Dinner crasher

This is the second part of the 3-part series about Thanksgiving at Indian Creek.  For the first part, see here.

The ebb and flow of climbers continued at our Superbowl campsite, when we met a couple from Colorado.  Annelen and Jerome fell in love with each other while climbing in Yosemite last summer.  Jerome was on his extended climbing trip around the world while Annelen was testing out her aid skills at the Salathe wall.  Climbing is clearly a big part of their life.

"We are very poor, but very happy." Annelen said that night.  You can definitely see the love in their eyes, it was very pure.  Jerome adored Annelen.  It all happened really fast too.  In a matter of weeks in the valley, they had to make important decisions about how they could be together.  Jerome was based in France while Annelen was working on her PhD in California.  It took some juggling to get both of them to Boulder, where they could be close to the mountains.  But they made it work.  Living happily together in a small garden-level apartment.  Work can wait, but love cannot.

We invited them over for dinner at our picnic table, but those lovebirds wanted some downtime with each other.  So instead, they laid a blanket down on the smooth red sand in front of their tent, wine in hand.  Andreas and I looked at them from afar with love envy.  It made me really think of Chris, and I realized at that moment that I really missed him.  I wished that he was there with me, enjoying the beauty of the Creek.

Annelen on Serrator - photo by Jerome

The following day we joined the lovebirds and went back to Way Rambo crag.  I did not dare to try Way Rambo again like the first day, but we did try other fun climbs such as the Serrator Crack and Layaway Plan.  The Serrator Crack was one that got Andreas really excited about, as he loves to test and push his tolerance for pain.  The other climb that looked like a lot of fun was Slice and Dice, which would have been perfect for my smaller hands and fingers (and not so perfect for Andreas' Vienna sausage fingers.)  There will always be next year.

The passing of time at the Creek was slow, and it started to matter less and less what day it actually was.  We listened to our body and rested when we needed to.  Before we knew it, it was Thanksgiving night.

That night Annelen and Jerome told us that their friends were meeting up at another campsite, and invited us to join them at the other site for dinner.

Shortly after we arrived at the new campsite, we could see a whole huge production kitchen tent.  There were big gas burners (4 burners!) with a stock pot and some other cookware.  The cooking was mainly led by a couple that is clearly very serious about creating delicious meals.  Someone else was assisting them by making hot coal in preparation for the turkey.  At another corner, a separate group was preparing the turkey that was going to be cooked in a coal pit. The non-cooks were building a big fire that could fit at least 20 people around.  It was amazing to be a part of this.

What was even more amazing, was the actual Thanksgiving dinner.

In addition to serving everyone turkey, sweet potatoes, and stuffing, the couple made a huge pot of broth for pho.  Yes you heard me, PHO!  In the desert!  It was perfect because that night the sky was clear and the air was frigid.  Pho was the perfect way to start the Thanksgiving dinner!  They even brought Sriracha sauce!

So even though the cooks had added a shitload of peppercorns in the broth already, I added the Sriracha.  My tongue was on fire but I did not care.  I was crying as I drank the soup.

Again, the fire and food had brought all groups of strangers together.  I met at least 10 more people but could only remember a few names, which was a shame.  It was one of the best Thanksgivings I've ever had.  Here in the desert, one can forget about Black Friday, football, terrible drives on the highway, and delays at the airport.

Perhaps, being at the desert with a limited supply of food made us appreciate the true meaning of Thanksgiving better.

to be continued...

Superbowl

photo by Andreas

I was so busy hanging out with Chris for the last few months that I didn't get my act together to write a trip report from November!  Shame on me.  

It's better late than never I guess.   Especially since I met some of the coolest people on this last trip.

So yes, I went back to heaven.  Indian Creek.  With all the traveling back and forth to China for work, I still had some vacation time left for 2011.  Instead of saving it like I should have for 2012, I spent it all.  It was time well spent though.  

After our Yosemite trip in September, I was a bit burnt out from doing long climbs every day.  But I loved climbing crack, and I wanted to get better.  For splitters, where else would I go to but Indian Creek!  The only sensible way to do this trip with my full time job while maximizing vacation, was to take 3 days off during the week of Thanksgiving.  

I think I took this one with his camera

Even a dysfunctional American family still likes to celebrate Thanksgiving, let alone a normal one.  So I had a difficult time finding partners to go with me for that week.  Luckily, "the Austrian with the Australian accent" agreed to join me.  

For those of you that have not had the fortune of meeting Andreas, he is a very special guy.  Here is a photo of Andreas doing what he does best.  He is one of the most psyched climbing partners I have ever been with.  Before a climb, he gets you all excited about the climb.  And after the climb the following day, he is still psyched about it as he recaps the details.  Especially offwidths.

Andreas had never been to Indian Creek, so needless to say he was super excited about climbing there.  It was great, and we got to try a lot of climbs.  When we first started, we were trying mostly the straight forward splitters.  By the end of the trip (after climbing 7 days), we were doing bulges, offwidths that made us both scream and cry, thin hands and fingers, big roofs, and all sorts.  Compared to my May trip last year, I was definitely more prepared for desert climbing.  

Apparently, Thanksgiving IS the time to go to Indian Creek.  The whole Colorado climbing community was there, as well as Salt Lake City.  Here Andreas and I though we would be spending some lonely nights at the desert at the Superbowl campsite, but really there were plenty of people coming and going throughout the whole week.  

So what brought strangers together in the desert?  

It was the fire.

Desert nights at the Creek were cold, often times dropping below freezing very soon after the sun goes down.  Everyday we would climb until the sun sets, and drive back to the campsite to cook our dinner.  Life was simple.  Wake up, have breakfast with coffee, climb, cook dinner and sit around a campfire.  By 8PM, we would be so tired and cold that it was natural to just go into the tent and curl up in the sleeping bag.  

The first night we were at the Superbowl campsite, we realized that we were at a site that didn't have a fire pit.  I walked over to the closest fire to get warm and have conversations.  One of the men looked clearly like a desert climber in his late fourties or early fifties.  Ace had long blond hair, really tanned skin, and big smile.  Sort of like what Aaron Child would look like in 30 years.  The other man, Bill, was of larger built like a tough mountaineer (which he was).  They said that they had been coming to Indian Creek for at least 20 years, and it really hasn't changed that much.  

Ace also told us the reason why the campsite was called Superbowl.  It was actually "F*ck the Superbowl", since most climbers probably don't care too much about football.  I thought it was appropriate to share this story for this coming weekend with the Superbowl coming up.

Ace throwing an elbow strike at me... 

"It is really a special place."  

Ace said this to me later in the week a few times, and I have to agree.  He would wake up relatively early and go for a walk and watch the sunrise.  It is just a beautiful place.  Not only that, it is also one of those places where climbers are all friendly, laid back, and no one is rushing you to finish your climb.  They showed us around the area the following day and we went climbing at the Pistol Whip crag, farther out from the main road.  

We were also lucky in other ways.  Bill is a fine cook and had quite a collection of wine and Swiss chocolate.  I remember the chocolate since that was a rare commodity to come by in the desert.  This guy used to work for Black Diamond and now works for Scott in Switzerland.  Not only that, he had guided people up Everest seven time and succeeded ti summit 6 times out of 7!  Bill and Ace were doing their yearly reunion at the Creek, and they were generous enough to let us crash at their site and eat their amazing pork loin and drink their French wine!

Yes, we were at Indian Creek, and not at some Michelin rated restaurant.  But it was probably one of the most satisfying meals I've had in a while.

happy me...

I made some quinoa to go with the pork loin.  It was nutritious, but definitely not gourmet compared to the pork loin that Bill grilled.  I had also made the mistake of making too much quinoa, but this turned out to be a good thing.

Very soon after the four of us scarfed down our dinner, two other guys showed up next to our campsite.  Corey and Nathan came over to say hi and you can tell they were tired and famished.  We offered them our leftovers, and they were more than happy to have them as starters to their dinner.  The six of us sat around the campfire and shared stories about our climbs that day.  

The following day, Ace and Bill left, so Nate and Corey moved over to their spots at the camp.  The four of us climbed all day at the Way Rambo crag, which is one of those 'project' crags that I will go back to for years and years.  There were just so many classic climbs in my hand and finger size!  We celebrated at night with great food and drinks.  After climbing for two days, they too, were on their way to somewhere else.  They really wanted to stay, but friends were waiting for them at Red Rocks.  Nate had a nice van that he slept in.  The two of them talked about quitting their jobs and dirtbagging it in 2012.  Lots of plans ahead for these two.  I can't wait to hear about it!

Andreas and I were sad to see them go.  It seemed like people were always leaving us while we stayed at the same spot at Superbowl.  We got out of the Creek to have breakfast with them at Moab.  The one thing I remembered deeply during this part of the trip was that my lips were so chapped that I could not smile. 

We stocked up on water and got some extra fuel and went back into the wild.  This was the only rest day we had, and we ended up going for a short hike at the Canyonlands.  We originally wanted to go to the Arches, but took the wrong turn.  10 miles later, we figured it was pointless to turn around so we kept driving 30 more miles towards the direction of the Creek. Oh well.  Bad Asian directions...

to be continued...