A Week in the Creek

Evening light on the Disappointment Cliffs

With only a week to burn, Kristin and I recently made a dash for southeast Utah and the splitter cracks of Indian Creek.  Our most recent and only prior trip was in the fall of 2010, and we had been dreaming and scheming of our return even since.  Having sworn off of recreational air travel for the year, 2013 was the perfect time to make it happen.  The opportunity to plug into an incredible landscape is one of the great attractions of climbing, and Indian Creek did not disappoint.

The Desert Diaries - Indian Creek

You only get one first time.  In the midst of that new experience, the doors swing wide open and you suddenly perceive a new reality, new opportunities, and just maybe a new part of your life thereafter.  The rush can never be duplicated, but each time you return to your new found pastime, you try to recreate the unmatched eye opening feeling of having a life-long veil lifted off of your head.  Those moments, the feelings, the sensations, the little details, stick with you for the rest of your life, and if you’re lucky you get to experience that rush at least a few times before you move on.  If you build it up too much ahead of time, searching out that high, you might just be disappointed.  But when you take things as they come, those rare fleeting moments catch you by surprise and create memories that sustain and inspire you for the rest of your life.

The Desert Diaries - Moab to Sedona

After a few days of exploring Moab, we have migrated south to the great state of Arizona and are now happily holed up in Sedona, surrounded by another amazing landscape and more sandstone spires.  We were chased from our desert paradise by two irresistible forces.  First, Mother Nature herself, who unleashed a furious rainstorm reminiscent of our home in the Pacific Northwest.  We rode out one day of rain by squatting in the public library and drinking beer in the local brewery.  But with more weather expected over the next week, the sandstone was likely to remain wet into the foreseeable future, and we decided to search out better weather down South.  Second, an injury.

First Installment of the Desert Diaries

The Summit of Ancient Art

On a rainy rest day, we found time to process some photos and check in from the road in Moab, UT.  We've had two and half days of excellent climbing and are only getting our feet wet.

So far the desert has not disappointed - a Tuesday afternoon of cragging on Wall Street, Wednesday on Ancient Art and then Thursday in Long Canyon.  We're adjusting to the climbing style in the SW, learning a thing or two on the stout cracks and soft rock of the towers.  From here, we'll likely head to Indian Creek in search of sunny fall days and Wingate splitters.   

Hope you enjoy the pictures!