Utah left it's mark on me...

...Literally and figuratively. My first foray back into trad climbing in over 9 months produced lots of scraped ankles and bloody knuckles in addition to other wounds like a little bleeding from my forehead. Needless to say, I was rarely graceful. The scenery was beautiful, but my climbing was not.

I climbed in three areas in Utah during the past few weeks. Bouldering in Big Bend and Joe's Valley and Trad climbing in Indian Creek Canyon.

Big Bend was a short stop for Darko and me on the way to Indian Creek. The boulders at big bend are an interesting fine grain red sandstone. Very slick and not too hard. Most of the holds were crimpy and the climbs were very technical requiring some real good footwork and delicate body positioning. In addition, the grades were very stiff. Consultation with other climbers suggested that almost two grades could be added to the Big Bend ratings to level it was other areas. Two grades might be a bit much, but anyone heading to BB should be warned that the grades are stiff, you should at least warm up on some easier climbs than you might have in other places. The area is pretty small with not too many boulders, but it is in a beautiful setting along the Colorado River and there is a nice little parking area with a kiosk. So not a destination area for sure but definitely a nice diversion on the way to Moab.

Joe's Valley was awesome. Darko and I climbed up there on four different days and I wish we had never left or at least had many more days there. The rock is sandstone as were all the ares we visited in Utah, but the sandstone at Joe's is really really hard and although it is more coarse than at Big Bend, it was still relatively friendly on the skin. My skin unfortunately was already hurting from Alabama when I arrived in Joe's and although I was able to survive without actually bleeding from my finger tips I did come pretty close on occasion. There are tons of beautiful boulders all over the slopes of the mountains that make up Joe's Valley. They are streaked with grey, blue, tan and black. There are a ton of good holds of all types on some nice big boulders. Lots of the boulders have holds on the top that make top outs not too bad. Unlike areas such as HP40 in Alabama where the boulders mostly had smooth rounded tops. Joe's Valley has a ton of boulders with a ton of problems, many of them of very high quality featuring very interesting movements. There are three main sections of boulders one up on a hillside and the other two down in canyons along side a couple roads. The roadside boulders in the canyons offer super convenient bouldering sometimes just inches from the road and they are also shaded for much of the day offer cooler temps in the late spring or early fall. The "New Joe's" section is up on the shoulder of a flat topped mountain and get great sun for much of the day. Great stuff. I can't wait to go back.

Indian Creek. It is hard to think of any place that compares to Indian Creek. Certainly nothing in my experience. There are thousands of pretty much dead vertical cracks that go for 100 plus feet up very nice sandstone that is mostly featureless beyond the cracks themselves. Many of these cracks stay the same size for many feet in a row turning relatively simple jamming techniques in to crushing endurance fests. With the dead vertical climbs even the easiest types of jams lead to difficult ratings. In fact this can be very distorting of your climbing views b/c if the easiest climbs around are at a certain grade, you start to think that climbs of those grades are easy. Which is not the case. It is also very difficult to move up in the grade at Indian Creek since the grades are mostly dependent on the size of the crack and the type of jam required by that size. Some jams are just harder than others. But since they tend to require different techniques you can't easily move up from 5.10 to 5.11 if you are feeling strong, because you might not be strong at the new techniques. Having done no endurance work for the last nine months and no trad climbing either it was a humbling experience for me. I loved the place though. there are endless climbs in the Canyon and the climbing community experience there is really cool. I am excited to go back and abuse myself on those incredible cracks in the fall.

Utah = good climbing, but I really am not interested in discussing the beer....

Finger Tips

whoo... climbing can be rough on the finger tips. The sandstone in Alabama was bad for the tips and the sandstone in Utah certainly did not help the healing process. Here are my tips before my last day of climbing in Utah.

Driving Update

I am in LA now. Chilling with Josh and Meghan and the pup Watson. Josh and I went for a run with the Watson today and then went out for a beer oriented afternoon, buying home brewing supplies for so that we can brew tomorrow, and heading to a bar called Naja's Place which was rumored to have Pliny the Younger on tap. We did manage to find the bar and they DID have the elusive Pliny the Younger on tap. Josh got a full pint of it, which was pretty cool since it came in half pints or 10oz glasses at Toronado and the Russian River Brewpub when I had it. Josh loved the stuff so it was a very worthwhile trip down through the killer LA traffic. It was made even better by our discovery of a Mexican seafood place just down the boardwalk that had 99 cent tacos during happy hour. Josh and I had 5 each and they were delicious.

So for now a driving time update before a preview of posts to come:

Joe's Valley to Indian Creek to Joe's Valley to Salt Lake City to LA:
Driving Time - 25:30
Distance - 1699

Total:
Driving Time - 81:50
Distance - 5319

Whoa. Those numbers are getting up there and I have only been on the road for about three weeks.

So in the next day or so I would like write about my impressions of the Utah climbing that I experienced. I would also like to think about some goals for my trip up to Bishop in a few days. Maybe I'll add a brief run down on the beers that Josh and I have had in the last couple days and the brewing process that will take place tomorrow.

Before I wrap this up here are some notes about my drive from Joe's Valley, Utah to Los Angeles, California. The Wasatch Range in Utah is gorgeous and it was very nice to drive over while there was still some snow up in the mountains (but not on the road). Darko and I joined a private club in SLC which is what you have to do if you want to drink any beer that is not 4% alcohol or below. After dropping Darko off at the airport I managed to hook back up with Shilpa and Chelsea (who had a flight back to NC on monday morning) at a place called The Pie, supposedly the best pizza in SLC. The Pie turned out to be a takeout only place, but since it was pretty empty we chilled on the coaches and chairs and the girl enjoyed their pizza when it was ready. I was offered and accepted a piece and I am not sure whether it was the best in SLC (since it was the only one I have had) but it certainly had a ton of cheese which is my number one requirement for great pizza. When they had their fill of pizza we parted ways and I started driving down to LA at the late hour of 9:30pm. I had to stop by 10:30 to grab some caffeinated beverages.

The next hours were spent driving through Utah and Nevada and into California. And along the way I was accompanied by an old friend. Yes that's right KNBR 680 was coming in loud and clear from the Bay Area, CA all the way through Utah and Nevada and into Southern CA. I managed to cross over into CA around 3:00am after crossing swiftly through Las Vegas at 2:30am. Unsurprisingly, there was still a touch of traffic on the road at that late hour. I managed to make it to the Mojave National preserve and some free roadside camping before it became inappropriate to drive due to drowsiness.

I woke the next morning surrounded by Joshua trees and cacti. And with some extraordinary luck the Joshua trees were blooming.





The rest of the morning was a smooth cruise into LA and the only real event was the passing of two tanks being transported to the National Guard Armory in Barstow. They were loaded onto some trucks with "Oversize Loads" and I guess that goes to show that you should always check out the payloads on those suckers even though they tend to be predominantly Paul Bunyan's plumbing fittings.

More to come soon...

V6 Dyno?

Maybe it's that hard, maybe it's a bit easier, but I have photos of myself on it and that is not usually the case. So you get to see them here whether they are very interesting or not.

"Pocket Rocket" V6

Not quite out of Utah yet...

Okay not too much to say, but I got some thank yous and pictures to spread around. We opted for a hotel room in Castle Dale again last night, so I am back on the internet and posting up in this space.

Big Thank You's go out to Darko for a great partner on a great trip (probably the longest climbing trip I have ever taken), Darko's wife Cat for sending chocolate to us in Moab along with my forgotten shoes, Chelsea and Shilpa for some good campfire chilling and sharing their beer with Darko and I after we had run out of our own.

Additionally, I would like send out a huge to thank you to my friends that have invited me into their homes and fed me in the last few weeks, Joe and Mel, Pete, Melanie, Liz, Ben and Bryan and Michele. Hopefully I will be able to visit you all again soon and not just because you provided me with such delicious food.

and now the photos.....

New Joe's Boulders


Darko just missing on "Reading Rainbow" a v5


Me on "Contact" a v6 that I did get but not exactly at the time this photo was taken


End of the day at New Joe's


Landscape Arch, Arches NP


Sandstone fins, Arches NP


Darko and the Double O Arch, Arches NP


Our campsite in Indian Creek Canyon


Darko watches the moon rise from his seat by the fire.

Jeepers!

Yup it is the annual Jeep Safari here in Moab. And the town is just overrun with Jeepers. I am back in the wonderful Mondo Cafe enjoying their wireless before Darko and I hit the road to Joe's Valley for another day or so of bouldering before he has to fly home. I can't wait to get away from all the Jeepers.

Darko and I had a good last day climbing. Not as much hard climbing as we might have hoped but we did climb some fun stuff and do a good number of pitches. This was helped by doing quite a few laps on toprope of the few climbs we did lead. This was followed up by a great campfire in our fabulous campsite by the creek. The atomoshpere at the campfire was greatly improved by the presence of our new friends from NC, Shilpa and Chelsea (who will both have to excuse me since I am sure I just spelled their names wrong). By this time Darko and I have said pretty much everything we have to say to each other. And the presence of some new friends injected new life into conversations composed largely of comfortable silences.

Well it is about time to hit the road, and as I promised earlier there will be some pictures coming once I get to LA in a couple days. I'll try to give some quick hits on the photos and not bury them in text.

A few days in the Creek

So, when last we spoke I was sitting in a hotel room enjoying free wireless and anticipating some sweet bouldering in Joe's Valley later that day. Well, I did get some super sweet bouldering in with Darko up at the New Joe's section of Joe's valley. I got on a few cool problems and sent just about everything I tried except for a v6 called Planet of the Apes on which I blew the hard mantle top out after sticking the crux. I managed two v6's (Contact [taking maybe 30 tries and using possibly the worst beta ever] and Pocket Rocket [in three tries]) and two v5's (Self Service and another I can't remember the name of, both flashed) along with some other easier stuff. That made 3 v6's and 3 v5's in a day and a half of bouldering.

The weather was perfect with coolish temps but warm sun and a crisp breeze. It was fantastic. I'll have some pictures up at a later date.

We then busted back down to Indian Creek, picking up some supplies in Moab along the way. So, now three days later we are back in Moab on rest day after climbing a fair amount in the last two days. I think this is a much needed rest day for me since I have climbed 7 days in a row until now. We climbed not too hard the last two days. I led a few 5.10 cracks and got to top rope some slightly harder stuff. Yesterday I started off leading Generic Crack a 5.10- hand crack. It was pretty fun and I did two more runs on top rope to help build some endurance. Mostly we have just screwed around having fun and learning to appreciate the style of climbing in Indian Creek.

As I said we are resting today and then trying to send some 5.11s tomorrow. I have my eye on a route called Scarface which I might be able to get. It'll be fun either way.

Today we are heading up to Arches NP to hike around and check out a national park I haven't yet visited. And of course it is only about 3 miles outside of town. After climbing in IC tomorrow we'll head back up to Joe's Valley where I will try to send some v7's and maybe get back on Planet of the Apes. Darko will also be trying to send some v4's and v5's or at least the specific one's he was working on Monday, I have photographic proof that he should get the v5's since his fingers are just above the finishing jug in the picture. Some time on Sunday we'll drive on up to SLC, maybe fit in some bouldering at a place called Little Cottonwood Canyon and I'll drop off Darko at the airport before turning south and heading to LA.

My next update will probably come from LA and should include photos, so look to hear from me again around Tuesday or Wednesday next week depending on how long it takes me to shower all the caked-on dirt off myself.