I left Durango at 6am and before I knew it I had been driving in Wyoming for 5 hours. Thats when I realized that I hadn't seen a single cop since crossing the boarder and I could count the number of trees I had seen on one hand. And with that said I had also passed very little civilization and the wind was blowing at least 30+mph the whole time. It ended up that the wind didn't ease off until I left the state 4 days later and out of the 4 days I was in Wyoming I only saw 1 cop total. I arrived in Cody just after 6pm, around 12 hours after leaving Durango. Chris was flying in from Chicago and I picked him up at the airport later that evening. After a long day of travel for both of us it was good to be stationary in a hotel room looking at a guide book, trying to figure out what to do in the morning. We finally decided on a drainage with two routes right next to each other. "Stringer" and "Desperate for Lovin'".
The next day turned out to be a great day of ice climbing with a moderate approach and good ice. I had heard that there is often minimal snow in the area and was pleasently surprised to find out how little there was. On Day two we did more hiking then climbing on a route called "The Schoolhouse Route". Lesson learned. Day three turned out to be the gem with a route called "Broken Hearts". While Chris and I were in the Cody area we saw too many deer to count, bighorn sheep, quail, and a wolf!
All in all it was a fun trip in a cool area! Below are an assortment of photos.
Chris leading "Stringer"
Chris following "Desperate for Lovin'"
Chris starting up pitch 2 of "The Schoolhouse Route"
"Schoolhouse Route"
"Broken Hearts"
"Broken Hearts"
Post holing out of "Broken Hearts"
"High on Boulder" on the left and "Moonrise" on the right.
This past weekend Matt, Bill and I were headed to Ouray for a couple days of work. We decided to head up a day early and come back a day later, so we could get in some personal climbing while we were up there. Unfortunetly I only pulled the camera out for the last day. It ended up being two great days of mixed climbing in the park.
This is me on the 2008 qualifier route.
Cleaning some snow off the top.
Matt on the same route.
Matt topping out.
Bill on the 2008 qualifier route.
Matt starting the 2012 comp route.
Matt traversing the ice bridge on this years comp route.
Bill belays as Matt leads pitch 2 of an easy 2 pitch line in the school room area.
Early January this years was super warm in Durango area. Most of the snow that we did get in December either melted or became less fun to ski as the weeks went on. So last weekend I went out to the Moab area and climbed some towers. I climbed by myself on Saturday and then Jeff Widen joined me on Sunday.
Saturday started with Sunset Tower which is North of Moab. Straight forward aiding for two pitches got me to the top, and I was back at the car by noon, wondering what was next.
Last spring Bill, Matt, Sam, and I climbed a tower East of 'Sunset Tower' that we ended up calling, 'Red Rocket Tower'. I had scoped out a thin fin between the two towers and had been wanting to climb it. The start of the route I had scoped was between the rim wall and the tower, and required a little scrambling to chimney up the rubble to the start of the route. Besides a little cleaning of rock at the beginning and a bolt near the end pitch the tower went smoothly. I called Amanda to let her know I was 'ok' while drilling a rap anchor. Then hurried down to beat the darkness. The fin is now called 'Finish Line Tower' and the route is called 'You're Either First Or Your Last.'
Jeff met me Sunday morning and I piled into his truck for the four wheeled approach into Joe Wilson Canyon. 'Tranquility Tower' was first which needed an anchor bolt on the summit to back up a bush people had been rappelling off of. Then 'Queen's View Tower', and 'King Arthur's Seat' to round off the day and the weekend. All in all a great weekend, climbing towers in the desert!
On top of 'Sunset Tower'
The start of the route, on Finish Line Tower
Before the cleaning.
After the cleaning.
Looking back down at the start of the route.(hiked up from the left)
Looking through the tower.
Standing on top.
On top of Finish Line Tower.
'Tranquility Tower'
Jeff on pitch one of 'Feeding the Rat' on 'Tranquility Tower.'
Jeff at the pitch one belay.
Jeff following pitch two.
Jeff leading pitch three.
Jeff on pitch two of 'Queen's View Tower.'
Jeff's hand placed sawed off pin on 'Queen's View Tower'
Jeff standing at the rappel on 'King Arthur's Seat'
Jeff and I went to the desert yesterday for a little tower climbing. After a lot of driving around we found and climbed Cogswell Tower via a route named Raven. Back at the car by 2pm we decided to look around for a tower called the Anvil. After searching for an hour or more we decided it was on the other rim of the canyon and settled for a very cool looking feature called Enchanted Mesa. With one real pitch of climbing we were back at the car before dark. On the drive out we noticed a dome right next to the road with Moki Steps carved in and ran up and down for a quick ascent. To top off a great day, we picked up Amanda at home on our way back into Durango and had some wings at Cuckoo's.
I've climbed Engineer Mountain which is North of Durango twice in the last week. The first time it was a little windy down low. The second time we started early watched the sun rise and and summited by 8am.
Amanda, Barb and I went mountain biking at Phil's World by Cortez on Monday. The weather was great as were the trails. Little patches of snow here and there but 99% dry.
