High on crack at Indian Creek

There is probably no single better destination in the world for pure crack climbing. The place is legendary for its splitter, sandstone cracks.

After climbing Castleton, Jules and I made the hour or so drive from Moab to "the creek", and wandered around in the dark until we managed to find the Beef Basin message board, with a note from Scott telling us where he was camped. We located his campsite, and, famished, cooked dinner and went to bed. Saturday morning we woke up and were stunned at the landscape that greeted us, which we had, unknowingly, made our way into under the cover of night.

View from the campground

Supercrack Buttress, which we passed on the way in

We decided to go to Supercrack Buttress and did 3 climbs: Incredible Hand Crack, Wild Works Of Fire, and 3A.M. Crack. I tried to lead Wild Works of Fire, but bailed after I climbed past the crux then found that I couldn't get any gear in because I had used all of the size cam I needed earlier on the route (I over-protected the bottom). I got super scared and ended up...not exactly falling...not exactly downclimbing...more like sliding...back down to my last piece and last good stance...about 6 or 8 feet. After that I was too pumped from over-gripping and mentally fatigued to even want to try to finish the route, so I lowered off and Jules finished it. I top-roped it clean with little difficulty later. Incredible Hand Crack is, perhaps, one of the most fun routes I have ever climbed. The jams were just so solid, it was...well...Incredible.

Me on Incredible Hand Crack (5.10)

3A.M. Crack on the left, Wild Works Of Fire on the right

Me leading on Wild Works of Fire (5.10b)

Sunday morning, Jules packed up to head back to Moab and do some mountain biking before he had to drive to Las Vegas and fly home to London, and Scott packed up to drive to Las Vegas to meet a friend there. I headed back into Moab to work on preparing for interviews, blogging, etc. and rest up for a couple of days. Tuesday evening, I drove back to the creek for a second dose of crack-climbing fun.

Wednesday morning, I hiked up to Donnelly Canyon to see if I could find someone to partner up with, and, at the base of Generic Crack, ran into 3 of the 4-person group that had been ahead of Jules and I on Castleton a few days prior. Their fourth had had to go home. So, I partnered up with Chris, while Ben and Karen climbed together. I led three 5.9's (probably a third of the routes under 5.10 in all of Indian Creek), including Binou's Crack, a dihedral with a couple of cracks of varying size, and Chocolate Corner, a thin hands crack in a dihedral that felt hard to me, since the crack was a less-than-ideal size for me and Chris led Elephant Man (5.10).

Chris at the top of Binou's Crack

Karen on Chocolate Corner

Unfortunately, Chris and company left that afternoon, so the next day I was looking for partners again. I drove back to Supercrack Buttress, since it is popular, and has an easy approach. I sat in my car for a while, then sat on the hood for a while, trying to get motivated to go look for people to climb with. At this point in my trip, this social aspect of being a traveling climber is starting to wear on me, even though I generally meet great people and have a really fun time. Anyway, while I was sitting there, a guy named Dan wandered by, and I said "hi". He asked if I was climbing and, when I said I was thinking about it, he told me he was with a group of three and invited me to join them. I guess when something just drops in your lap, you shouldn't say no, so I grabbed my stuff and headed up to the crag. Unfortunately, I wasn't motivated to lead, so I just top-roped a few climbs, and called it a day.

Ashley belays Paul on Gorilla Crack

Adam on Keyhole Flakes

Unknown climber on Coyne's Crack

Looking down the valley from Supercrack Buttress

Thursday night, I hung out with Dan, Ashley, Paul, Adam, and the rest of the motley crew I was climbing with that day. They had a nice fire, and it was good to have people to hang out with after dark, so I didn't end up going to bed at 8:00. Friday morning, it was windy and cold. I eventually convinced myself to get up and make breakfast, then went to see what the crew was up to. A couple of people were leaving, and the rest decided to head to Flagstaff for a few days. I was considering taking a rest day, driving into Moab, then coming back and climbing for another day or two, but, with everyone I knew heading out, I decided to say screw it and just head for Tucson. There's lots of stuff I still want to do at the creek, and I had hoped to red-point Incredible Hand Crack before I left, but the cards seemed to be telling me it was time to fold and move on. There's always next time. :-)

Route list for 11/7-12:

• Incredible Hand Crack (5.10, Trad) (TR clean)
• Wild Works of Fire (To First Anchors) (5.10b, Trad) (Attempted lead, TR Clean)
• 3A.M. Crack (5.10, Trad) (TR Clean)
• Binou's Crack (5.9, Trad) (Onsight)
• Unnamed 5.9 around corner right of Chocolate Corner (5.9, Trad) (Onsight)
• Chocolate Corner (5.9, Trad) (Onsight)
• Elephant Man (5.10, Trad) (TR Clean)
• Gorilla Crack (5.10, Trad) (TR Clean)
• Keyhole Flakes (5.10, Trad) (TR Clean)
• Coyne's Crack (5.12-, Trad) (TR Flail)