A newbie's 1st trip to Indian Creek

On March 26, I flew into Las Vegas knowing only that DJ Skelton & Maddie would be picking me me up from the Sin City Airport. Based on our previous conversations, I wasn't sure where we'd end up (Red Rocks? Cali? Utah?). Half a day after landing in Vegas, I arrive at the crack climbing epicenter of the universe.

This blog entry is entitled newbies FIRST trip because, well, Indian Creek ain't really for newbs. But there's always a first, right? This will hopefully be the first of many trips to the Creek. I pretty much went into this knowing that there was very little I could have done to adequately prepare for this. My expectations for successful climbing were kept to a minimum & I knew I'd be in for maximum sensory overload.


Puffed up from my flight? salty airline snacks?
or was it excitement? bravado? or fear?

Optimator Wall.

Followed some chimney climb
(I was not expecting my 1st Creek climb to be a chimney).

Then top roped some sort of a leaning crack.














DJ & I getting our shizzle together for optimator.













Climbers on (in?) Donnelly Canyon












Climbers on the shady side of Reservoir Wall






















The Six-shooters at sunset.












Driving up to an area called The Wall.
(cue Pink Floyd please).











View from the parking area for The Wall.
Note the abandoned(?) mine.

The Wall is not actually pictured, but lies far right, at the far right end of the text you're reading.
The approach was a memorable one as the structure of the area made a distinct super windy passage.





The view upon arrival.


Someone's at the base checking out the lines.



















Maddie & DJ






















The view from the "corner" of The Wall area.


Mike Doyle surveying the land.


(climbers: his site is particularly worthy of checking out!)





DJ sizing things up as Mike &
Will Stanhope keep gazing.


(Mike is actually spying on the lower terrain... which contains little more than cow pies)

















Climbers on the end of The Wall closest to the trail.





















The previous scene, zoomed out.

The scale of everything is immense & grand.

We're certainly far far far away from East Coast climbing!



















DJ Skelton leading "Brain Damage, 5.10+"
at far end of The Wall



A 70m rope works best for this climb.

















Katie Brown project-ing "Learning to Fly" 5.13+ and the end of The Wall.





















Unfortunately by the end of the day at The Wall, I start coming down with some sort of upper respiratory flu thing. The next day (?) we head back towards Vegas to catch the tail end of Red Rock Rendezvous 2008. We crash w/ Malcolm Daly, who feeds me some of his amazing polenta (again! hyperlink to Boulder 2007 when SD card gets fixed) & sees me off to the airport.

The upper respiratory thing turns south & the flight was not kind on my eardrums...
(I am *such* a whiney baby).

As I write this my voice is still nowhere to be found, I'm coughing non-stop (which hopefully counts as a core-strengthening exercise), my eardrums still swollen... and I'm thankful that being sick affords me the time to plot my NEXT trip to the Creek! : )


PS (FYI/Suggestions):

- the actual drive from Vegas to Indian Creek is 7.5 hours/520 miles.
- the best airport to fly into is Grand Junction, CO. Drive to the Creek is ~166 miles/2.75 hours.
- Flying into Moab is also an option, but the car rental selection might be limited. There are a Jeep rental places in Moab, however.
- when mapping out drives that include Indian Creek, the best endpoint to use is Monticello, UT (not Moab).
- the more clearance your vehicle has, the better.
-Keep an eye on the gas gauge! It's ~65 miles each way from Moab to the heart of the Creek.
- Using Wag Bags is really not that bad & prolly way more pleasant than the Bridger Jack/Beef Basin Port-a-Potty, which has a huge line in the mornings.
- Bandage scissors are particularly useful (nore so than a knife) in removing tape gloves in such a way that the can be reused.
- No Partner? Virgin to splitter cracks? Take a look at Splitter Camps.