It was an obvious line, easy to spot from the road. A long-time classic, Generic Crack beckons you from the lazy serenity of your car. The white of chalk highlights the edges of the crack, making it all the more visible, and conjuring words of wisdom from long ago: Sure, it's all been done before, but it hasn't been done by you.
It was with this thought that I entered Indian Creek for the first time. I had spent much time on the desert sandstone of Red Rock Canyon, just outside of Las Vegas, but never had I seen such perfectly splitter cracks in such marvelously red and orange rock. It was a pilgrimage of sorts, one most of my friends and colleagues had made at least once already. But it was all new to me.
I had been warned to leave my ego behind, forget what the numbers meant, and just absorb and learn. So I gazed up at Generic C rack, no expectations, no goals but to learn and grow stronger.
Annie and I had been on the road already for about a week, climbing in Red Rocks. Traveling with a fellow young female mountain guide had been a very rewarding and empowering experience already, and now we were ready to really charge and push ourselves. Rick joined us for the drive out to Utah, and was going to spend about a week or so with us in Indian Creek.
Annie lead Generic Crack right off the bat, and Rick and I followed. It felt strenuous and awkward, but Annie seemed unphazed. That's a 5.10-? Alright, now I understand what they meant by the ratings. No expectations.
The first day was an excellent warm-up. After a couple of top-ropes, I got on a lovely 5.9 splitter. I felt smooth and fast, and my motivation increased. The ensuing days slowly became a blur. After a while, the climbing starts to feel similar everywhere in the area, but this is no complaint. The consistency of the crack sizes really forces you to work out the kinks in your technique; the proximity of excellent routes makes it easy to get on another climb; and the beautiful scenery whisks you away to a sort of physio-emotional zen state, where your movements seem to flow seamlessly from one day to the next.
We met up with a couple of other friends, and one day they had the brilliant idea of getting in a "mileage day." We got up and out a bit earlier (only one breakfast sandwich this morning), and high tailed it over to Supercrack Buttress where we could find plenty of 5.10s to fill the day. Nathan's goal was 1500ft, Anneka's was 1000ft, Annie was also going for 1000ft, and I was still enjoying the "no expectations" climbing style, so I was just going to get on as much as I could, and as much as I wanted.
Everyone ended up meeting his or her goals, and once I tallied up my own mileage, it came out to nine-hundred-and-something-fun-inches. The fatigue didn't set in until a couple of days later, but during the 10+ pitches I climbed, the movement started to feel very meditative. Some climbers tire of doing the same movement over and over again on a climb, but all being relatively new to me (and recognizing how good it was for my technique) I found it very inspiring and meditative.
Eventually we had to exchange Rick for Dave. Rick had to get back to the ER in Bishop for work and Dave had just gotten back from guiding on the volcanoes in Mexico. As much time as Dave and I get together, we hadn't been able to climb as much together recently, so I was excited to spend some quality climbing time with him. He hadn't been to Indian Creek in about 8 years, so it was fresh and exciting for him, too.
The vibe of Indian Creek has changed over the years. It sees much more traffic than it used to, which is heartening on some levels, and disappointing on others. I am always glad to see folks outside and enjoying nature, and in this area, the individuals and organizations watching over the land have done a spectacular job. It is one of the more well-managed climbing areas I have ever been to. It still retains the rustic, primitive camping scene of years gone by. But some days we were frustrated at the amount of climbers -- it almost felt like Disneyland. But once we figured out to head to the out-of-the-way crags on weekends, we were able to retain that feeling of wilderness, isolation, and adventure that we had been seeking in the vast lands of "God's Country."
We rounded out our climbing with movie nights and trail running, taking advantage of weather days to explore our surroundings. On our first few days, I figured we would take a 3 or 4 day on, 1 day off schedule. But in the wise words of Squints in The Sandlot, "If you were thinking, you wouldn't'a thought that!"
Right.
So 2-3 days on, 1 day off turned out to be plenty for me, and still I was exhausted on the long drive home.
Worked, exhausted, and mightily content.
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