Canyons and Climbing

Oh boy howdy Moab is grand! After a week in this area I still find myself awestruck by every view.

I met up with Garrett (whom I met in New Zealand) and some of his friends he met climbing in City of Rocks. Unfortunately we had rain most of the weekend. We made the most of it by hunting for waterfalls and drinking beer in a hot tub. 

On Sunday it wasn't raining, but most of the rock was still wet. So one of our few options for climbing was at The Crackhouse. This cave can be found by driving an hour out of Moab, with the second half of the drive on a super rough road that put my Saturn to a serious test. Luckily it made it and it was worth it. This cave contains an 85 foot long roof crack... Something I've never seen before. We had a great day working on different sections of the crack and thoroughly got wrecked. 

Next day had more rain, but I needed a rest day anyway. I checked out Canyonlands National Park, which I've wanted to see for years. It was a wonderful day hiking and seeing as much as I could fit in.

Puebloan granary

The Green River cutting its way through the landscape

I then headed to Indian Creek, the #1 place I've wanted to climb at this year. I found some free camping on another super rough road that once again almost took out the Saturn. In the morning I headed to the main parking lot to find a climbing partner. There was a group of 3 guys that gladly took me in and we headed straight to the ultra-classic climbs.

The climbing in the Creek was everything I dreamed it would be and then some. The splitter cracks go forever and they are pure fun. Most of the climbs were between 80 and 120 feet tall which really tested the endurance. We spent 2 days climbing all sorts of cracks and having a really good time, all with perfect weather. 

This climb below was the longest single pitch climb I've ever done. It was 140 feet long and took all sorts of gear and even some nuts. I reached the top with exactly one cam left on my harness, out of breath and full of smiles.

Even the hike out was awesome, with the sun setting behind the six shooter towers.