Indian Creek 

Could anybody tell me if it is a good idea to climb in IC in June ?... Or is it too hot ??

There's an easy way to get away from the posers and brats at Indian Creek: MY GOODNESS, PEOPLE, GET THE HELL AWAY FROM SUPERCRACK BUTTRESS!! There's a million Supercrack's at the Creek. I've never understood why everyone flocks to that one cliff, when the Creek is unfathomably huge! Personally I get as far away from that buttress as I can.

I have an actual question:

There's a route on Battle of the Bulge, between Crack Attack and the Big Baby (closer to Crack Attack) that's not in my guidebook. It's about 50-60' long it's a black left facing corner/open book (wider than 90 degrees) It starts thin fingers, then gets tighter and tighter until you have to stem and use some pods. I'm pretty certain it's in the 5.12-12+ range. Does anyone know what this is? Thanks

I asked about camping areas at Indian Creek on the Climbingboulder.com mailing list, and thought I'd add the reply posts, since the intro to Indian Creek description has poor descriptions of the various places. First reply was from Steve "Crusher" Bartlett:

• ***************1. A month ago the road was rough, but easy enough in my 4x4 truck. There wereseveral passenger car / low clearance vehicles parked out there, so with some care and patience this works for most vehicles. Drove it in a 2WD vehicle last fall (Prius, very low clearance), and it seemd ok. You can expect to bottom out a little perhaps, but not badly enough to do any damage.[add-on by Friso: This is regarding the Bridger Jack's area. It is reached by turning left on the second dirt road that is past Dugout Ranch, I believe. If you are on the correct road, you should soon encounter a low level water crossing, followed by an odd intersection where a hard right will take you to Bridger Jack's camp area.]

• ***************I was at the super bowl about 3 weeks ago. It is very accessible to lowclearance vehicles. Another tip on finding it to add to Crusher's. Rightbefore the turn there is a short but very noticeable, slightly curving distinct downhill section of the road. The gate to the superbowl isimmediately after that. There was also a small nature conservancy/BLM IndianCreek brochure box located at the gate to help identify it. Don't be detered byall the RV-type vehicles you see initially. Stay to the left of where theypark and you'll find the climber camping.****************

I was just wondering about summer weather, is it too hot to climb, or is it possible to find relief in the shade on some of the walls? Also, a little bit more specific: what are the best months, ok months, and worse months to climb at indian creek. I appreciate the Help.

Maui Postma

The best months at the Creek are fall and spring March through mid-May and mid-September through November. The unfortunate thing about the Creek for summer climbing is that most of the walls face South. However, there are a few excellent walls which get plenty of shade: Reservoir Wall and 4x4 Wall come to mind as the best.

just wondering if anybody has info on a couple routes we did this weekend. the two routes we did were side by side, and they were between dusty trails to nowhere and coyote essence.

the left hand route went up the right side of a flake on great hands and then burrows into a sweet squeeze chimney. the squeeze is capped by a hand crack that quickly tapers to a lieback to get to the anchors. (5.9 until layback topout, maybe 10b, approx 80 feet).

the right hand route (about 15 feet to the right) was pretty low angle. it started with a finger lieback to get onto a small pedestal. then it was low angled ringlocks and tight hands for a ways. finally, there is kind of an angled slot/recess with tight hands (this part is steeper). (maybe 10b or so, approx 60 feet?)

thanks for the info. both routes were excellent.

two questions, about Indian Creek, one which wall is Diedier's new climb on, from switzerland with love? i am going to the creek this weekend and just want to check out the route, next...what wall is the ringel on? thanks for the help!

Question! Might anyone recall the names of the two newish routes just left of the Optimator (yes, on the Optimator Wall)? The farthest left is an easier 5.12 in a right-facing corner, I believe containing thw word 'red' in its short name, and the other begins with a bouldery start. Anyway, they are fun routes, if you haven't made it over there, and for whatever reason it's nagging me that I can't recall the names.

whats the deal with climbing on the reservoir wall? shutdown or what??

Just talked to Heidi about Resevoir in May '06. She would prefer that people stay on the left side of the wall, basically out of view of the ranch.

A note for 1st ascensionists from an ARI volunteer who has replaced stacks of anchors in the creek.

Some guidelines to consider for new anchors:

1. Use deep half inch bolts when possible (a power drill drills a better hole, and even though it is heavy on the hike, it can drop in a 4 1/2 X 1/2 inch hole in about 15 seconds).

2.Three eighths is your second choice.

3. Leave the baby angles at home. I have cleaned these antiquated things with embarrassingly little effort. They are difficult to place, anyway, even by experienced drillers (hence the ones sticking out an inch from the wall). Besides, they are more expensive than expansion bolts.

4. Use steel anchors. Webbing is visually gross and wears out quickly becoming unsafe. There are many cheap options at your local hardware store.

5. Camo the anchors. Every hardware store carries a brown primer that is exactly the color of windgate.

5. Make the link to the rope replaceable without having to replace the entire setup (ie: screwlinks or old biners).

A major complaint against climbers in indian creek and across the country is the visual impact of bolts and anchors, so this is an access issue and a safety issue.

Finally, those of you who carry a bolt kit for beefing up anchors, consider carrying enough gear to replace the entire thing with steel hardware and good bolts. This will avoid creating those confusing rats nest anchors that we always see out there. If one out of every one hundred parties replaced one anchor, the place would be cleaned up in no time.

Thanks
Chris Kalous
Climbing Magazine ARI volunteer.

PS: If you put up routes with single bolt anchors, you're cheap and lazy.

Hi, I got busted on the 211, the road going into Indian Creek Corridor. I was speeding and got searched. Dont speed and just say no to search. Be careful on these Utah backroads, spred the word.

Last week I went up and climbed the wonderful Whales Back on Technicolor Wall and noticed a new route to the right of it with 3 shiny new bolts on a prow to the right of a flair. What really bothered me about it was the name of the route SILVER LINING scribed on the wall. I like plaques, they can be attractive and artistic but scribing on the wall itself is not only defacing the rock but is a ticket to having IC closed for climbing. All it takes is one pissed off Native American working with the BLM to shut it down, with good reason. Choss Boy

From the Redds of Indian Creek 12/07/08...

...As you know, one of our dogs is missing from the Dugout Ranch (aka Indian Creek area). Please forward this email to anyone who may be able to help.

"Jack" is a female Kelpie/Boxer cross, with distinctive black and white markings and a couple brown spots on her cheek. (pictures attached) She is a very sweet, affectionate and friendly dog who went missing shortly before Thanksgiving. Jack's brother was picked up by a female rock climber on 11/23 and was TAKEN to Moab. This climber kept our dog for a week before reporting it to the Humane Society, where I finally tracked him down on 12/3.

Jack is unfortunately still missing. She was wearing a brown leather collar with a brass nameplate riveted to it that clearly stated she lives at Dugout Ranch, along with all our contact information.

If anyone has any information at all, or someone in town has s dog matching her description, please contact us at this email or leave a message at 435-459-0018 . Feel free to email if you have any questions or need more information.

Also, I thought you should know this is not the first time this has happened. Perhaps if we can get the word out, this type of thing will happen less frequently. I am planning to post flyers at the kiosks down here as well.

Please advise people: If you see a "stray" dog at Indian Creek, bring it to the ranch to ask before you make any assumptions. The bottom line: you are climbing and camping on private and leased property, where these dogs live and work daily. Please have some common sense. Our dogs are very friendly and will not forgo attention! Because they let you pet them (or feed them!) does not mean they are strays.


Thank you,
Melinda & Adam Redd
melindaredd@yahoo.com

Larry, the perpetrator to said inscribing is a well known desert hermit (whose name rhymes with ralph). I doubt he spends much time on MP, so you might have to track him down in the field. While his practice of "inscribing" route names might not be the best idea, keep in mind that he has done a lot of work for Technicolor Wall, including building a trail.

Just got back from a long labor day weekend in the Creek. NOBODY was there! All the popular camping and climbing was wide open. The weather was perfect as long as you stayed out of direct sun. I don't think that I saw more than one or two cars parked at Supercrack Buttress all weekend long!
Imagine showing up at Supercrack Buttress mid day on a saturday and having your pick of any climb!?! Yeah, that's how it was.

Indian Creek is fast becoming known as the worlds best crack climbing. Most people camp a few days and then stay at a hotel. Motnticello, utah is the closest town and Inn at the Canyons is the actuall closest hotel to Indian Creek. I am the owner of the hotel and an avid climber my self, so i would like to offer a 25% discount to all climbers just by mentioning this add and that you are a climber. We are in Monticello, utah 533 N main, Inn at the canyons. Come in, save some money and talk to me ( the Owner Jared) about some sweet climbs that only locals know about. www.monticellocanyonlandsinn.com

If you are going to Indian Creek, which is proballly the best crack climbing inj the world and need a hotel after camping out, I reccomend Inn at the Canyons, in Monticello. It is 40 minutes closer to indian creek than moab, it's a very nice hotel and the owner is a climber and gives us $20.00 USD off if you just mention you are climbing Indian Creeek, Pretty cool. Indoor Pool, Hot tub, Break fast Inn at the Canyons 435 587-2458

After reading some stuff hear I thought our visit might be similar to surfing at one of So Cals hot breaks where fistfights are not uncommon. But as usual the climbers we met were great mostly friendly and really courteous. If they had a rope hanging and you wanted to lead the route. Even on the weekend when Cat Wall had a ton of cars and a lot of climbers it was busy but not unpleasant. Wait I mean it really sucked everyone had an attitude and the whole trip sucked.:)

And don't forget the standard "the place is ruined, man."

It looks like Cat, Reservoir and Slug walls are closed again for raptors through August 31. Are there any other seasonal closures?

Dear Boulder,
I don't really mind that you're colonizing Indian Creek. I don't mind that you apply an entire roll of tape to your hands (some of you; I know the danger of generalization, but I am compelled to indulge). I don't mind that you're strong and fit and attractively clothed. Please just don't tell me how to climb, how you climb, or how good you are at climbing. There is room for everyone at the creek, even at the most crowded walls, but our egos make things feel quite a bit more crowded

Humbly yours,
Xander

any particular incident, or just in general?

purist, non-purist, semi-purist, antipurist.. It doesn't matter just "do you" and let other people "do themselves". All I know is I love indian creek and want to go back! but I have to go to work instead :(