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Dr. Carl

5.10-, Trad,  Avg: 2.7 from 309 votes
FA: Alf
Utah > Southeast Utah > Indian Creek > Reservoir Wall
Warning Access Issue: 2024 Raptor Avoidance Areas! Limited Toilet Facilities! DetailsDrop down
Warning Access Issue: RAIN, WET ROCK and RAPTOR CLOSURES: The sandstone around Moab is fragile and is very easily damaged when it is wet. Also please ask and be aware of Raptor Closures in areas such as CAT WALL and RESERVOIR WALL in Indian Creek DetailsDrop down
Warning Access Issue: Portions of Reservoir Wall are on private land and should not be climbed. DetailsDrop down

Description

Find the route Wigglin' Worm and look just about 40 feet to the left. You will see a set of chalked up thin cracks, near the ground. These twin cracks are thin and delicate at the base. Protect with a .5" or smaller cam behind a thin flake for pro on the left, and climb up a bit higher to good gear.

Stem, layback, and jam up between the opposing flakes and cracks for about 70', until the right-hand side slopes over to a ledge with an anchor.

The moves are reasonably easy, but require a little bit of power here and there. One could argue that this route is 5.9.

Protection

This route is pretty secure and offers reasonable good gear in a variety of sizes, I double set of cams .5 to 3" should suffice to protect the route if you do not have an "Indian Creek rack."

From the ground, the route appears to require all small gear, but the 'invisible' crack on the left will take gear from 2-3" for the top half of the route.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Dr. Carl in reservoir Wall. Allows for perfect protection. Very nice twin crack...
[Hide Photo] Dr. Carl in reservoir Wall. Allows for perfect protection. Very nice twin crack...
Dr. Carl
[Hide Photo] Dr. Carl
Sam typically throws his cams at the wall until they stick haha!
[Hide Photo] Sam typically throws his cams at the wall until they stick haha!
Me on Dr. Carl
[Hide Photo] Me on Dr. Carl
So good!
[Hide Photo] So good!
five pieces: .3 blue, .75 green, .5 purple, .5 purple, .4 grey
[Hide Photo] five pieces: .3 blue, .75 green, .5 purple, .5 purple, .4 grey
There are a million ways to do this route
[Hide Photo] There are a million ways to do this route
Climber on Dr. Carl - Oct 27
[Hide Photo] Climber on Dr. Carl - Oct 27
Tony Bubb starts up on the thin beginning of 'Doctor Carl (5.10)'. Photo by Joseffa Meir, 2002.
[Hide Photo] Tony Bubb starts up on the thin beginning of 'Doctor Carl (5.10)'. Photo by Joseffa Meir, 2002.
Dr. Carl's twin cracks.
[Hide Photo] Dr. Carl's twin cracks.
Mack truckin Dr. Carl
[Hide Photo] Mack truckin Dr. Carl

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Rich Farnham
Nederland, CO
[Hide Comment] I'd have to vote for two stars on this one. It's not the best route at the crag, but the moves are a lot of fun. It makes a great warm-up for the other classics nearby. Apr 20, 2003
[Hide Comment] I agree that this should get two stars. Lots of variety in the moves...not your typical plug-n-chug. Apr 28, 2003
Bryan Gall
New Castle, CO
 
[Hide Comment] I believe this route was called "Dr. Carl"; back in the day of plaques and such... Oct 10, 2003
Danny Inman
Arvada
 
[Hide Comment] Nice climb overall. However, when I climbed this last week (nov 23 2005) the large flake towards the top 1/4 of the route flexed enough to make me not want to yard on it, even though there was a ton of chalk on it, at the least I would advise not placing gear behind this. Nov 29, 2005
Joshua Tree Runner
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
 
[Hide Comment] Okay route just no jamming. Good face climbing. Nov 26, 2007
BretWith1T
Laramie, Wyoming
  5.10-
[Hide Comment] This has a little something for everyone (except us Vedauwoo offwidth freaks). I really enjoyed the variety at the grade. Sep 21, 2008
Gavin Ferguson
Portland, OR
[Hide Comment] FA of Dr. Carl was done by Alf Randell. We all know Alf! Oct 16, 2008
Kat A
Boulder, CO
[Hide Comment] A nice warmup. I'd recommend a couple smaller pieces - green and yellow alien sized. Mar 23, 2009
Ben Griffin
Chattanooga, TN
  5.10-
[Hide Comment] This route is varied with stemming and finger jamming. I think this route is really fun and a great warm up for the harder finger cracks at reservoir wall. If you are looking to climb a low-end 5.10 at the creek, this might be the best one. Sep 5, 2011
Optimistic
New Paltz
[Hide Comment] We were well stocked on gear 0.75 and below, and as a result sewed it up with nothing bigger than that. I thought this route was pretty solid 10 (but I suck at stemming). Quality route. Mar 18, 2015
Nick Black
Arcata, CA
  5.10
[Hide Comment] fun route, not the atypical Indian creek splitter. good warm up Apr 18, 2016
Alex Temus
Lehi, UT
  5.10-
[Hide Comment] I'm surprised that this isn't rated higher - I thought this route was a blast! Nice change of pace from the typical Creek splitter. It requires some fun lie-backing with great rests between moves, finger and hand jams are occasional available and optional.

Great gear all the way up! The top left had some detached blocks, sure, they might wiggle a little, but they're definitely not going anywhere and provide great jugs while the right crack takes good gear. Nothing to worry about there, just plug your cams into the right corner.

I used Black-Green Totems (tips to off-fingers), with a second purple (0.5 camalot size) & a red dragon. That really sews it up. You probably could use a #2 or #3 at one spot, but it'd be tough to stop right there.

Sweet route! Highly recommend. Oct 28, 2018
[Hide Comment] This route has been equipped with durable lower off hardware courtesy of the ASCA. To support this work, donate today at safeclimbing.org Oct 10, 2019
Connor McCullough
Jackson, WY
[Hide Comment] Video of the climb
youtu.be/h8vWhwJSoBg Dec 3, 2023