then Eric led Incredible Handcrack (5.10c) and Alex followed it clean. She was so excited that she giggled for half an hour afterward. After that we climbed Fingers in a light socket again and worked Coyne Crack (5.12a) on top rope. We all felt completely worked afterwards and retreated to the campground to make dinner and sit around a fire.

Miles following Super Crack

Super Crack

Eric leading Incredible Handcrack

Coyne Crack

Now we are sitting here in a coffee shop in Montecello, Utah. We needed to come into town for food and gas. The sad thing is that it’s Sunday and the grocery store isn’t open on Sunday. We keep forgetting that we’re in Utah. Oh well, we were at least able to get some bread from a gas station. As of right now the plan is to stay in the Creek for about a week and then head to Zion for more climbing. Stay tuned.

Week 1

I don't even know where to begin. It has been such a crazy week. Me, Miles and Dave Yousling left Washington last Monday and drove 500 some miles into Idaho. It was pretty uneventful. Spent most of my time trying to wrap my brain about what were about to do. The next day we were planning on driving to City of Rocks in Idaho to do some climbing for a day or two. Unfortunately, it took a lot longer than anticipated because we blew the tread off one of our duallies. After trying to fix the tire ourselves and realizing that our jack will not lift the RV high enough we called Good Sam Club, the equivilant of AAA for RVs. Some guys showed up after an hour and told us that we didn't have the right spare tire. Of course. So, we end up driving along the freeway for a few miles until we got to the nearest town. The guy who owned the repair shop that we went to was so nice. He gave us a new tire, put it on and fixed one of our belts for $75. Once the tire was fixed we were back on our way. We arived at city of rocks sometime later that night just before it got dark. That place is beautiful. There are granite spires everywhere.

The next day we got on a few different climbs. Unfortunately, we didn't have a guidebook so we were just wandering around in the snow looking for routes that looked cool. Our first climb was a crack on Elephant rock. The second was this cool looking slab that went up this arete. I for one am not a huge fan of slabs, but I was in the mood to get scared, and boy did I get what I wanted. I have no idea what this thing was rated, but the huge fall potential combined with tenous climbing scared the poop out of me. When we finished this climb we decided that we were over wandering around in the snow and decided to take off for Joes Valley In Utah that night.

We arrived at Joes Valley midday and starting climbing right away. I absolutely loved the climbing. I don't want to say for sure that it is my favorite bouldering destination, but it might be. We got on a handful of V3s, V4s, and V5s over the next couple of days.

Towards the end of our second day at Joes we decided to check out Triassic. It involved driving for half an hour on a washboard gravel road, which had me convinced that our RV was actually go to shake apart and end up in a bunch of pieces in the middle of the road. Lucky for us it didn't and it took us all the way to the closed gate that blocked us from the area. We were disappointed to say the least. Now we were out in the desert with our big stupid RV and it was going to be dark in half and hour and we had to come up with a new plan. Since we were planning on heading to Maple Canyon the next day we decided to just take off and head there right away.

The drive was uneventful for the first hour and half until we all smelled something burning. We pulled over right away and saw smoke billowing from what we thought was the engine. Turns out our brakes had overheated heading down the pass. It provided the perfect oportunity to take a break and make some dininer, so that's what we did. Chili with onions and peppers. After letting the brakes cool down for an hour we finished the drive.

Our first day in Maple we spent as a rest day. It started with a hike and then went pretty much as I expected it to. Eat, read, nap, read, journal, fire, eat and sleep. A perfect rest day if you ask me.

Today we got on a couple routes in Maple. The first was a 5.13a that we watched some people working on the day before. I have never done a climb of this grade or even worked one, but I figured why not. Turns out I was able to do all of the moves. I was just stoked to be able to work my way up the thing. After Miles and Dave gave the thing a go we headed in to Box Canyon to do some climbs in there. Miles led a 5.10d right at the base of the Canyon. After he finished, it started to snow and then it started to snow harder. I quickly ran up it and cleaned our gear and we got the heck out of there.

Now we are sitting in a coffee shop in Provo, Utah and are on our way to visit a family friend of Miles tomarrow and then drop Dave off at the airport in Salt Lake. After that our plan is to head for the Moab area to meet up with some more friends and climb at Indian Creek. Stay tuned, more to come soon.

Saying good bye to the parents

The blown tire
Repair guy

City of Rocks

First climb in City of Rocks
Miles on top of the slabV3 in the Closet area of Joes Valley

Miles on a V5 on the UMWA boulder

Miles on a V4 on the warmup boulder

The 5.13a goes up just to the right of the black streak

1 week left

It's official, we leave in just over a week. I can't believe it is almost here. To think that three guys could actually come together and plan a trip like this and make it happen blows my mind. When we first got the idea we still had two years of school left. I was studying economics, Miles was business and Josh was recreation. We finished our studies and started working a variety of jobs. I have been working for a custom home builder for the last year and loved every minute of it. Miles worked for a photography studio for a few months doing school pictures and then moved on to become a flight attendant for Allegiant. Josh took a job at an oil refinery for a month and then moved to Utah to work for Elements, a Wilderness Therapy program for troubled teens. Somewhere along the way he also managed to fall in love. Of course. To make a long story short I think that we might be seeing a lot of his girlfriend, Krista. They will both be joining us sometime in May after she graduates. At first I wasn't incredibly excited about having her travel with us, but after meeting her I have no doubt that she will only make the trip that much better.

As of right now Me and Miles are leaving on the 16th of March with our friend Dave Yousling, he'll be joining us for the first 9 days or so. The tentative plan is to head for southern Utah where we'll climb in Moab, Indian Creek and Zion. After that we'll most likely head north and climb at Joes Valley and Maple Canyon. From there we'll go to Red Rocks in Nevada and then to California to climb in Joshua Tree, Bishop and Yosemite. I can't wait. We'll be leaving in no time. Only one more week!