Climbing trip USA - from Moab, via Indian Creek, Zion, Red Rocks , Las Vegas to Yosemite Valley e y .
The plan to go on a climbing trip to the USA was quickly made; The implementation , on the other hand, was a bit bumpy, since Anna 's start to work and then the Covid - 19 pandemic threw a spanner in the works. At the beginning of 2022 the decision was made; it will start in May and that for about three weeks. We flew from Munich to Denver, where we borrowed our accommodation for the trip - a van - and then set off with a rough idea of what we wanted to experience but without a precise timetable. Started and off we went: The first stop was Moab, a small town not far from Castelton Valley and Indian Creek. After a cold shower in the stream, a burger dinner ( the first of many) and a short night in the van, it was time for the first day of climbing. We headed into the Castelton Valley to climb the Castelton Tower - a unique experience and a contrast that couldn't be greater. Within less than 48 hours of starting our journey in the Alps, we were now in the middle of the Utah desert , climbing a lonely tower with amazing views and cracks like we had never seen before. Unbelievable and unusual are probably the adjectives that best describe the feeling that day . Exhausted and definitely arrived, we returned to the van to head to Indian Creek the next day . Before that, however, we still had to do the shopping for the next five days, because you just can't get anything in Indian Creek; no food and no water. As soon as everything we needed (including almost 50 liters of water) was in the shopping trolley, Anna really realized that we were now going into the total desert, where we were completely on our own – not only is there no shop there , but also no electricity and no network. The latter then turned out to be a pure relaxation factor , since it was the only way to escape from the stress of everyday life and work , with the constant need to look at your cell phone .
Indian Creek - crack climbing paradise
Indian Creek was and is all at the same time – unique, breathtaking, indescribable, and most importantly, for amateur crack climbers like us, brutal. Instead of our usual small ledges and steps, there are only cracks, almost perfect cracks , into which all parts of the body, hands, feet and sometimes the whole body had to be pressed and wedged. The locals, who called out to me : "You can't sportclimb the whole route, you have to go in the crack." , saw that I was still struggling at first . Well, somehow we solved the "crack climbing problem" and went hunting for classics . In the end , we were not only able to write well-known tours such as "Supercrack", "Scarface", "Incredible Hand Crack" or " The C ave Route" in our tour book, but also many less well-known pearls of crack climbing.
Aside from the cracks, what I remember most about Indian Creek is camping under the stars and sitting around the campfire with other climbers .
Zion we come!
The first goal in Zion was the Namaste - Wall - an overhanging wall, which immediately catches the eye not only because of its red color, but above all because of its unique structure . When I saw the first photo of it, I knew we had to go there. Anna was also thrilled to finally hold "normal" handles in her hands again; The holes in the wall were also special, and you could almost sit into them to take a break. Since our hands finally needed a break, the next day we had to hike to the top of Angels Landing, which was littered with tourists. Exactly this rush of tourists also contributed to the fact that we never really felt comfortable in Zion, even though the mountains were incredible . When Anna then laughingly suggested “Vegas?” at breakfast, I just said “off to Las Vegas” – and off we went.
Welcome to the fabulous Las Vegas
Before we lost our money in the casinos of Las Vegas , we made a 1 - day detour to Red Rocks ( where you can see this crazy city directly from the peaks ) . Red Rocks is a good mixture of crack climbing and a few holds and kicks - so for us a relaxed climbing tour. However, the ascent was difficult, also because Anna suspected a snake under every stone. After the tour we went into town, where we finally treated ourselves to a normal bed after a long time. The city is pretty crazy.
Off to the Valley!
Yosemite was our last stop; it was a first for Anna, it was my second time there. In 2017 I was already there where I was able to climb the world famous tour "The Nose" with a friend on El Capitan. Since Anna wanted to take another day off on the first day, I went straight to my goal of climbing the “Separate Reality” tour. Contrary to my expectations, however, the ascent turned out to be a "bloody fight" because afterwards my hands looked as if I had not just climbed but fought. We then spent the rest of the days quite comfortably; half the day we climbed and the rest we lay in the sun. On the penultimate day, on the other hand, we wanted to do it right again and decided to climb the “Snake Dike” tour on Half Dome together with two friends from South Tyrol who we met in the valley. On this day , the difficulty was not necessarily the climbing, but the more than 27 km and 1750 meters of altitude that had to be mastered. The day then ended exhausted but satisfied and with beer and burgers by the campfire.
The next day we went to San Francisco, where we made a short detour to the Golden Gate Bridge and then flew home happy about what we had experienced .
