M doesn’t want to climb with me, because I am not good enough. At least my friends are honest with me. And so for a couple days I hang out in a small living community south of Moab from friends of a friend to figure out what to do.
Then J drops me an email. Meet me at 10 o’clock downtown and we figure something out. The figuring out turns to be very easy, Castleton Tower, there to be climbed. 
Its my first sandstone climbing ever and its hard. Slippery feet, hand jams, finger locks, fist jams, how does that all work again. The setting, the scenery and the top out make it all worth the pain and pumped arms. Towers in the desert, so my thing.After such an amazing day the next day is easily planned. The local sport area, Mill Creek.
Sharp tiny edges is normally my style, but I can not find the right balance. Its again a suffer fest. Also climbing down into a gorge has some depressing mode to it. Time for a rest day, because IC is still coming up.And IC, that’s Indian Creek. Cracks every where. Cracks to love, cracks to hate, the difference is just your hand size. Cracks going on for ever at the same width and that means 3 racks and you still want more gear.
Its hot hot hot in the desert and we are the only crazy ones at the Supercrack Buttress. Choose the climb you want. We start with Twin Crack (5.9) with 2 nice hand size parallel cracks. It’s a nice warm up. To avoid the sun we move over to Supercrack (5.10b), a splitter in which you have to love your cupped hands but it will lead you to heaven. My feet are cramping, my hands are cramping, that’s when you take some hangs and start wondering.
The next in line and still in the shade is The Wave (5.10d). It goes from fingers, to hands, to fist, to off-width, to overhang, to everything. That’s when you take many hangs. Jeh, I might not be good enough for Indian Creek. The sun is every where now and I would have been more then happy to admit my defeat. But J is young and strong. Incredible Hand Crack (5.10c) is the next one over. Its perfect hand size, but has a little roof. Am I really be able to do this?
I take a good rest for the crux and place a foot in the crack. That holds surprisingly good. Gravity is pulling on me, but the crack is the perfect size for my hand jams. I hang upside down enjoying every move, it’s simply incredible. I might not be that bad of a climber after all, I am good enough. Now I am for sure done, but that’s only what I am thinking. 3AM (5.10b) is the real last one according to J. And that’s one to much for me, but I make it to the top, but it aint pretty.
I might not have lead a single pitch, but M has again trust in me. Some alpine routes in the Rocky Mountain NP later in the summer sounds good to me. And J, thanks for a desert tower, a local sport area and Indian Creek cracking, nothing more to ask for.
Iris (Moab, 39375 miles)
