Another weekend in the Dez...

We Schneiters love weekends, especially ones spent with friends climbing in the desert. We left Friday evening and met about 17 friends in Indian Creek to climb. Here are pictures from the trip.

Evening light on the gorgeous sandstone.

Most of our group, from L to R, Tracy Wilson, BJ Sbarra, Sarah Selling, Derek Hanrahan, John Connor, Dave Meyer, Kristen Pogue, Steve Smith, Joy Joy, and Mike.

I thought Mike looked hilarious sleeping by the fire.

The belly is still growing!

Tracy and Sarah, two of my best gals.

Mike decided to make a feast for the whole group. Here are the foil packets filled with potatoes, peppers, onions, corn and spices. He BBQ'd burgers and brats and I filled the dutch oven with green bean casserole. We ate it all! It was a delicious meal! Cooking in the campsite is one of my favorite parts of Indian Creek. The unregulated camping is all on BLM land, so there are no campgrounds, no water, no picnic tables, etc. It's all free and we love it.

Steve and Mike goofing around. They were happy boys this weekend because they brought the drill and were able to put up 3 new routes.

BJ in his pirate vest. He also had a sword and flag, and his dog wore a breast plate. He had to bag the eye patch because it made the climbing a little difficult!

Panorama from the 4x4 wall.

I am still climbing (though not leading).

Courtney, Dana, and Tracy. T dressed up as Rainbow Brite. This is a bad picture of her costume, but she had on a blue felt dress with white fur trim and striped tights and arm warmers.

Dana sends!

Ladies' weekend in the Creek!

This weekend was a blast! 13 women, splitter sandstone cracks, fireside conversations, incredible moon and stars, and desert camping--life does not get much better. Stef and her friend Lindsey showed up on Thursday and we left Friday for the weekend. They really wanted to learn how to climb cracks, and this was the perfect opportunity! So, we loaded up Stef and Wes's veggie-mobile (it runs on recycled veggie oil that they get for free from local restaurants) and drove to Indian Creek, about 50 miles south of Moab. We got there late and rolled out our sleeping bags under the moon and stars, which were so bright we had to cover our eyes to sleep. The next morning, we found the rest of the crew, a large group from Durango headed by Lauren Heerschap, and hiked up Donelly Canyon to start climbing. It was about 75 and sunny, and we climbed until our feet and hands were so sore we had to quit. Back to camp for yummy tacos and a warm fire we went before falling asleep, exhausted from the great day! Stef and Lindsey were psyched at their crack climbing success, as was I. I resisted the temptation to lead anything per my midwife's advice, but had a ton of fun toproping. Sunday morning, we hiked to the Optimator Wall where Lindsey led on-sight her first 5.10--Lady Pillar, 120 feet. That was a huge accomplishment for her and only gave her more confidence to come back and try to step it up next time. That afternoon we all did Soul Fire, 5.11, which Linds toproped twice (she intends to come back and lead it next time!). Stef also vastly improved her crack skills and discovered the pure joy that comes with a schtonker hand jam. Here are some photos from the weekend (as always, they are concentrated in small areas because I always forget to take out my camera!).

Stef, me, and Lindsey--laying on the ground before bed, night #1.

See why we love this place?! This is a view of the valley from the Optimator Wall.

Stef and I.

Me on Soul Fire, 5.11.

Lauren leading Generic Crack, 5.10.

Stef cranks on the bottom of Soul Fire.

Stef sinking her hands and feet into the jams.

Stef shows us her stemming and drop knee skills on Lady Pillar, 5.10.

Happy Joy.

Me, high up on Soul Fire. Check out the beautiful rock above us.