We made it! We are officially in Indian Creek, and to avoid sun we accidentally landed at a crag in full sun. Optimator Wall faces southeast, and we put a little too much stock in the “east” and not enough in the “south”. We got a late start, moseying out of bed around 9:30am, and making it to the Beef Basin trailhead/bathroom around 11-something. By the time we picked a crag that hadn’t been chosen as a mating location for raptors, it was nearly noon. This springtime of year coincides with raptor nesting, and if climbers disrupt a raptor, it can disrupt the bird so it deserts its nest and leaves its young to die. Since no one wants that to happen, a list of off-limit crags is conveniently posted at the Beef Basin trailhead. We decided on Optimator, and drove the additional few miles to the base of the wall. Actually we chose 4x4 wall, saw how many cars were piled up at the base, and then changed our minds and decided on Optimator.
After hiking our gear up to the wall, we were pleasantly surprised at how few people were climbing at our location. That is probably because the routes were all in the sun, but when our default warmup route was occupied, we curled around to the north-ish side of the cliff and found a good warmup that was in the SHADE!
woohoo, shade!
Even cooler than shade (!) was our discovery of some petroglyphs in the sandstone. Check out the photo below:
For some reason I was having an emotional day and we can blame a proliferation of progesterone, or the moon, sure. Or maybe residual PhD stress. It has been mind-blowing to me how I am still processing the last five years. The other day I broke down in tears, just processing how hard I worked for the past five years. I am thankful for my labmates and my advisor, but I realize that I need more regular contact with other humans than I received in the past year of writing my thesis. Long days in front of a computer and feeling isolated took its toll on me. “Was it worth it?” I ask myself and I know the answer is yes, but stress and anxiety have been such familiar dinner guests I have forgotten they are guests and they seem to have a permanent seat at the table of my 3-lb universe (brain). I take a deep breath- this is what this trip is all about, right? Getting some much-needed nature, fresh air, time with Jason, and space away from research.
I sit at the base of a climb, nervous, somewhat emotional, but steeling my nerves for what I’m about to do. I am about to lead my first route at Indian Creek! I have been to Indian Creek before (last April or so with Jason/Cam/Jared/Allison/Avery/Moose) but I top-roped every route. I want to do this, despite what my nerves say. Jason has helped me select the rack for the route (we have nearly pent-licates [that would be the 5-version of “duplicate”] of every piece of gear), and I am ready. Starting up the route, I am all-too-aware that if I fall and my gear blows, I will be seriously injured. But the gear placements are easy, I find my first piece, then my second, and soon I am halfway up the route. Jason calls out, “are you at a good resting point? I can take your photo!” and I call out, “Sure!” and I am ecstatic to be doing this.
My first lead at Indian Creek! 5.9, something at Optimator wall to the left of the pillar
It’s easy to wipe your mind clear while you are climbing. The objective is so simple yet all-consuming: move your body up the rock. I love how meditative it is, choosing feet, handholds, and good places to slot in a piece of gear to protect my fall. I do not fall, I make it to the anchors, and I call out, “take!”. Jason takes in the slack in the rope, and before being lowered, I soak in the view from the top. I also soak in a deep sense of accomplishment. I am so proud of myself for leading my first route, for finishing my PhD even when it got very rough, and for choosing to challenge myself time and time again. I am grinning when I get to the ground, and Jason gives me a high-five. I am so happy to be here with him and feel high off of my accomplishment. The good feeling lasts, and I flirt with the possibility of a climbing addiction. My mood has turned a 180, and it is largely thanks to rockclimbing. We saunter up a few more routes that day, Jason sends a couple of awesome 5.10’s, and eventually we begin our descent back to the car, headlamps on and casting contorted shadows among the rocks. The van awaits us, the only vehicle in the parking lot. The stars are simply incredible - we know it’s pushing dinnertime (is it 8pm already?) but decide to have a parking lot beer to celebrate my first lead and soak in the starlight and moment.
Any geologists out there? What causes these light-colored circles to form?
