Sewmup Mesa in The Pink Cadillac - Episode 6

While watching the basketball game, Jim thumbs through a guidebook called 'The Wild West', little-known climbing areas in western Colorado. "Let's go to Sewmup Mesa; it looks like there are some good cracks to climb there - same Wingate sandstone as Indian Creek" Jim says. "Roger wants to go, and I got a call from Marilyn. She and Pat want to come too; they're in Telluride." "Who's Marilyn? Who's Pat?" I ask. So, I spend the next half hour on Google finding out that Marilyn (MG for short), and Pat are two physicians: Marilyn from Phoenix and Pat from Atlanta, both in Telluride for the annual film festival. They've met Jim at the American Alpine Club events and are accomplised climbers, and although younger than Jim and I, are still in the 'mature' category. Perfect!

Our caravan snakes over the pass and down the San Miguel river valley, past Paradise forks, up the Norwood hill, through Naturita where the town cop has given Jim a ticket for speeding in past years, then continuing down towards Uravan. Finally 26 miles from Naturita, we steer the vehicles barely off the road and look up at the wall. I lead up through the mesquite, foxtails, and cactus plants in the direction we think the climbs are. Perfect!

Sewmup Mesa and the Wingate sandstone

I'm feeling great and lead off up the first crack we see and set a top-rope through expansion bolts and carabiners so the others can climb behind me. It feels just like Indian Creek, and its new to us.

Your guide in white dress shirt and tape

Looking up the first crack to climb.
Looking down the route at the ant people below.

The expansion bolt for an anchor with the rope running through carabiners.

Jim puts up another climb next to mine, Roger a third, and we are on a rampage. We decide to move right along the cliff and look for more cracks. As we move along, Jim spots a giant Coachwhip snake slithering through the sagebrush. They are harmless and an important part of the desert ecosystem. It's more comforting that seeing a rattlesnake whose bite is a bitch!

Dr. MG tapes up - ready for action

MG and Pat are a delight as partners. We bond instantly, and their enthusiasm really amps up our climbing. Everyone is grinding up the hardest climbs, their blood smearing the cracks, and making lots of jokes about it. I wonder what folks say behind our backs when we get home with goobies, scabs, and open sores littering our bodies? Somehow we never feel the pain during the intense adrenaline-fueled act of climbing. Apparently men don't feel pain during sex...I can believe it.

Dr. Pat contemplates his fate!


Pat ascending....
And ascending....


Donini in action

After we are all whipped by the rock and the severity of the routes, the Telluride pack starts making departure behavior. Donini and Roger have a rendezvous with the Black Canyon, and MJ and Pat are headed for the film fest. Chris and I are interested in continuing to Indian Creek; we've been full circle, and we would like to continue to hone our skills. There will be a ton of folks to climb with at 'The Creek'. We descend to the cars, say our farewells, and head off. It is late when we get to our campground at Creek Pasture, but we cook dinner in the twilight and worry about the dark thunderheads threatening overhead. But it's the desert. It never rains here!

The Pink Cadillac in Ouray - Episode 5

San Juan mountains above Ouray, Colorado

It is so brutally hot! Castle Valley is a furnace. "Let's go to the mountains and climb the huge granite walls in the shade", I propose. So, we hop into the 'Desert Rose' and head up Utah Highway 128 east to I-80. Past the red cliffs of Colorado National Monument, and into Grand Junction. I have two life-long friends in GJ, so I persuade Chris that it won't take long to visit and veer into their driveway. Bill and Cheryl are retired National Park Service employees; Bill was a park ranger with me in the Tetons in the 70's. A short visit turns into beers, salad, dinner.... By the time we wander back to the car, it is dark, but it's only an hour and a half back to base camp at Jim and Angela's in Ouray where we can get more gear and clothing for the next phase.

In the morning Jim has coffee ready for us, and we do a load of wash, regroup, and socialize with our friends. Jim suggests we all go climbing on the "Pool Wall". Ouray is beautiful, and the rock climbing is first class: hard quartzite, tiny handholds, hundreds of climbs. It's a nice way to do a little climbing and rest a bit from the long difficult climbing we have been doing.

The town of Ouray is nestled in a deep valley of the San Juan Mountains, one of the most highly mineralized areas of Colorado. The Uncompaghre river cascades down from Red Mountain pass through a deep gorge next to the townsite. All winter long it is the home to the best ice climbing around; thousands of climbers have made Ouray a destination resort, culminating in mid-January with the Ouray Ice Festival. Hot springs burble from cracks along the river for the next ten miles, and virtually every hotel has hot tubs or natural hot pots for the guests. I love the place.

Your guide with a smile

It is warm but overcast, and the threat of afternoon thunderstorms again threatens our outdoor activity. The pool wall is directly above Ouray Hot Springs, right in town, and only a 7 minute walk up a trail. Chris and I choose the Amphitheater, a huge gully with cliffs on all sides. Old mining shafts, giant cables, and ancient wooden walkways litter the cliff sides. Climbers have put up routes all over the cliffs, and since it faces west, the afternoon sun warms it in the winter and keeps it cool in the summer.

Chris ropes up to climb

We start off with a moderate route; it has started to sprinkle, and we worry a bit about the rock getting too slipery. I love the feel of the smooth, hard rock, so different from the red porous sandtone of the desert. We are climbing well, heady with energy and enthusiasm.

Copper ore

Because the rock is full of ore, everywhere we look we see brilliant turquoise colors of the copper sulfate deposits. Gold would be nice. Most of the mining shut down at the start of WWII for the war effort. A few years ago two brothers sold their hot-spring resort and used the money to go mining above town. They used up all the money, gave up and went to town for lunch. During lunch they decided to use the last of the dynamite for one last blast. It produced an absurdly rich deposit of ore. After each brother realized a million dollars profit, they closed the mine and bought back the hot springs.

The hard rock has few footholds

The cavern we are in has huge rounded groves caused by giant gushers of water and rock funneling down the precipice. They look like enormous wormhole, and are as smooth as glass. We decided it would be a challenge to ascend one.

Up the 'Wormhole', like something out of "Dune"

Chris moves up the slick rock

Chris at the top of the 'Wormhole'

We move to the side of the cliff where there are huge overhangs, and I lead up a hard one. Chris is elated that she is climbing so well: 'It can't be that hard...I can't climb at that level', she beams. But she can!

By now it's noon and we head to O'Briens, where Rick and Jen Smith host the climbers, and we split a sandwich. By now it's raining, so we tuck in our tails, return to the barn, and scheme the next leg of the road trip with the 'Desert Rose'. Jim is a basketball fan, so for the first and only time on the trip we watch television.

Climbing Road Trip in a Pink Cadillac - Episode 4

Chris, myself, and the 'Desert Rose'

If you're following our adventures across the West, after three days in Indian Creek, climbing arguably the hardest jam cracks in the world, we decided to lick our wounds and find some new venues. Jim and Angela, Charlotte and Inga, Tim and Laura all headed to the four winds. Chris was unemployed, so I asked her if she would like to climb the Castleton Tower in Castle Valley, Utah.

The route to Castle Valley goes north from Canyonlands, past Wilson's Arch and through Moab. Hmmm! Moab, a great place to hit the KOA and find a much-needed shower. It's scorching! The shower turns red from the dust off my body, and the bumps, bruises, and abrasions start to look like they might eventually heal. We wander down to Eddie McStiffs for cold beer and a pulled-pork sandwich.

Wilson's Arch on the road to Moab

Castle Valley is just 17 miles east of Moab up Hwy 128, then up the hill into a brilliant green valley, another small Mormon farming community, now sprouting a melange of homes. Of the many folks who supposedly live here, only my friends Jay and Kitty actually reside year-round. But Jay is climbing big mountains in Alaska today, and Kitty is in Salt Lake, so Chris and I find a flat spot at the base of Castleton Tower and set up the camp next to the Caddy.

Chris with Castleton Tower in the distance.

We are up early, hoping to beat the heat on the trail up to the base of the climb. It is in the shade in the morning, but it's an hour and a half hike, so we are hoping do it all while the temperatures are cool. Castleton Tower is about 400 feet high, vertical to overhanging on all sides, and made of hard sandstone. It is a fantastic formation, stunning in its lone vigil over the valley, visible even from I-80 many miles to the north, and one of the 50 finest climbs in North America. We are stoked!

Castleton Tower, hundreds of feet of vertical sandstone.

At the base of the climb we put on our rock shoes and gear up. The route is slightly overhanging with no let-up on the difficulty. But we've just come from Indian Creek, so this should be a wonderful next step, using our crack climbing skills to make easy work of the big fissure up the north face.

Looking straight up at our route! Looks tough...

Right off the ground it is all business. I chalk my hands and 'laying a finger aside of my nose, rise up the chimney.' Well, it's not quite that easy, but I enjoyed every handhold, every crack, as my hands gripped the warm sandstone, the rubber toes of my rock shoes cammed into the cracks, and I could smell the desert below. The rope snaked up behind me, Chris encouraging me on, but likely wondering how hard this would be for her. At the first belay ledge 140' up, I hauled up the rope, secured it to my belay device to hold Chris, and called for her to begin climbing. She must be a great sport to have trusted her life to a stranger, but by now she likely knew that we would be OK. She made steady progress, telling me when she needed a tighter rope, and using all her newly honed crack-climbing skills to negotiate the first and hardest section.

I'm fixing the rope high on the route.

Since there were no on-lookers, and we were busy climbing, we took few photos of the climb. But here's a photo of me in my Sunday-go-to-meeting shirt I use in the desert, and of Chris at the belay spot looking through the giant crack out into the desert below.

Our only photo on the climb - it was a bugger! Chris looking out through the crack.

One more difficult pitch, with my feet pushing on the opposing walls of the cracks, then grabbing nubbins and cracks. At one point I veered left when I saw some old nylon slings, but it was a dead-end, with a dizzying view below. Cautiously I crept back on route, got to the final notch and brought Chris up. One more pitch up a vertical wall outside the crack and we were on the summit where many years ago, Ford made a commercial by lowering a car from a helicopter, then flying around while an actress posed on the car. However, the helicopter could not land, and she had to spend the night sleeping on the front seat of the car till morning. Not what she likely had in mind.

Chris celebrates the summit of Castleton Tower

The hike down is a killer, with temperatures on the high peak in the 80', but increasing close to 100 by the time we reach the base of the climb. We've not brought enough water and are quite dehydrated, so as we contemplate one last hill back to camp, we simultaneously jump under the first tree we see and lie down for a while to cool off. It's brutal! Even though I was born and raised in Utah, I've lived in the Arctic since 1962, so I'm totally out of my comfort zone.

Scarlet Gilia

The desert is blossoming like a rose, as the Bible says. Cinquefoil, dasies, cactus flowers, paintbrush, lupine, scarlet gilia.... it's a rainbow of tiny brilliant color pops everywhere. The shadow of Castleton Tower signals cooler times coming in the late afternoon.

The afternoon shadow of the tower on desert below

We look at the camp: my dinky cooler in the Cadillac is now about 100 degrees and it's contents look septic and sad. It's only 17 miles to Moab where another shower awaits and maybe margaritas...a Mexican dinner...ice??? We make it back to camp after dark and crawl into our bags full, tired, and satisfied with the day.

Climbing Road Trip in a Pink Cadillac - Episode 3

The 'Desert Rose', off-road, myself and Chris

We left the 'Desert Rose' at the side of the road, slightly scraping bottom at the base of Supercrack Buttress in Indian Creek, Utah, hefted our overweight backpacks and headed up the climbers trail to the base of the climbs.

In 1976, Earl Wiggins, Ed Webster and Bryan Becker made the first ascent of the Supercrack of the Desert, which they named "Luxury Liner". Stewart Green and Michael Gardner filmed the historic event and it will soon be a full-lenth movie. For a 6-minute diversion, you can watch a short version on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO8ZPrFvqWQ

I love Indian Creek. Although I've climbed all my life, it is only in the last few years that I discovered the area, and it spanks me every time I climb there. The cracks are difficult; nothing is easy; but the satisfaction of having ascended one of the routes is supreme. So, I was hoping that Chris, being new to the area, would not be too disheartened when she started out. Jim had scoured the route descriptions to make sure we had some moderate routes for her to start on...and for me to get back into the grove after a winter off.

At the base of the climb we dumped out all the gear: carabiners, caming devices, slings, ropes, and harnesses, sorted the right sizes for each crack, and hung it on our harnesses. The cams are spring loaded devices that fit in the crack and resist a downward pull. The rope is threaded through a carabiner attached to the cam and would catch the leader if he were to fall.

Jim and the gear

Then we wrapped adhesive tape around our hands to protect the skin from the abrasive cracks. Sandstone=sandpaper, and even with lots of protection, we all ended up with big abrasions and goobies on our elbows, knees, and ankles.

Taping up

Jim is really the master of Indian Creek, the subject of videos, and many of my photos. He started up a beautiful crack called "The Incredible Hand Crack", that goes straight up, then veers right under a huge overhang, so that you are stuck to the wall only by the friction of the crack; it's an incredible feeling!

Jim starts up the "Incredible Hand Crack"

Jim's has jammed his hands into the crack, and placed his left shoe in sideways, then cammed his foot upright to hold his weight.

Jim working up the underside of the crack

Gymnastic chalk takes up the sweat of the fingers and palms making it easier to hold onto the rock.

Taking a rest and putting more chalk on his hands

Even 'Yours Truly' at the top of 'Incredible Hand Crack'

It was a great day on the rock. We camped at 'Creek Pasture', down a dirt road next to Indian Creek. I set up a table, got out my stove, pots, pans, and coolers full of food. The first night we cooked shrimp fettucine with a large salad, red wine, and pecan sandies for dessert. Car camping is different from backpacking, so there is no scrimping on food or the production. We had packed two loads of firewood on the floor of the back seat, so after dinner we would unfold our chairs, gather round the fire, and share stories.

Your Humble Servant as camp cook!

The next day we head to "Optimator Wall" which lies in the shade, a great place to escape the
heat. The 'Desert Rose' dragged bottom often, a humiliation after a lifetime on the streets of Phoenix.

Chris, Jim, and the 'Desert Rose' at the Optimator Wall.

Two approaches to the desert: Jim exposes all, Ralph in dress shirt to protect his "Alaska Tan"

Inga works up the double crack system

Inga is originally from New Orleans, but has lived the past twenty years in Australia in the winter, and guides oar-driven rafts on the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River each summer. She is incredibly strong, smooth, and fluid on the rock. She and Charlotte have teamed up and are ticking off the hard routes. Charlotte is honed: she is a ski patroller in Telluride in the winter, and like the rest of us, a climbing bum in the summer. After climbing three 8,000 meter giants in the Himalaya, including Mount Everest, this stuff is a blast for her.

Chris working the underside of a thin crack

Even Charlotte's dog Max wants in on the action!

On day three we attack the "Battle of the Bulge", a bit of sun in the morning, but shade in the afternoon.

Cactus in bloom

With names like "Hole in the Wall", and "Jane Fonda's Total Body Workout", "Pigs in Space", and "Think Pink", the Battle of the Bulge is a favorite cliff. Jim takes off up the extremely strenuous and difficult 'Hole in the Wall' scraping the skin off his knees in a flaring body-sized crack that is more like a bombay chute.

The names and grade of climbs are often inscribed at the base

Jim begins the squeeze up "Hole in the Wall"

And now he's a tiny dot over 100' up as I belay.

Laura belays Chris...

As Chris jams her feet in the crack and moves up...

While Angela photographs the whole event.

It is becoming blistering hot for an Alaskan in the desert, way over 80 degrees, when I rarely see temperatures over 60. We hike down the red dirt and boulder trail through cactus, mesquite, and juniper to the shade of a single tree near a large boulder next to the car. I fish out warm PBRs for all, and we spend the next hour with a bag of corn chips enjoying the shade, our eyes cruising the surrounding red cliffs, and our minds wandering for new routes.

Angela, Jim, 'Max', Charlotte, Inga, and Chris rest in the shade with PBR and chips.

It has been a cool wet spring and the desert is in bloom with saturated Kodachrome colors everywhere. The cacti are succulent, their flowers iridescent and tempting to the insects that are alight on every blossom. Indian Creek is stunning.

Barrel Cactus flower

After three days climbing, everyone has bloody knees, elbows, and ankles from fighting the huge cracks. So, that's about the perfect amount of time to stay. One by one the party dissolves. Those who live close by make the three-hour drive back to Telluride and Ouray. Chris and I have other plans.