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| Climbing | 2.00 Miles |
300 AEG |
| | Climbing | 2.00 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 300 ft AEG | | | | |
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| • Toprope • Sandstone Good | | |
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| partners | | I will most definitely be back to this area, but probably under slightly different circumstances!
We had a wonderful two days of climbing and exploring down at East Clear Creek. The weather was pretty much perfect all weekend. The routes are all on the tougher side, so I didn't do a whole lot of climbing. That was fine with me though, as I was exhausted from lack of sleep. So I took a lot of pictures. 
Day 1: I got to do my first rappel, which was somewhat frightening because this was the first time I think I've ever even seen an ATC in use. Didn't really get the hang of it the first time around, but I didn't fall so no complaints there! I was in the company of very experienced and reliable people so I wasn't actually too worried. The view down into the canyon was just breathtaking from that spot though! I knew right away that the weekend was going to be amazing. A couple people set up some routes so I hopped on a 5.9 and followed it. Janelle showed me how to lead belay, which was interesting on the low-angle route. I ended up spending most of my day watching others' techniques and taking pictures and taking notes. And then taking a much-needed nap! Tried out a 5.11b (I think?) but couldn't make it past the early crux. Next time... Around 7 we packed up some of our stuff and exited the canyon (an ascender+grigri REALLY helps with this) and went into Winslow to the Brown Mug for some delicious Mexican food. The salsa was SO hot! We were told it's not usually that hot, but wow! Great food though, and really friendly staff. After having entrees and some very tasty sopapillas, we went back to ECC and camped out above. Slightly windy, but nothing like at Jacks a couple weeks ago... phew!
Day 2: Headed back into the canyon almost as soon as we woke up. This time the rappel seemed easy. I tried out a 5.10 (again, not sure exactly) but just wasn't feeling it. Bad weekend for me, I guess. So again I was extremely content to wander and photograph pretty much everything and everyone in sight. Later on a few of us decided to explore down the canyon. Some kayakers had come up and passed us by with their dogs, so we went over to check out how deep the water was... nice and deep, so we swam out a little way and found a giant hueco to hang out in for a bit. Did a little "cliff" jumping into the water from there. Fun! Clouds started to form, however, so we headed back over to the climbs. Found a cute little kingsnake and chased him around for a little while with the camera. My first time holding a snake -- exciting! After a full day of swimming and climbing, we all met up in town again at the Falcon Restaurant. They were very gracious there, as it was almost 9 pm on a Sunday (closing time), most other places were closed, and there were twelve of us ravenous for Mexican. We called ahead and made sure it wouldn't be a bother, and the owner himself insisted that we drop in. The food was decent, not as good as Brown Mug, but it wasn't bad and the employees were all really nice. Edible salsa, too! It was the waitress's fourth day working there so we tried to go easy on her. She survived the night and even took our picture to prove that we'd been there. 
What a great weekend. I really will need to come back for some kayaking and camping. There seemed to be a few spots here and there that would be great for camping, so long as no flash floods occurred! Lots of places for deep water soloing too, for those who are into that. Great area, and I can't wait to come back with a waterproof camera for even more pictures. |
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