A week after Amanda and I got back from Wyoming, Matt picked me up in Farmington. I was just getting off of work and he does like to waste time having me drive home to Durango. We made it nearly to Kayenta before we noticed all the smoke from the California wildfires. Matt called the ranger station in the Eastern Sierra that is responsible for the Incredible Hulk. They informed us that the smoke was horrid. We changed plans on the spot and headed North to the Wind River Range in Wyoming. After stopping to shop for food we pulled over on the dirt road to the TH to sleep for the night. It was a long day, Matt left Colorado and drove south to New Mexico. Then we headed west to Arizona, then north through Utah and the corner of Colorado into Wyoming.
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| Matt following on Black Elk. |
The next morning we finished the drive and packed our bags. We headed over Jackass Pass and climbed the NE Face of Warrior 1 in the afternoon. A fun route but mostly chosen because it was right above camp and we could rappel the route.
We had heard a lot about Black Elk so that was next on the list. The topo suggested a #5 and a bunch of #4's for the OW pitch but Matt decided all we needed was one #4. Obviously that was his lead. Luckily he was right and he floated the pitch. Black Elk was indeed and great route and we were stoked for more. Once back at camp we packed up and moved into the Monolith Cirque a couple hours away.
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| The Monolith and out camp below. |
Our buddy Sam had put up a route called Discovery and it was calling our names. The next morning we climbed all but the last two pitches of Discovery before bailing because of a thunderstorm. Although we never saw him Sam was on top of the route the whole time. He was rappelling in to free the crux pitches. He said the storm that scared us away dropped 1.5" of hail on them! We rappelled to the base and packed up camp again and headed back to the Cirque of the Climbables. The next morning we climbed the uber classic Pingora via the NE ridge.
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| Top of Pingora |
Then sticking to our schedule of moving camp in the afternoon we packed up and moved to Deep Lake. En route we ran into Trevor and Emily who had just gotten married in Ten Sleep a few weeks before. Deep Lake is probably the coolest/most beautiful alpine lake I've ever seen. The next morning we got up really early and hiked up to Lost Temple Spire. We started the SW arete as it was misting on us and we topped out in a light snow flurry. Then per usual we packed up camp and walked back to the TH.
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| Deep Lake... |
Next up was the Grand Traverse in the Tetons. I hadn't been to the Tetons in 20 years since I was guided up the Exam Ridge. Matt had never been to the Tetons. We had some good beta and figured it couldn't be all that hard if someone had done it in 6.5 hours. Luckily the route finding went pretty well. Matt's guts weren't feeling good which lead to him not eating and moving slow near the end but we still managed to squeak it out in 17 hours. We stayed at the AAC climber ranch that night, which is a super cool spot. I'll definitely be staying there again in the future.
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| On Owen with the Grand behind. |
We then drove to Lander for some sport climbing and to visit Sam and Liz. Great to see those two. It's a bummer that they live so far away and we see them so rarely. Sam directed us to a couple crags where we could stretch our legs on our drive from Lander to Estes Park. First stop was Cranner Rock then on to Freemont Canyon, then on to Estes to see the Brandewie's.
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| On Birds of Fire |
A couple days cragging around Estes and one big day into the Chief's Head to climb Birds of Fire. What a cool alpine route! Every time I thought the route was going to follow a crack it would bust out onto the face. Very fun thought provoking climbing. What a great way to finish a great trip!
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| Owen need some work on his mean mug. |
