As the weather starts to change, temps drop, and there is not quite enough snow yet to start skinning, some of the folks in Telluride turn to the desert for off-season fun and weekend warrior projects.

Groups head to Moab for biking the Slick Rock experience, and others head to Indian Creek to battle it out on the beautiful parallel-sided sandstone cracks.

So, it’s now weekend Number Three for me. I still get reduced on a daily basis, but the strength and endurance is slowly returning and I am hoping to step up to some of those climbs that are on my “hit list.”

This weekend, I was in the presence of greatness with some rad climber couples. Dave M & Ximena and Melanie & Winslow– all versatile, hard climbers from Telluride that love what Indian Creek has to offer us in way of humility, strength and highs.

With the threat of weather the past few weekends, the crowds are still not too bad, and we get first dibs on all the routes we want on Saturday at the Reservoir Wall. Mel and I each warm up on an easy 5.10 big hand cracks. Ximena then charges up “Pente”- a classic route at 5.11- and 160 feet- an enduro pitch with some great rests and beautiful moves for those with small hands, myself included. Winslow puts up a sporty flaky 5.10 crack, “Dr. Carl,” on a face around the corner from us- tricky and a bit loose, it offers us some excitement. Later that afternoon, Dave saunters up Gurkha, a stout 5.12-, and then his lady leads a strenuous finger crack, “Raja”, a 5.11+.

After the dream team’s strong leads, I decide to do “Excuse Station,” a 5.11 at 120 feet, a far stroll to the other side of the buttress, and a good climb for those who enjoy very thin hands, painful feet, and few rests. All the climbs went smoothly for us that day and we felt pretty good about our “sends.”

As we enjoy our requisite beers at the car after climbing, and toasting to the highlights of the day, darkness creeps in much more quickly than expected. We camp at Superbowl amidst several other parties and settle into our dinner preparations. Several hours later, we are gathered around the campfire sharing stories of our childhoods and other classic tales.

The climbing scene has evolved a bit for us all- many of our friends now bring their children and make it a family affair, changing and livening the usual bro-brah atmosphere. Dave G & Kameron brought Grayson down this weekend for his first desert experience at age one. They also brought a pretty cool playpen to prop up at the crag. Outdoor gear has come a long way! Claire from Durango also brought her two little ones, six-month-old Tarin and two-year-old Caleb, as she begins the process of balancing motherhood with her love for climbing and the outdoors.

The kids all have a blast in the desert camping scene this weekend, and will surely some day be dragging us all up their projects. It’s good to get them the early exposure, and they are excellent camping buddies. Sadly, the only toys we have to offer them are from Winslow’s random collection in his truck which includes a plastic rat from the supermarket and a plastic severed hand with protruding bone, that might be better for Halloween in a couple of weeks. Caleb, and his big buddy Dave M, have a blast chasing us all around with these unusual objects.

Sunday rolls around with a late start. After a healthy egg and bean burrito fresh off the Coleman stove, and great coffee from Guatemala, courtesy of a recent trip of Ximena, we drive over to the Way Rambo wall and are hiking up to the crag at about 11 a.m. The trail is intriguing as it meanders through cliff bands, desert rock and sage brush. We pop out at the first few climbs and proceed with those immediately. I set up a 5.9 warm up and Winslow jump starts the day with a 5.11- that has a tricky roof move that requires a gigantic stem across a face to reach the second crack- exciting! We progress on to Mel leading the Fuzz, a tougher 5.10 with a tricky sporty layback move to the chains. Then, I hop on the very welcoming hand crack of Blue Moon at an easy 5.10, which is a nice gentle stroll to the anchors, and not too painful on the feet from yesterday. Dave storms “Slice and Dice” at 5.12, an awesome smaller then small hands climb (continuous tight .75 cams) at about 80 feet. He sends it and then leaves a nice top rope for the rest of us to enjoy and humble ourselves on.

With about a five climb a day regimen, we all feel pretty satisfied, and make our way back down to the cars at dusk. After some social time, we gather up our things, and begin our journeys back home.

Telluride-based Kim Havell is a Cloudveil, CAMP-USA, Telski, and Volkl/Tecnica athlete. She recently wrote about the changing nature of mountain towns for The Mountain Culture.