Rock Climbing --- 10/16/2012 - 10/24/2012 --- Indian Creek, Utah
Yamin and I flew to SLC on Tuesday. Grabbed Keith's car at the airport, met up with Guy, and drove to Sarah's apartment where we spent the night. Wednesday was spent accumulating supplies and driving to Indian Creek. We set up camp on 1041 near Way Rambo just as the sun was setting.
Thursday morning we headed to Donnelly canyon. Started the trip with Generic Crack. The pod at 30' threw me for a loop until I figured out that the excellent right foot was a red herring that put my body in the wrong position for a high left foot. Anyhow, I didn't get the onsight. On this climb or any climb for the trip. Oh well. After Generic, we climbed Elephant Man which was really fun. Then Mr. Peanut which was really soft for the grade. We all climbed it differently and all got it clean. Then Chocolate Corner which Guy had climbed earlier to clean a stuck cam for another group. We finished the day with Drain Pipe which was probably the worst climb of the trip. Polished and awkward. I didn't even bother to finish.
Friday we went to Supercrack Buttress. We started with Incredible Hand Crack. I loved this climb and did it a second time on toprope so I could stay at the anchors and take pictures of Guy's lead from above. Then we got on Supercrack completing our tour of the three Indian Creek classic 5.10s. Supercrack has an awkward start and is very wide hands for the entire second half. Not as much fun for me. I finished the day climbing another group's toprope on Amaretto Corner which had a good stretch of offwidth climbing.
Trying to avoid the sun and weekend crowds, we headed to Reservoir Wall on Saturday... along with everyone else in the Creek. Oops. We managed to get on Dr. Carl which I climbed a second time on toprope to clean. Unfortunately, while leading the climb, I tweaked my right shoulder pulling hard on the final move before the chains. It would turn out to be a minor injury which would clear in a week, but I spent the rest of the time in Indian Creek panicked that it would require two surgeries and 18 months of rehab like my left shoulder. Anyhow, Dr. Carl is a very cool and varied climb. Atypical for the Creek. After that Guy started up some unnamed finger crack, but backed off after discovering that it was a long stretch of .75s off the ground. We went to some other unnamed wide hands crack. I got rid of the tat anchor and put together a reasonable rap anchor with biners and quicklinks on the bolts. My shoulder was swelling and feeling worse throughout the day. Realizing that it was more than just a tweak, I decided that this would be my last climb of the trip. We hiked to the far left side of the wall where we looked at Excuse Station. Seemed like the party that was on it would be there until late in the day, so we headed back right. At Pente we saw a rescue taking place and immediately joined the effort. A woman had fallen high on the climb, hit a ledge, and hurt her ribs and lower back. Someone had managed to get to a spot where they could call 911 and EMS was already on the scene. Not sure what time the accident happened, but it seemed like the response time was very good. It took a team of about 30 people to transport the litter down the huge talus slope and to the waiting ambulance. We reached the road just as the sun set. It was a good reminder to me that: 1)climbing is dangerous and my system of cautious (aka cowardly) climbing is definitely the right choice for me; and 2)climbers all pitch in to help when one of their own is hurt (except one d-bag who continued to grunt and scream while toproping the 5.13 right of Pente). Climbers are a bunch of diverse people who come together as a community when the situation demands it. Hope the injured climber has a quick recovery.
Sunday morning we headed to Battle of the Bulge Buttress. At this point my notes on what we climbed become sparse. Sorry, when I don't climb, I don't record the climbs. I know that Crack Attack was climbed, I recall that Yamin got his first IC lead on Warm-Up, and I remember we finished the day on the very cool Cave Route. I enjoyed belaying and taking pictures :)
Monday we woke to find Keith and Aramy had arrived in the night. Huzzah! The five of us went to Scarface. Some unnamed 5.9 was climbed, and Scarface, and then Scard Face at least as high as we had gear to protect. And we finished the day with Wavy Gravy which looked really cool. And wavy.
Tuesday morning we woke at 7am to start what was for me 28 hours of traveling to reach home. Highlights were spending time with Sarah in SLC and eating awesome Indian takeout. Lowlights were running across multiple terminals in Atlanta and Detroit to make tight connections.
It was tough for me to skip some of the gorgeous lines we saw on Sunday and Monday, but it was an easy choice when I remembered how much pain and effort went into repairing my left shoulder. In the end, taking pictures and hanging out with great friends in an amazing location isn't such a bad way to spend two days.
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All you need for Indian Creek: TC Pros and six rolls of tape. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Rack for Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Guy leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Guy leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Guy leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Guy leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Guy leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Guy leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Guy leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Me leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Me leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Me leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Me leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Me leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Me leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Me leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Me leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Me leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Me leading Generic Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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That girl is like, "He is still in that pod? OMG!" Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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I did finally finish the climb. And at some point got this scrape on my shin. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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That's me on Mr. Peanut. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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That's me on Mr. Peanut. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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The view. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Yamin Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Guy leading Drain Pipe. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Guy leading Drain Pipe. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Guy leading Drain Pipe. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Keith's contribution to the rack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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My contribution to the rack (plus the COE gear I borrowed). Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy's contribution to the rack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Yamin's contribution to the rack (with Tim's #6). Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Eight #2s; Seven #3s Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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One blue; three green; three yellow; two grey; two red; four #.5 Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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One green link cam; six #.75s; seven #1s; one red link cam Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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The big boys! Four #4s; two #5s; two #6s Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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The entire rack. 53 cams by my count. Over $4000 worth of climbing gear! Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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We left a note so everyone could find us. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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I think I'm very funny :)
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Me starting Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me starting Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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The view from Supercrack Buttress. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Yamin on Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Yamin on Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Yamin on Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Yamin on Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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I had time to kill while Guy was obscured by the overhang, so I took this self portrait. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Incredible Hand Crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Incredible Hand Crack is perfect hands the whole way. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Why do people toprope through the rings? Jerks. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me at the start of Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me at the start of Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me at the start of Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me at the start of Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me at the start of Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me at the start of Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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I didn't like the awkward start and handed it over to Guy. He didn't like it either... but he did it. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Prickly Pear Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy leading Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy at the top of Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Untying Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Untying Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me on Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me on Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me on Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me on Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me on Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me on Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me on Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me on Supercrack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Getting ready to climb Amaretto Corner. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Guy and Yamin saw this lizard eat a bug! Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me on Amaretto Corner. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me on Amaretto Corner. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me on Amaretto Corner. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Sunset Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Sunset Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Me rapping off the unnamed wide hands crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Me rapping off the unnamed wide hands crack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Gorgeous views everywhere! Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Hiking along the base of Reservoir. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Hiking along the base of Reservoir. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Silhouette Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Carryout Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Carryout Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Carryout Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Carryout. We had to pass the litter the whole way down the talus slope. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Carryout Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Carryout Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Finally reached level ground. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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We carried the victim down that! Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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We carried the victim down that! And, BTW, I spent about 98% of my time carrying/shuttling the litter, and about 2% taking pictures. Don't judge me! Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Sunset! Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Six Shooters at dusk. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Guy pointing to the giant hold he failed to notice while attempting to onsight Crack Attack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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Guy leading Crack Attack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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Guy leading Crack Attack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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Guy leading Crack Attack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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Guy leading Crack Attack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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Guy leading Crack Attack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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Guy leading Crack Attack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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Guy leading Crack Attack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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Guy leading Crack Attack. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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Yamin leading Warm-Up. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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Yamin leading Warm-Up. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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Yamin leading Warm-Up. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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Yamin leading Warm-Up. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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Yamin leading Warm-Up. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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In the cave. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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Aramy and Keith. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Nothing like clipping a #2. Bomber cam in a perfect sized crack! Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Guy leading some 5.9 climb. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Guy leading some 5.9 climb. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Guy leading some 5.9 climb. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Guy leading some 5.9 climb. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Yamin on some 5.9 climb. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Sarah is an intactavist. She designed this shirt for Keith. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Keith leading Scarface. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Keith leading Scarface. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Aramy leading Scarface. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Everyone checking out the cliff. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Aramy leading Scard Face. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Aramy leading Scard Face. Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Thanks for letting us use your van, Keith! Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Elephant Man (Yamin's Photo) Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Mr. Peanut (Yamin's Photo) Indian Creek, UT -- 10/18/2012 |
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Incredible Hand Crack (Yamin's Photo) Indian Creek, UT -- 10/19/2012 |
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Dr. Carl (Yamin's Photo) Indian Creek, UT -- 10/20/2012 |
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Cave Route (Yamin's Photo) Indian Creek, UT -- 10/21/2012 |
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Unnamed 5.9 (Yamin's Photo) Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Scarface (Yamin's Photo) Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Scard Face (Yamin's Photo) Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |
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Wavy Gravy (Yamin's Photo) Indian Creek, UT -- 10/22/2012 |