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caughtinside
Apr 14, 2011, 10:59 PM
Post #26 of 80
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Thanks for the photos. Jolly Rancher is one of the best. Blue Sun is nice too. Way Rambo is one of the most Rambo routes out there, and the wall has the crowds to prove it.
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Gmburns2000
Apr 14, 2011, 11:13 PM
Post #27 of 80
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Nice bro. Keep it coming!
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spikeddem
Apr 15, 2011, 12:13 AM
Post #28 of 80
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Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
My fifth climbing day of the trip. Today, I decided I wanted to hit some of the classics--Supercrack Buttress day! I had made it a goal for myself to onsight four or five 5.10's today, and I felt ready and pumped to do it.
Although it was supposed to be a rest day for Matt and Cameron, Cameron had not done Supercrack despite having been on the buttress five other times.
Cameron, Lee, and I headed up the very short approach to discover an unlikely sight: a completely empty Incredible Hand Crack. Wasting little time, I borrowed all the gold camalots I needed to supplement my own from Cameron and Lee, and I headed up.
The route is, well, incredible. My entire rack consisted of gold camalots--perfect hands! This 5.10 is just 100 feet of hand jams through vertical terrain with a fantastic bulge in the bottom third. Of the routes I've led at the creek, I've given four stars to only two so far: Jolly Rancher and Incredible Hand Crack. I actually got in some bonus climbing when I found myself wishing for another gold camalot. I ended up down climbing to remove a previous piece and then climbing back up to finish it out.
Plugging before the chugging!
After that ridiculously enjoyable onsight, the group headed down to Supercrack a.k.a. Supercrack of the Desert: "The climb that started it all."
Cameron, making quick work of the Supercrack
For those that don't know, this uberclassic desert splitter was originally sent on hexes. Here's a shot I took from above . . . how many placements for hexes can you spot? 
I was able to get the route clean, and I enjoyed it, but it lacked personality. My journal entry sums it up: "Fun for the history, but generic and un-intriguing." My opinion of the Supercrack did not make me popular around the campfire that night!
There is a tradition of placing plaques formed by etching route information into broken off blocks near the bottom of classic routes. This stylish looking one seems fitting of what was the first supercrack of the desert!
We hiked in the direction of a climb called 3 AM Crack, which was to be my next 5.10 to fall as I worked towards my goal, but found it occupied. I recalled a similar 5.10 being just a bit further down. We continued hiking and found the climb, No Name Crack, empty. I racked up lots of #2 camalots, bunches of #3 camalots, and a couple #4 camalots for this route. I even brought a red camalot and a red link cam just in case they had a spot that I would be able to place one to save myself a bigger cam for this long (115') route.
After cruising through the first 70' I found a no hands rest, and milked it until my my hands were ready to jam some more. This was almost the only part of the route (except the anchors) that had any opportunities for stemming.
About 10 slightly-overhanging feet from there, I found myself barely making my way past a small pod, which had solid handjams, but only if I reached in really deep, making it a bit awkward and more stressful than I had hoped. Once I got my feet in it, my hands seemed to be in a section that, for me, lied somewhere perfectly between cupped hands and fists. This short, but thrutch-encouraging (read: technique vanished, just did whatever stressful position my body could adopt to get through it) section was extremely tiresome. I knew that if I could just get up a few more feet the good cupped hands would return, and I'd be able to once again get more weight onto my feet (currently because of the slight overhang and the awkward pod, I could hardly put as much weight onto my feet as I wanted). I moved up my hand into a jam--Yes! A cupped hand. I decided to place a blue camalot from the position--despite it being rather stressful. I placed it straight into the crack of the right-facing dihedral I had been climbing, but it made a worriesome hollow sound as I plugged it in (the gear that would be potentially holding a fall was utilizing a section of rock possibly not directly attached to the main cliff). Not entirely sure that I'd be able to clip my newly placed blue camalot--or that it would hold a fall even if I did clip it, I ended up down climbing about 5' or so feet to my previous piece. Although the stance was better, it was still tiring, and I knew I wouldn't be able to recover enough to punch through the terrain.
"Take!"
After the disappointment of failing to onsight the route came the even more annoying challenge of getting back onto the climb. The jams in the pod were covered by the tensioned rope, anything above it was a heinous between-cupped-hands-and-fists size, and the entire section was slightly overhanging. After giving it a couple attempts, I decided to aid (placed gear in the rock and pulled on the gear rather than the rock) through the five or six feet, back into the cupped hands section from which I had previously retreated. The rock became more solid, and I finished out the final 30 feet or so of the route as I it narrowed from cupped hands, to perfect hands. The anchors finally arrived.
The thrutching that occurred during my initial attempt at avoiding a fall had left me feeling completely beaten up: bruised knees, abrasions added to slightly sunburned forearms, and just general exhaustion.
The route that wasn't even given a name definitely got the best of me.
Despite failing to onsight the route, and despite feeling completely beaten up by it, after I lowered off, I said to Cameron and Lee "The sick part is . . . I enjoyed that." Cameron's response was a simple " . . . Dude, you just got Creeked."
While I sat and recovered, Lee and Cameron went off to climb some thin route, of which I did not get any pictures. After that, Lee hopped on a very long, and difficult looking climb called The Wave. Seemed like a sandbag at 5.10+, but Lee did it in fine style.
Feeling too beat up to continue towards my goal, we called it a day (a great one at that), and headed back to camp.
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spikeddem
Apr 15, 2011, 12:17 AM
Post #29 of 80
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We've packed up from Indian Creek, and are planning to do a couple towers. Then Bishop! Very excited for Bishop.
(This post was edited by spikeddem on Apr 15, 2011, 12:19 AM)
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sungam
Apr 15, 2011, 11:24 AM
Post #30 of 80
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Registered: Jun 24, 2004
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Awesome TR, dude. Keep the info (and pikterz!) coming.
Exceptionally jealous right now.
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sbaclimber
Apr 15, 2011, 6:46 PM
Post #31 of 80
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Registered: Jan 22, 2004
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sungam wrote: Awesome TR, dude. Keep the info (and pikterz!) coming. Exceptionally jealous right now.
I have got to get to the Creek some day!
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Gmburns2000
Apr 15, 2011, 8:23 PM
Post #32 of 80
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Registered: Mar 6, 2007
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keep the TR coming!
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boymeetsrock
Apr 15, 2011, 8:58 PM
Post #33 of 80
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Registered: Feb 11, 2005
Posts: 1709
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Enjoyable read so far. Looking forward to more!
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spikeddem
Apr 16, 2011, 10:23 PM
Post #34 of 80
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Registered: Aug 27, 2007
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I've posted in the partners forum for the West if anyone is interested. I'm currently in Red Rock. Looking for someone to split a site with or climb with. My phone number is in that thread.
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spikeddem
Apr 17, 2011, 4:23 AM
Post #35 of 80
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Did Castleton Tower yesterday (4/15/11)! Met a surprise celebrity guest! I'll probably write that up tomorrow during the middle of the day when it's a bit hot for climbing.
Forgot my camera's battery at the library :/ Oh well, I'm planning on returning there tomorrow anyways, I suppose.
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j_ung
Apr 17, 2011, 8:12 PM
Post #36 of 80
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Registered: Nov 21, 2003
Posts: 18690
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Spiky, I sent you a PM and a text!
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saint_john
Apr 18, 2011, 11:43 PM
Post #38 of 80
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Registered: Oct 4, 2010
Posts: 494
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your trip sounds great. safe travels!
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spikeddem
Apr 19, 2011, 12:26 AM
Post #39 of 80
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OK. A write-up for Castleton Tower.
Friday April 15th 2011
Today, Lee and I headed up Castleton Tower. We did the Kor-Ingalls route, 5.9 and 400'. Honestly, in my opinion, the climbing was really pretty "meh." The view was, of course, pretty difficult to beat. I guess I'm just not much of a chimney kind of guy.
As I arrived at the second belay, I was greeted with a smile from Steph Davis and a friend of her's (Since everyone asks: No, she didn't base jump off the top.). She's just as friendly as personable as she comes off in her interviews. I think being from Minnesota makes meeting a professional climber a bit cooler than many Westerners think it is!
The climbing itself was pretty mellow, and it never really presented any issues. Now that I think of it, I think these pitches were actually my first legitimate chimneying pitches. It was awkward. I led the first and second pitches, definitely enjoyed the second more than the first pitch. A #4 camalot-sized piece is a good thing to have for that second one.
This was my first climbing that consisted of more than two pitches, which I didn't actually really realize until a bit later. Everything went pretty smoothly, thanks to all my "wasted" time on RC.knob.
On top of the world tower!
Anyways, after hiking back down (oh, I forgot to mention the strenuous+steep hour hike up. I'm a weak hiker; it was hard.) I told Lee that I didn't really have any interest in doing other towers. He decided to head out to Bishop that night. I stayed for the night.
View from the tent, not too shabby?
In the morning, I checked out the Red Rock guidebook, and it said that the average April temperature was 76, so I decided to drive to Vegas!
(This post was edited by spikeddem on Apr 19, 2011, 1:22 AM)
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spikeddem
Apr 19, 2011, 12:38 AM
Post #40 of 80
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Saturday April 16th 2011
I left Moab around 8 or 9 in the morning, and arrived at Las Vegas sometime a bunch of hours after that. I think the drive was like eight or nine hours. It went fairly quickly though.
(I visited Vegas a few years ago, but only sport climbed and bouldered.)
I arrived in Vegas, to find the temperatures pushing 90 degrees. A bit warm, indeed. I stopped by a library to steal as much beta about the area as I could (and to escape some of the heat). After the library, I headed to Desert Rock Sports, and purchased a crashpad. Apparently, I had more room in my car than it previously felt like I had.
With the sun headed towards setting, I went to Calico Basin to get a couple hours of bouldering in, not to mention a nice stroll down memory lane. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera's battery in the library, and don't really have any pictures. I just wandered around with a pad and no guidebook, hopping on whatever looked fun. Sorry for no pictures though 
(This post was edited by spikeddem on Apr 19, 2011, 12:40 AM)
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enigma
Apr 19, 2011, 12:56 AM
Post #41 of 80
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spikeddem wrote: Saturday April 16th 2011 I left Moab around 8 or 9 in the morning, and arrived at Las Vegas sometime a bunch of hours after that. I think the drive was like eight or nine hours. It went fairly quickly though. (I visited Vegas a few years ago, but only sport climbed and bouldered.) I arrived in Vegas, to find the temperatures pushing 90 degrees. A bit warm, indeed. I stopped by a library to steal as much beta about the area as I could (and to escape some of the heat). After the library, I headed to Desert Rock Sports, and purchased a crashpad. Apparently, I had more room in my car than it previously felt like I had. With the sun headed towards setting, I went to Calico Basin to get a couple hours of bouldering in, not to mention a nice stroll down memory lane. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera's battery in the library, and don't really have any pictures. I just wandered around with a pad and no guidebook, hopping on whatever looked fun. Sorry for no pictures though
There's plenty of climbers around red rocks. 
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spikeddem
Apr 19, 2011, 12:58 AM
Post #42 of 80
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Sunday April 17th 2011
I ended up sleeping at Lovell Canyon on Friday night. Totally free, but like 25 miles from the climbing, and no bathrooms (although I've grown quite used to that). I decided that I'd boulder around in Calico Basin in the morning, head to the library when it got hot, then boulder some more that night.
Breakfast time. The table folds in half, and the PVC legs unscrew for maximum compactness! (Cellphone shot.)
I met a rad guy from Colorado named Cory, and after chatting a bit, we decided to find a short multipitch climb in the shade to run up, rather than fret over a couple short bouldering problems. Again, I still didn't have my camera's battery, so there are no pictures. Nonetheless, I can certainly steal a shot of the route we did from MountainProject!
Stolen from MP . . . this is the fantastic third pitch!
We hopped on the first four pitches of Dark Shadows, 5.8 (350'). The third pitch was the best pitch of 5.8 climbing I've ever done!
I led the second and fourth pitches, and the fourth one was almost as good as the third pitch. Super fun climbing! That third pitch is tough to beat though . . when the crack disappears, face holds appear, when they disappear, a new crack comes back! Not to mention the incredible varnish on the right side of the dihedral. Just really good stuff.
Stolen from MP again. The base of the climb. A nice little waterfall (just outside of the shot), and plenty of water for the pulled rope to get stuck in!
After this, I headed back into town to grab my camera's battery, and I found a message from J_Ung, saying he was looking for a partner in Vegas from Monday-Wednesday. I met up with him at the Red Rock Campground, but unable to find any sites, we decided to camp in Lovell Canyon. We decided on a route, made some food, and crashed.
(This post was edited by spikeddem on Apr 19, 2011, 1:19 AM)
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spikeddem
Apr 19, 2011, 1:18 AM
Post #43 of 80
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Monday, April 18th, 2011
Jay and I woke up, made some breakfast, and headed down to get on some rock. We had decided on climbing Lotsa Balls, but when we arrived after the hike, we found a (mostly) open Black Magic, 5.8. It's four pitches, and they're all long. The first three are all at least 140', and I think the last one might be a hundred or so. MountainProject puts it at 580', but I think the guidebook is a bit closer with 500'.
Jay, pointing out the route. I believe the climber in the photo is on Black Magic.
The led the first pitch, and I found it to be fantastic! It definitely rivaled Dark Shadows' third pitch. Who knew 5.8 could be so much fun?!
Waving to the camera as Jay closes in on the last 25 feet of the first pitch. His smile suggests that the route is well on its way to deserving all three stars it gets in the guidebook.
The second and third pitch were taken by Jay. I must say, after seconding the radical third pitch, I'm a bit jealous. Dodging a roof, and then stepping over a couple steps immediately presents the leader with a lot more air underneath his or her feet than was present just seconds ago. Absolutely superb again! Red Rock continues to deliver!!!
I finished out the route, dispatching the fourth pitch, a 100 feet of 5.4, and we found ourselves on top, smiling from ear to ear. Even the descent was classic: three simple raps leads to scrambling through a tunnel and over and under a couple boulders.
Dark Shadows and Black Magic made for excellent 5.8 introductions to multipitch climbing in Red Rock! Absolutely superb, and anyone considering getting on them should (although take care on the first 25 feet of p1 if 5.8 is your limit!!).
Climbing with Jay was a great experience, and we both look forward to tomorrow: Triassic Sands!
Over and out!
(This post was edited by spikeddem on Apr 19, 2011, 1:20 AM)
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airscape
Apr 19, 2011, 6:33 AM
Post #44 of 80
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Registered: Feb 26, 2001
Posts: 4240
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THis is an awesome trip.
Enjoyment!!
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sungam
Apr 19, 2011, 1:50 PM
Post #45 of 80
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Registered: Jun 24, 2004
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Just out of curiosity, did you catch Cory's last name, and did he just get back from Venezuela?
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spikeddem
Apr 21, 2011, 1:18 AM
Post #46 of 80
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sungam wrote: Just out of curiosity, did you catch Cory's last name, and did he just get back from Venezuela?
Um, I didn't catch his last name, but he definitely didn't just get back from Venezuela. He does rope access work, and just finished working at the Hoover Dam for two or so months.
Climbing and camping with Jay Young was a great time! I can't write up our last two days right now, since the library will close too quickly, but I'm fairly certain I'm heading to Bishop tomorrow. Fun!
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Bats
Apr 21, 2011, 1:28 AM
Post #47 of 80
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Registered: Dec 27, 2007
Posts: 486
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Cool trip...
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Gmburns2000
Apr 21, 2011, 2:31 AM
Post #48 of 80
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Registered: Mar 6, 2007
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dark shadows and black magic are great climbs. I did P1 and P3 of black magic on a really cold day. what a rewarding climb, though.
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sungam
Apr 21, 2011, 1:30 PM
Post #49 of 80
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Registered: Jun 24, 2004
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spikeddem wrote: sungam wrote: Just out of curiosity, did you catch Cory's last name, and did he just get back from Venezuela? Um, I didn't catch his last name, but he definitely didn't just get back from Venezuela. He does rope access work, and just finished working at the Hoover Dam for two or so months. Climbing and camping with Jay Young was a great time! I can't write up our last two days right now, since the library will close too quickly, but I'm fairly certain I'm heading to Bishop tomorrow. Fun!
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lena_chita
Moderator
Apr 21, 2011, 5:29 PM
Post #50 of 80
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Registered: Jun 27, 2006
Posts: 6087
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Awesome trip report, keep it coming!
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