Crack Climbing

I went back out to Indian Creek Utah and it was probably the last time I'll visit until Autumn. Things are starting to heat up so I'll let the rattlesnakes have it for a while.

Otherwise I picked up where I left off and got on some hard climbs.  Perfect hand cracks are something else, but branching out into an assortment of  fingers, off-width and thin hands was a priority during this trip.

I keep thinking I'll check out more petroglyphs and Anasazi ruins, but climbing trumps everything else. I did see bunches of cryptobiotic soil (Widerman pointed out that I had trampled about 40,000 years worth) a tarantula and a rattle snake.    

John (Widerman) and his buddies Logan and Tyson Cobb, (brothers originally from Fla.) were already there and  Jordan Beattie came down after the first night while Phil Reiker and Erin Priest met up with us before I took off.  My friend Kate Chapman came down from Moab for a day, however we only saw her briefly due to switching camps.

All in all a pretty good group to climb with.  Some of my single pitch highlights had to be Scarface, Bioturbation, Big Guy and the Coyne Crack (however I took hangs on each or top roped)... Well, I was proud of myself even if I didn't pick up any redpoints.

John, Jordan and I also climbed Vision Quest up the King of Pain Tower.  After a few beers the initial plan was to climb several lesser towers on the Bridger Jack formation by 1-2 p.m., but in hindsight that was a bit ambitious.

After getting up there late and baking in the sun, we established doing one route was in our best interest.  I wasn't in the mood to attack any hard leads so after a brief look at the topo I volunteered to lead the first of four pitches. It appears to be moderate in comparison to the second, listed as off-width with unprotectable sections, or the third pitch, listed as the route crux with sections of over hanging fists and hands. 

I grabbed the gear and said farewell to those suckers that would inevitably lead the hard stuff and promptly found myself battling nasty, rattily fingers up a long dihedral.  I bumped and pushed two of Jordan's .5 inch cams up to the final push and went into a lie back towards a 3 inch ledge.  Upon arrival I snagged a shaky wrist/hand jam.  As my weight shifted and my feet lost traction the realization that I was slipping set in.  As I struggled to regain composure John thought I was struggling to get another cam in and proceeded to throw out rope for a clip.

I expected a 10 foot fall and as I kept plummeting surprise registered.  To John's credit he caught me well before I bottomed out on a ledge, but I was a bit spooked and scraped up as a result. I'm not certain what the entire length was, but it ranked up there with my biggest falls to date.

Subsequently I ran out of small gear after the section and proceeded to get off course into a squeeze chimney with a great deal of rope drag. 

Non-of the belay ledges were big enough to fit three people (comfortably) and after Jordan, put up a stellar lead on the OW I found myself on the sharp end again after collecting the majority of the gear and sitting with the least tangled rope tied to my harness.  To ease up space on the ledge I set on what was listed as the route crux.  Although it has powerful moves the section was straight forward and short. 

John took over on the final pitch, a long one, with crusty rock and a very exposed finish. I always remember my leads the best, however Jordan and John didn't have easy climbs by any standard.  I guess I'm just soft, taking whips and hangs like a light weight.