dberdinka Posted May 10, 2013 Posted May 10, 2013 Trip: Canyonlands - Towers Date: 5/1/2013 Trip Report: I had the fortune of spending six days climbing in and around Canyonlands National Park with a long time friend and climbing partner. After two days in Indian Creek we retreated to the vast, lonely, impossibly quiet and and oh so beautiful White Rim Trail where some of the biggest and best Windgate Towers reside. No one but us with the occasional scorpion, red ants or bat to keep us company. After being harassed by brief squalls and thunderstorms we managed one more spectacular route just north of the park in an area called Mills Canyon before a really massive storm chased us back across I-70 bringing an end to the tour. The Impeccable Indian Creek Lighting Bolt Cracks - North Six Shooter - Start on the R finish on the L Incredible Hand Crack White Rim Trail Musselman Arch Basecamp below Washer Woman and Monster Towers Starting up the North Ridge of Monster. Burly climbing left the camera neglected in the bag. White Rim from the summit Morning Approach Islet in the Sky Loose and burly 5.10... ...Leads to hanging belays and C3 pin scars Foreshortening exists 450' x 15' x 20' Quality Anchors abound The amazing In Search of Suds climbs the foreground dihedral Compulsory Ridgeline Shot Echo Pinnacle in Mills Canyon - Window Route - One of the very best routes out there. Absolutely beautiful tower and stunning landscape with high quality and varied climbing. Kicking loose rock and sand on your partner is a common desert pastime. The Window in the route Amazing 5.10+ jamming The bizarre and wonderful window/squeeze/bolt ladder/OW Endless Towers Gear Notes: tape, #5 C4, BYOB Approach Notes: bumpy Quote
genepires Posted May 10, 2013 Posted May 10, 2013 Darin don't need to traing to send big. he just gets off the couch and climbs like a monkey. Great photos as usual. Quote
matt_warfield Posted May 10, 2013 Posted May 10, 2013 (edited) Top drawer TR. Thanks for the post. And God bless solid sandstone. Edited May 10, 2013 by matt_warfield Quote
layton Posted May 10, 2013 Posted May 10, 2013 what did you think of the "bolts" on free window! Quote
SoundSummiter Posted May 10, 2013 Posted May 10, 2013 Fantastic climbs and pictures! We spent 3 days in Indian Creek this past weekend as well. Truly an amazing place with never-ending lines! Quote
wayne Posted May 10, 2013 Posted May 10, 2013 Nice Darin, I am looking for a partner currently for such shenanigans. Quote
Casey_Ruff Posted May 11, 2013 Posted May 11, 2013 Nice Darin. Very inspiring. Can't wait to check out the desert in the future. Since I am just about to embark on the joys of early fatherhood (any day now), perhaps I can enroll in the DBerdinka school of "how to be a good/responsible /loving parent and husband whilst being a rock crusher (or crusher at anything for that matter)". Quote
JasonG Posted May 11, 2013 Posted May 11, 2013 I know, Darin sets a high bar for us dads! Nice work, I need to get down there, preferably with Casey as my ropegun And, as usual, the images are fantastic! Quote
keenwesh Posted May 15, 2013 Posted May 15, 2013 looks like you went left where we went right on the second pitch of North six, thats probably what you're supposed to do. That's quite a ticklist for 6 days. I can't wait to get back there. So much to climb, so many responsibilities... Quote
fgw Posted May 15, 2013 Posted May 15, 2013 Great stuff!! Islet looks like an amazing tower tick...did you get a looksee at Boxtop's std rt? Quote
dberdinka Posted May 16, 2013 Author Posted May 16, 2013 Boxtop looked great. #6 Camalots might be the largest piece you really need as it goes from about that size to chimney with no real intermediate width. Wish we had done it as well...another trip I suppose. Just got the Desert Towers Book by Steve Bartlett. Amazing piece of work well worth the $50.00 for anyone interested in towers. Quote
fgw Posted May 16, 2013 Posted May 16, 2013 thanks for the boxtop info - yeah, that's a great book to get the tower juices going no doubt Quote
dberdinka Posted May 30, 2013 Author Posted May 30, 2013 Great pictures!! What camera did you use? It's an Olympus XZ-1. Which is basically a higher end Point&Shoot. More importantly I shoot in RAW format and post process using LightRoom 4. This allows a number of things. 1) Much better noise reduction than you get shooting jpegs. 2) Improved contrast with better shadow detail. Basically the "pop" in a photo. 3) And yes I sometimes up the saturation to get more of the desert color in there. It's really the second point that I think makes for good internet pics. What you'll see in the photos of really good photographers is a perfect distribution from bright white to very dark without any blown out highlights. While this takes good control of the actual camera when shooting it also requires skill with Schooping. See JasonG's images or the cascadescrusades guy. Quote
dberdinka Posted June 3, 2014 Author Posted June 3, 2014 A pretty fascinating follow up to my last trip to the desert over a year ago. Needle in a Haystack Quote
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