Climb the right side of a varnished pillar with fun featured fingers and hands. My vote for the best sunny side warm-up at Reservoir Wall.

Feel the Funkness

Gurka

Dr. Carl

Raja

Unnamed 5.10 ( 45 in 2013 Edition)

On Look

[Redacted]

Act Your Age

Less Than Zero

Kelley Route 29

Marvelous!

Mega Bucks

Rawhide

Trust it

Sea of Heartbreak

Pente

Slot Machine

Frosted Flakes

Kelley Route 41

Merry Cherry

From Switzerland With Love

Chachapoya

Sumo

Karl's Excuse

Carruthers-Hauser

Excuse Station

Ernie Used to Box

unknown offwidth

Three Fools

Good Excuse

3 Chumps

Pop Up!

Speedy Gonzales

Mud dahbber

Ninja

Machete

Rez Dawgs

David's Second Movement

Cyborg

The Overlook

Wigglin' Worm

Unknown

Warm-Up Handcrack

Dreadasaurus

Kelley Route 28

Middle Crack

Sharka Zulu

Pirate Treasure

Lonesome Dove

Unknown 5.10

Unnamed 38 - wide to fists and kind of wavy

Left Crack

No Excuse

Will-Mento

Excuse Et Moi

Unnamed 5.10

Pat's Crack

Finger Food

Unknown 5.11- (really long thin hands corner)

Arch Arrival

Located just to the right of Marvelous.  This climb is superb and sustained.  Crank up easy finger locks to a fifteen foot section of stenuous offwidth.  After the offwidth comes a section of baggy fingers with some feet and then a section of perfect fingers and no feet.  Awesome line!

This is a hard short climb just to the left of Raja.  The grade isn't on the plague, so 12a is what I'd rate it.  It has two very hard cruxes getting over the roofs with pumpy climbing in-between.  The first roof felt the hardest to me, though it is more straight forward climbing.  If you can do pull-ups on rattly fingers, then you're in business.  The second roof takes some figuring out... there are some face holds and stems which make this doable.  Pumpy ring locks lead to the anchors.

Find the route Wigglin' Worm and look just about 40 feet to the left. You will see a set of chalked up thin cracks, near the ground.  These twin cracks are thin and delicate at the base. Protect with a .5" or smaller cam behind a thin flake for pro on the left, and climb up a bit higher to good gear.

Stem, layback, and jam up between the opposing flakes and cracks for about 70', until the right-hand side slopes over to a ledge with an anchor.

The moves are reasonably easy, but require a little bit of power here and there.  One could argue that this route is 5.9.

This stellar left facing dihedral is located about 30 yards left of Pente.  This is not in the guidebook but there is a plague at the base which identifies the route.  There are 5.12 routes on both the left and right of Raja.  Can be done with a single 60m rope.  The route starts very thin (blue TCUs) with no real feet for the first 15' : this is probably the technical crux of the route.  A number of good rests are interspersed between strenous thin layback sections for the rest of the way

Hands to fists up a left facing flake.  The anchor could use some updating but was good enough by desert standards.

Start's with fingers. The mid section is off fingers. Nearing the top goes back to fingers and finishes with a mantle to a ledge with a 2 bolt anchor. This pitch could be used as a variation to a route not listed on MP. It is a 2 pitch route right of the Overlook and is explained in the new Creek Freak (2018) guide. That route is listed as Rt #36

To find this route continue left on Resevior Wall past the Pente area perhaps 150 meters to a route facing right in some semi-parallel cracks (Skank on the Hanglow, a new route with a slate at the bottom). The bottom of this route is a a light brown rock with some lichen and features, only the last 10' is in classic varnished windgate. No matter, it is a fun climb.

Go up the runout start (5.7 desert climbing) to reach a protectable flake and then a 4-5" crack. Take a red Camalot for placing in an awkward crack-in-a-pod when you are just starding to wonder if you are safe.  You will know when to use it.

The wide crack progresses upward, getting narrower the whole time. After some distance is gained, you can step left and get between that and a second crack with perfect hand-jams. Both cracks are climbable and protectable.

Continue up to where you are deposited on parallel windgate cracks, the left one being a wider awkward pod and the right one being a narrowing splitter.  Stem, jam, and lock through this crux to the anchors.

A good route, and a little atypical of Indian creek.

To reiterate from the book: climb the offwidth right of Cyborg then traverse up and left around the aretes to the obvious splitter. It’s an off fingers and thin hands enduro-fest to the top. Bring lots of gear.

Greg has quite the eye. It was fun to walk up to this route with no idea who put it up or how hard it was. Get on it, it’s a great route.

One of the more unique routes out there, lots of face climbing and working angles.

Bloom Route 12

- This route is an obvious, left-facing dihedral. This route lies just left of where the main trail up to the crag meets the rock, and about 20 yards to the right of Wigglin' Worm.

Tape up your paws and climb the wide-hands crack (with a fist here or there for small handed people) to the top of this 70' crack and lower off of the fixed anchor.

Mawwwvvelous!

...or Fantastic, as one topo indicates, is a beautiful, difficult splitter - fairly well-chalked when I was on it.  There is a plaque at the base.  Located well right of where the trail hits the wall. You'll pass Left Crack and Middle Crack (short, straight-in splitters), then you'll get to this longer line. It's pretty obvious - you just have to walk a ways.

Climb an easier-than-it-looks start up softer rock for 25 feet, then begin fingerlocking and stacking your way up to the crux: a long reach to a tips slot followed by another long reach to more thin crack.  There is a convenient face hold right at this section which you may or may not find useful.  Continue up the slightly offset crack, liebacking or stacking, with occasional locks, to the anchors.  Sweet route!

Striking offwidth in a huge left-facing corner that begs to be climbed. About as difficult as The Big Baby, without the roof crux but overall more sustained and grueling.

The route begins as sharp thin hands - not as painful as they look - that quickly widens to hands and fists in the first 30-40 feet. At this point gather as much courage and determination that you can muster, tell your belayer to get comfy, and stack your way up the seemingly endless 5-5.5” crack. A couple 6-7” pods give your knee a break and have a few face holds of questionable integrity, along with one thank-god jug where you’ll experience how overjoyed Columbus must have felt upon seeing solid land for the first time in months.

A 70m rope will NOT make it down – not sure about an 80m, but with anything less two ropes are mandatory! Also be aware that the anchor consists of two rusty pitons, with several layers of webbing joined by two carabiners. Some of the webbing looked new but the pitons weren’t the most confidence inspiring.

Climb up some blocky terrain to gain the crack in the corner.  Climb the corner and then the crack that diagonals up and right into the roof.  Negotiate the roof with fun moves and then continue up the hand crack above to the chains.

V2 boulder start into ring locks to fists then through 5in roof, which transitions into 5in and 6in offwidth and then back to fists and hands.

Start with an short boulder problem up the chinle to gain the double cracks.  Eventually abandon the flake and climb splitter narrowing fingers to the chainz.  Can be made harder by avoiding the flake.  If you onsight this rig go ahead and take the victory whip.

The first path leading to the wall puts you near this climb.  Look for a large, I mean really large, detached block at the wall.  Pente is the striking line just to the left as you face the wall.  Look for a small alcove start with a crack on the right side (left facing), that pulls a small roof and leads to a small ledge.  At this ledge, you should see some slings.  The line then moves a few feet to the left to start the awesome and steep splitter.  This section is mostly red camalot size with a few slightly larger pods in it.  This leads to another small ledge.  Above the ledge, the crack turns to a thinning left facing dihedral (mostly .75 Camalot).  Catch your breath at the ledge and motor for the anchors. This climb is freaking awesome - varied and challenging.

Geologic time includes now! Apparently this thing continues to widen....better hop on it while you can.

Just right of the giant slumped block by Pente, about 25 feet of facey climbing protected by a bolt accesses a long acute dihedral with a tight-hands crack in the back-- the Slot Machine. Exiting the crack at the top is probably the crux, as one is forces to battle rope drag and sandy feet while underclinging around the roof closing off the top of the dihedral. We found the Slot Machine to be sustained and strenuous, but hardly 5.12 as described in the Knapp guide. Placque at base. Good anchors.

This excellent pitch is probably 5.12 if jammed, but as a lieback, the case could be made that no move is harder than 5.10+.  The climb is located 30 feet right of Warmup Hand Crack and 30 feet left of Pat's Crack.

Climb the obvious fist crack formed by a left-facing flake.

This route is big hands/fists. Not for the small-of-hands if you're looking for a true 5.9.

Merry cherry!! Climb hands that very quickly give way to big hands... then fists... then finishes with off-width. Choose to stay in the crack and work your technique or get pumpy on the layback. Good, quick route.

For the belay, the bottom can be protected with small or number 2.0 cams. Be careful when topping out, there is lots of choss at the pillars top.

steep bouldery climbing, some crack climbing skills required,

Now that I'm back in full swing on the Proj, allow me to fill in some details on this obscure little gem.

Sam and I spotted, and then sacked up and led Sumo to the right. I'll never forget the mini-epic: once we were both at the gear anchor, it started pissing rain while we hand drilled. No rain gear, of course. We watched a flash flood-like waterfall cascade down the drainage east of the Cat Wall.

I couldn't help but notice that this open corner looked semi-decent, so after the anchor was in, I gave it go after things dried and found some pleasant, moderate climbing on it. Its not a classic by any means, but for someone who either doesn't have wide gear, or the necesary skills to lead Sumo, this is how a 10- leader could set up a TR. Plus, the wavy tight hands at the top are awesome!

Start up the corner beneath Sumo (shares bottom 30ft) that leads to a big ledge, instead of jumping into that monstrosity, move further left to the dihedral. The climb is varied and enjoyable. 2.5 stars.

Apparently there may be a direct start now?

FWIW, as this is an obscure route in the Warrior district, I chose a favorite, obscure Warrior culture from Northern Peru, especially because of the desert rain experience.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chachapoya_culture

Another reason to cruise to the far side of Res wall. Climb easy terrain atop some blocks and head up the splitter just right of the right facing corner. Goes from fingers to tight hands! A 70m will probably get you down, 2 60m ropes to lower off

The guide book description (C)2013 is pretty much dead on without the details.  The start is broken and loose and also a little spooky with a difficult crux getting into the finger crack.  After the crux the crack quickly opens up to perfect hands and big hands to the anchor.

This is one of the best thin hand cracks at Indian Creek.  From Pente walk left along the base of the wall for about 200-300 yards.  Find the obvious splitter with a left facing dihedral immediately to the right (No Excuse- funky 5.10++).  The route starts off as perfect, cruiser thin hands (maybe a bit strenuous for fatter handed folks) to a good rest below the crux final 15' of the route.  The crux involves tough ring locks with some features for feet.  The route is maybe 90' and can easily be done with one 60m rope.

This seldom climbed offwidth might be just what the doctor ordered for you wide crack affectiano's.  Start in a flaring tight corner with a loose flake for your feet and a hand crack in the back.  The crack slowly widens as you grunt your way up the flare to about #4 Camalot size.  Take a good rest in a chimney stance, pull around a bulge and then start the right angling traverse.  Hands to fists to offwidth take you to the anchor.

left leaning 15' offset offwidth start--tight #5 to baggy #5 at the top. Crack heads right through a jagged #3 bulge, then goes fists to rattly fists at the top. Anchors on at a ledge. 5.10?

Fists in a left facing corner on a pillar.

A few thin moves down low to gain the top of the block....and it's hands and big hands to the anchor.  Some small loose blocks were removed at the start.  The remaining blocks seem to be quite solid.  There is a small ledge about half way up that still has some rocks chillin' on it.

Overlook begins to the right of "wiggling worm" & "three fools" in a less than vertical splitter that turns into a right facing dihedral. The first pitch anchors are not visible on a ledge halfway up the climb.  The start jutts out on a pronounced pedestal defined by the late afternoon sun line. 1st pitch: Start with hands in a crack that quickly leans left and widens to 4-5"; good face features abound as the crack turns into a right facing dihedral. After a short vertical offwidth section (tee-hee-hee) the crack narrows down to fists then hands and dumps you onto a ledge. 2nd pitch: This right facing dihedral offers excellent hand and fist jams interrupted by some minor over hanging flaring offwidth pods; however, it's really hard to fall out when you can fit your whole leg in. Overall this is a great two pitch climb that gives the full flavor of desert climbing.

Climb the corner to the punchy .3 crack. From the top of this crack, go right and climb the sharp, irregular zig-zag crack to the chains. FFA Eric Anderson

A mediocre first pitch up a mostly hands corner leads to a nice belay ledge with a chain anchor (1 star).  The second pitch starts out hard right off the belay with splitter green Camalots into a flare.  The rest of the pitch is pretty much red Camalots but the crack is silty and therefore felt hard for the size (3 stars).

Fun short crack hands to big hands, wish it was longer.

A classic left facing fingers corner.  Begin up corner stemming when possible for the first 3/4 of the route.  Milk the good rest, then fire into the layback to the anchors.

Less than tips in a shallow corner. Some foot and hand holds make this line possible, and very techy. The gear is good, but hard to place.

This is an awesome "new-school" Creek route put up by the undercover hard-man Zack Smith.

Thin face climbing, a wild hand foot match and burly wide climbing make this rig a great adventure!

One fall morning, we make our way up to the crag.  Nearly every route is taken.  We start to look at the lines between the lines,  Behold, cracks abound!  We trudge on, farther around the wall, lamenting having not brought up the drill.  When we reach an open, established climb, Dave looks over to me and says "I kind of have to poop."  But Dave's a good guy, and adds "I can grab the drill while down there."

Like the many tunes he sings to himself with multiple movements, he moves himself down the trail with speedy finesse, back to Beef Basin for yet another movement.  Upon his return there was much rejoicing and a wonderful #3s crack was established.

There could be a third and fourth movements too to take it to the rim, but some trundling and a lot of cleaning would be required.  Maybe some day the entire composition will be completed.

Two pitches. The second pitch is a beautiful hands to tight hands to big fingers splitter. The first pitch is a "tower" type pitch with wiggling behind pillars and such. Not too bad. Worth doing to get to P2.

P1- 5.10 110'. Book says 5.9, but the last part feels pretty hard and the whole thing is squirelly and a bit run. I can only imagine somebody saying "Gosh, honey, the book says its only 5.9, why don't you lead it." Then watching their relationship being ripped asunder by yet another big hands to fist totter-fest.

P2- 5.11+ 70'. Use to be called 12-, book says 5.11. If Pente is 5.11, then this is a little harder.

An enduro fest!  This route is 140' long so bring two ropes.  This route is located about 20 yards to the right of Pente.  It tackles a funky wide start (maybe a #5 camalot if you haul it up there but you can get aliens behind the flake a little ways off the ground) followed by a section of thin hands, to perfect hands over a roof, to wide hands for a long ways up the right facing dihedral.  A funky wigglin' section caps the route (big gear not necessary).

This is the next route to the right of Warm Up Handcrack. Starts up a stubby pillar (I went up the right side, but in hindsight the left is probably better) to a corner OW up through a cool chimney and finishing on a wavy #6 OW reminiscent of the top of Big Baby.

This route is on the far right end of

Reservoir Wall

. It is way down past

Left

,

Right

, and

Middle Cracks

until you are around the corner and facing

Scarface

Wall

.

Continue walking the cliff line past a large dirty depression/scoop of loose tiny rock chips (much like a talus cone) and back up onto boulders again. Perhaps 100 meters or so later, you will reach a fabulous looking, left-facing corner with an outward facing crack in it. It is just as good as it looks.

David Bloom writes in his book that this climb would be as popular as

Incredible Hand Crack

if it was not such a long approach, and having done it, I agree. It is just as good and not crowded, nor "used up."

Lower or rap with a 60M rope, but BE CAREFUL! The climb appears to be just about 100'

The blocks that you have to use at the start look dreadful but they seemed pretty solid as of this posting.  They definitely won't stay that way forever though so climb it while you can.

The rest of the route is a solid left facing corner from .75 to #2.

A fun wide beast. Between Wigglin' Worm and the Unnamed 5.10 corner. Starts where you can stem into the Unnamed corner, but goes up the pillar, through a bulge, and then a roof. Wide the entire way. Looks intimidating from below, but it's hard to fall out when your body gets swallowed up.

A couple #4 BD for the bottom of the pillar, but quickly goes to #5s. Half way up the V-slot it transitions to #6s for the rest of the way. A few small pieces can save you a #5 by protecting a smaller crack out to the right above the pillar. A #3 Big Bro can save you some gear and a #4 can be placed at the lip of the roof, although above the roof it remains solid #6s.

Short but sweet. The SWEET SIZE if you dig finger cracks (and your fingers fit)!

Easier than Power Line (12b) and more pure splitter than Johnny Cat (11c)...Second digi and full finger action (male-size hands). (11d/12a)

This route has a few difficult sections, but the crux is probably the wide climbing in the upper third of the route.

The beginning of the climb looks hard to protect, and it kinda is, but with smart gear placement it is safe.

This route is kinda stout, sometimes very sandy, and not frequently climbed.  But it is FUN.

Looking for some adventure, and wanna get off the deck? This thing climbs more like a tower than any mundane splitter you'll find at the base. Kind of like the big brother to Neutron Dance.

20 ft right of Middle Crack lies a pile of choss. Pick the cleanest 5.8 path up the bottom portion, and step into a short finger crack. Climb up this till you find yourself at the bottom of a short 5.8 ow. Climb this and step left and you'll be at the bottom of a 40ft squeeze. Squirm up here to the top, and belay at 2 Metolius rap hangers.

From here the route is obvious as it ascends the splitter big hands to fist crack. Climb this bad boy up and squeeze through a few pods at the top and belay on a sloping ledge with 2 bolts.

There is a hand crack on the right side of this ledge that continues up, but we did not take the opportunity to venture further.

"Here's to the sunny slopes of long ago"

Coleman found a great route, hidden amongst all the other classics. A flare with features out left brings you to a stance on a pedestal. A brief section of off-fingers takes you through narrowing fingers into the crux; a bouldery section of just-less-than-tips, protected by small cams. After another brief rest, more tips that quickly open back to fingers, finishing with thin hands. Very nice, crisp crack climbing on bullet stone with lots of beautiful lichen. Sickness!

A short varied corner just uphill from Skank on the Hanglow. Three sections of fingers, hands, and a funky roof get you to chains on a ledge.

There's a plaque at the base, but is completely illegible.

Watch your rope in the crack. Perhaps better as a lead than a toprope due to the propensity of the rope to roll and get stuck.

Splitter off the ground hand fist stacks gets you to a ledge, and then it is fists to another bomber ledge. From there, it is cupped hands to a short flare and the anchors. Packs a punch for 60 feet of climbing.

Short route and short crux with a bad size.

A thin hair harder than Middle Crack. (11d/12a)

Funky face moves with thin pro to a flare and splitter fingers which starts out perfect but gets loose quickly...Keep your muscles tight! (12a/b)

You have No Excuse for not warming up on this before climbing Excuse Station.  No Excuse climbs the intimidating wavy, overlaps in the corner just right of Excuse Station to an anchor 100ft. above.  Mostly laybacks with fingers and thin hands.  Strap on a pair a have a go.  You will be excited when you finish it!

To find this route continue left on Reservoir Wall past the Pente area perhaps 150 meters to a route facing right in some semi-parallel cracks (Skank on the Hanglow, a new route with a slate at the bottom). Continue past this perhaps another 100 meters to a MASSIVE left facing corner with a off-hands to off-fists crack in it. It is characterized by three small roofs in the corner and a slate with the name, grade, & date placed in a horizontal, 2 meters up the climb.  Go up the runout start (5.8+ stemming) to reach 20M of perfect hand-jams, then continue up the widening crack past the 3 roofs, each bumping the leader to the left slightly.

This is a good route, but needs a little more traffic to be great. The rock is solid, the line good, the moves great, and the anchors trustworthy, However, under the first two roofs, there is a great accumulation of dust that is not yet well cleaned off. My partner did some hand-brushing, but the route needs more.

Some grungy climbing down low accesses a long zigzagging splitter.

Pull around the initial roof, a #6 Camalot protects this well. Above this a few body lengths of dirty climbing gets you to the #4 crack. After some varied climbing this necks down to tight hands just before the chains.

Starts in a shallow left facing corner (hands). After about 20 feet there is a nice ledge to rest on before launching into a solid hand crack that quickly widens to a squeeze chimney. The chimney ends by pulling out to the wide hands crack on the left side. Another 20 feet of wide hands and the anchor appears.

A proud line.  Shallow left-facing corner starting less than tips and gradually widening with a prolonged stay in the green alien size and a couple long reaches between pods at the top.  A bit like a longer Disco Machine Gun with less face holds and a more powerful crux.

Starts off-fingers, to a short tips section, to good fingers, to a welcome left rest ledge. After that, gun it up ten feet of good offset fingers with no feet (crux).  The final 15-20 feet of this route are really cool moves through some breaks and over a little roof, not hard, but very unusual for the Creek.

A must do route to be sure. Fun, well protected, high quality. Great moves and perfect stone most of the way. Sustained, but beatable with technique. You can arrive at the chains without a pump if you pay attention to the features, but this is a great route for technicians or thugs alike.

To find this route, first locate "Warm-Up Handcrack" (see this site) and then backtrack to a HUGE left-facing corner that starts 17meters up and continues for another 45 meters to some anchors. These are not immediately apparent from the ground.  There is a light-brown slab that rises up and to the right against the base of this route from which to start in a good looking set of cracks in that wall.

Climb up the slab and cast off onto the first pitch 5.9(?) placing a few cams in the right-facing crack and corner- clip the single bolt (no chain or webbing) and add gear to belay, or continue into the business.  You are now in a massive right-facing corner with an outward-pointing crack, which offers mostly very good jams.  Space your cams wisely, push them up, leap-frog them, etc... when you pass the fist blind bulge, you have 20 meters left to go.  Three meters from the top you will reach a bump in the crack that goes right, this takes some large TCUs (1-2") and might help alleviate the high demand on your 2.5" pieces... place the TCUs and finish the climb.

Rap on two 60 meter lines.  Watch out for loose rock when pulling your rope, should it happen to catch on a ledge on the way down.  We pulled a head-sized block off accidentally and had to dodge it.

Right-facing corner starts on some loose blocks. Main crack starts about 15' up with big hands narrowing to tips near the top. Flake out right near the top when it begins to narrow to fingers.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Reservoir Wall