I’d never been to Indian Creek, so when I heard about Aaron’s self-organized trip, I jumped at the opportunity. I had visions of desert solitude, classic crack climbing, and basking in warm spring sunshine – so why is there a quarter inch of ice on my tent??
Indian Creek is one of the best crack climbing anywhere. It’s located about an hour south of Moab, outside of Canyonlands National Park. I'm looking forward to my return trip. Here’s what I learned:
On day one, Mark and I drove from Moab, set-up camp, and went over to check out South Six Shooter. It’s one of two prominent towers in the creek. With 4 wheel drive, you can drive to the base. With 2 wheel drive, you hike ~3 miles to the base, then 30-40 min huff up talus. We bailed with stormy skys and setting sun, but enjoyed a great hike in the desert and now have the approach dialed for next trip.
Day two we joined Aaron, Tim, Mike, and Carrie at Donnelly Canyon and Supercrack Buttress. To beat any crowds and get our choice of warm up climbs we arrived at 8 am. It was 37 deg in the parking lot (!), but warmed up quick after the huff up talus to the south facing wall. We ticked off - Chocolate Corner 5.9, Binou’s Crack 5.8, first pitch of Naked and Dead 5.8, Generic Crack 5.10-, Twin Crack 5.9, Gorilla 5.10, and Incredible Hand Crack 5.10
On day three we went to Scarface Wall. It’s faces due south so a good choice for early April. It also has some of the best views in the region. Some of our climbs: Spam 5.9, Where's Carruthers? 5.10, Unnamed 5.10-, Wavy Gravy 5.10, Scarface 5.11.
On Saturday we drove down to the remote Pistol Whipped wall to avoid any weekend crowds. Beautiful location, nice approach, and more 5 star crack climbing! We did Jolly Rancher 5.10, Short and Stupid 5.8+ and others.
On our way back to SLT, Mark and I checked out Potash Road – only 5 min from downtown Moab. The Wall Street area has lots of moderate climbs, and you can belay right from the car!
Thanks for organizing guys!