I’m getting close to the end of my Indian Creek photos. For this installment, some photos of Ilona sending!
Somebody is happy!
Here’s Ilona on Scarface. This was one of Ilona’s “goal climbs” and she styled it.
Ilona redpointing the enduro corner, Quarter of a Man, one of her toughest battles
Guess who, working Coyne Crack, a pure splitter that you could use as a plumb line.
Happy after sending Cow Crack
Ancient Art is not really in the Creek, it’s about 45 minutes Northeast of Moab, but we climbed it as a day trip from the Creek on an iffy weather day. The plan was to head to Moab, and if the weather turned to crap, we could catch a movie in town. If the weather held out then we’d climb a tower. This is what is known as a win-win situation.
The Fisher Towers, of which Ancient Art is one, are made of very soft Cutler sandstone. Well, maybe it’s hard for Cutler, I don’t really know as I haven’t climbed on other Cutler, but suffice to say that it is much softer than the Wingate layer found at Indian Creek. This soft sandstone erodes easily and leaves behind formations that look like the mud castles you made at the beach as a kid.
We’re going to climb the Corkscrew Summit of Ancient Art. Maybe you’ve seen it in a recent Citibank commercial.
The route from the base.
The Corkscrew Summit is left of center. The blue dot is Ilona, and the route follows the groove and chimney system to the right of Ilona, then breaks left at the top to the summit. It’s one of the routes featured in Fifty Classic Climbs of North America.
Here’s the crew: Mikey, Curtis & Dan hanging out above the first pitch.
Curtis leading Continue reading
While climbing is the main reason for us to be at The Creek, only a few hours per day are actually spent tied into the rope. This leaves a whole lot of time for other things. And then there are the “rest days” when our arms are too tired to climb and we spend the whole day exploring, reading, doing chores, fixing things that need repair, talking about the weather, sitting around campfires and doing other “restful” activities while our skin and muscles heal.
Curtis fixing some shoes on a rest day
Mike walking the slackline on a weather day
Most days start out with breakfast, some coffee, and then chit-chat about what to do and where to go.
The more motivated among us head out for an early “rest day” run.
Some have business to take care of.
Dan prepares for a job interview.
The rest day hiking opportunities at the Creek are unlimited. The previous inhabitants of these canyons have left traces of their lives throughout the region and they are always a pleasure to find. Continue reading
We’ve moved on from Indian Creek after an excellent 5 weeks. Here are some more photos, and I’m sure Yoav will post more soon as well.
Yoav and Annunaki
A satisfied Yoav after sending Annunaki, 5.11+/12-
Yoav starting Sinestra, 5.11
Sometimes ya just gotta climba tower. North Six Shooter Peak will scratch that itch.
Ilona en route to North Six Shooter
Lightning Bolt Cracks is a popular route
…and we had to wait at the base for a few hours to get started. Not a bad place to kick back for a bit. South Six Shooter from North Six Shooter
Why is it that towers are so much more burly than cragging routes?
Here are some recent climbing pics:
Yoav starting Scarface, 5.11-, photo courtesy Mikey Ragsdale
Yoav on Scarface, photo courtesy Mikey Ragsdale
Yoav finishing Scarface, photo courtesy Mikey Ragsdale
I’ve got a bunch of new pictures to post, and am loving my new camera. Its heating up around here, but we are having a blast. Here are some pictures of non-climbing things around the creek…
Stlllife with Ruins
petroglyphs
More Petroglyphs
More Patagonia stories and photos to come later, but for now we’ve been hiding out in the Utah desert away from wifi and cell reception, climbing cracks with the Creek Pasture crew, seeing new friends and old. We drive to civilization once a week for supplies and connectivity.
Before heading to Indian Creek we stopped at Red Rocks to try and climb an easy multipitch, but my hand was bothering me too much for that type of climbing so we decided to continue on to Utah for crack climbing which has turned out to be good therapy for my hand. I get a tingling sensation in my left hand with cupped handjams and fistjams which can last for several hours after a climb. It seems like the severity is decreasing with each day of climbing.
Here’s Ilona midway up Crimson Chrysalis in Red Rocks.
On our first day back at the Creek we hooked up with Ian who we met at the base camp for Torre Norte in Torres Del Paine, Chile. Ian’s first day at the Creek included his first hand-fist stack and a possible first ascent at the Optimator Wall.
I finally got a replacement for my broken camera, so here are some pictures from the last few days in Indian Creek.
Yoav on the first pitch of the Crowning
Yoav on the second pitch of the Crowning
A great plaque at the base of Yoav's proud send
Yoav belaying with Crozzly waiting patiently below
Mike Starting Sweden Ringle
thin hands on sweden ringle
More Sweden Ringle
You’ve got your gear packed, have visited pataclimb.com for all the beta you can stuff into your head, and are primed to send as soon as you get your boots on the ground in El Chalten.
The weather may have something else in mind. Whether it’s wind or rain, chances are you will spend some of your trip to Patagonia waiting for climbing weather. Luckily, you have lots of options to stay fit and have fun.
Cliffs surround El Chalten…
We didn’t get a good climbing weather window during the entire 2.5 weeks we spent around Chalten. At first we holed up at our Laguna Capri campsite (free camping!) You can always kill some time building temporary structures around camp that you hope will keep you dry. Sometimes they might even work. That tarp above Ilona’s head looks like a simple five minutes of work, but that the result of trying several different trees, cord lengths positions and angles.
Hikes are a great way to spend a rainy day. There is a great system of linked trails that radiate out from Chalten to the various valleys and cirques of the Fitz Roy and Torre groups. You can weave together a hike of any length from town or any of the campgrounds and take in wildlife, huge glaciers, silty lakes, and rugged mountains.
The beech forests of Los Glaciares are home to many Megellanic Woodpeckers. They are big, colorful, loud and brave, and we saw them frequently when hiking between Laguna Capri and Laguna Torres.
Ilona with some wildlife from the past…
Don’t miss out on a chance to hike up to the moraine above D’Agostini camp and see the giant Continue reading