Synopsis of a Season

Indian Creek is—in my mind—a kind of outdoor monastery; a place of quiet repose. Protected by monolithic canyon walls that shut out the world, I perceive myself to be inside of a great outdoor room: roofless and sprawling, yet containing its own space, and even its own interval of time. This, because the walls as seen from the floor, create their own horizons from which the sun springs each morning, and below which it sets every evening, seemingly independent of the outside world.

A place of isolation like Indian Creek lends itself to quiet introspection I rarely find time for anywhere else.

Here, I posses luxuries of time and solitude. These luxuries make ample compensation for some things that I now see as amenities (as opposed to necessities).

There are counterpoints to this description that would make it seem that I was reporting with a bias. For instance, the campgrounds are apt to fill up on weekends, campsites overflowing with interloping (everyone is an interloper) climbers or tourists just here for a few days. The scattered parking lots, too, will randomly fill up as unassociated climbing parties choose a particular wall for likely the same reason (a classic route, shelter, shade or sun, and etc.). In this way, The Creek sometimes feels like the popular international climbing destination that it is. Accepting that fact allows me to appreciate the population fluxes as part of the larger cycle of processes ocurring in the Creek ecosystem.

On the whole, the Creek is unchanging, and the minor interruptions and a passing storm or two does not change the larger perception I described earlier.

I sent Annunaki—a route that I worked longer than any other at the Creek (3 top ropes, 3 leads, total). Finding a route that I enjoyed working, and found rewarding to complete helped to remind me why I climb. Annunaki will be the highlight of my climbing for this season at the Creek, but it certainly is not the only highlight. There have been countless days spent with great friends (new and familiar) and many days spent exploring and living in a fulfilling way.

With that being said, I'm planning to move to Yosemite Valley soon. I'm not motivated to climb here any more, and some of that is due to the repetition of the climbing, and some of it is due to my own desire to branch out and focus on some other climbing styles.

I have bouldering on my mind, and I'm looking forward to working on my familiarity on granite and improving my flow and ability to read sequences. I wish I could push my personal grades but I'm afraid I will be pretty weak, so I will mostly push my technical skills instead of my physical limits.

So, here I am in town, wrapping up loose ends and getting ready to to go, at least mentally. I hope to be in Yosemite within 2 weeks, sooner if possible.

Once I am there I will have more access to electricity and the internet and I'm hoping to do a little retrospective on my season here at the Creek as well as just staying a little more up to date on the blog.

I'm still meditating on my motivation for climbing, and I have spoken with many people about it. At some point I want to define my motivations and figure out what makes me tick and how much I want to climb and at that point I will be better able to shape my life to emphasize what is important to me most.