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.