Wy oming? Why Not?

About a week ago, I left Denver and headed to Vedauwoo, near Laramie, Wyoming. First, however, I re-united with Preston for a day of climbing in Eldorado Canyon, outside of Boulder. We met up two Mondays ago and headed to Eldo for Preston's first multi-pitch climbing experience. We headed to the Wind Tower, a nice easy approach with some fun, moderate climbing. First, we did a three pitch climb called Wind Ridge, 5.6. Apparently, most people walk off after the second pitch, avoiding a weird move at the start of the third pitch. They are missing out! It's funky, but 3/5 of "funky" is "fun"! After Wind Ridge, we climbed the first pitch of Calypso (5.6) to finish on Reggae (5.8). Both were very fun and worthwhile pitches.

Preston follows the first pitch of Wind Ridge (well, OK, we actually did kind of an alternate first pitch. We got to the right place, though.)

Me and Preston on top of Wind Tower

Calypso follows the second dihedral from the left, traverses under a small roof and ends at the ledge about midway up (A climber is visible in the dihedral). Reggae steps about 10 feet right from the top of Calypso and follows another prominent dihedral through a couple of small roofs and a distinct crux section at the top, ending at the broken ledge system below the summit cap.

Upon my arrival at Vedauwoo, I hooked up with Jason. Jason lives in Laramie, where he has been going to grad school, and currently, having elected not to take a summer job, has a lot of time on his hands, which is great for me. :-) We climbed together Wednesday and Thursday. We both took Friday off after taking a beating from the sun for two days (and with Jason still recovering from the flu).

Jason checking out Wild Thing, 5.10b (the crack with the distinct roof in the center of the photo)

On the right-most formation, you can see a curving line on the right side. This is the flake that forms the climb Flake, 5.8+. Inside the flake is a wide crack which you climb to the top, with the crux coming when you have to transition from the outer flake to another crack formed by an inner flake. You can't tell in the picture, but the whole flake leans outward, so the top of the climb is frighteningly exposed. I can't remember the last time I was so scared on lead.

View from the top of one of the day's climbs.

Sunset from near my camp on Friday night

Friday night, after spending some time at the library, and otherwise bumming around Laramie, I had the misfortune of choosing to camp in what ended up being the local party hang-out. About 2am, with a car playing loud music 10 feet from me, I couldn't take it any more, packed up and drove off to find a quieter place to sleep the rest of the night. Despite the rough night, I got up in the morning and went in search of climbing partners. Jason was climbing with another partner who works during the week. I probably could have joined them, but poor cell phone service kept us from hooking up. No problem, though. I went to the Nautilus parking lot and quickly hooked up with a group of three guys from Fort Collins, Matt, Mike, and Nick. We did some climbs on the Nautilus, and generally had a fun, albeit hot, day.

Matt belays Nick on Lower Progressive (5.7+), a stout, sustained, off-width climb. Lower Progressive (5.9 +) in the background.

Slit (5.7) starts up a fun, easy, chimney, then climbs flakes past the off-width at the top.

Sunday, I was kind of sore and tired, and maybe a little grumpy. I drove to the parking lot, but didn't feel like looking for someone to climb with. I ended up driving into Laramie in the afternoon, at which point I blew out a tire. After a bit of an ordeal changing the tire with the help of a friendly stranger with an axe (the wheel was rusted on and we used the blunt side of the axe to beat it off), I got to town and went to Wal-Mart (the only tire place open on a Sunday afternoon). Unfortunately, they did not have the size tire I needed, so I would have to skip climbing Monday morning (as Jason and I had planned) to go into town and get a tire. Oh well, no big deal.

View from near my camp Sunday night

Monday. Monday, monday. Monday the thirteenth, in fact, and more frightful than any Friday I've had. It was one of those days that you know is going to be one of those days from the time you get up, yet, for some reason, you don't have the good sense to say "the hell with it" and go back to bed. It started with little things...dropping things, knocking things over, spilling my coffee beans..... Then, I backed into a tree. Why did I try to drive, again, anyway? I really should have known better. I didn't check out the damage right away, but when I did, it was a lot worse than I had first expected. The bumper was bent up of course, but the tailgate was dented in as well...dented enough that the rear window wouldn't go down, which meant I couldn't open the tailgate...not a huge problem but highly annoying. I made it to town without further mis-hap. The first tire shop I went to, also did not have the size tire I needed in stock. So, I went to the other tire shop in town.... They told me that the size tire I had was a real odd-ball. It was only shipped on a couple of models of car. They didn't have any either. You see, when I was in West Virginia, I needed a new set of tires. The guy at the tire shop there talked me into getting a different size than the original one on my car, to save me a little money. I see now that he scammed me to get rid of 4 tires he was stuck with and couldn't move. Blah. So, I had to order a tire. It should come in today (Tuesday). This, of course, meant that Jason and I would not be able to leave for Devil's Tower Monday afternoon as planned. After venting some frustration and ordering a tire, I headed to a nearby body shop where they said they could pull out the tailgate enough to get the window functioning for $50. That was the best news I'd heard all day. I left my car there, and Jason picked me up and we headed out to Vedauwoo to get a couple climbs in.

Captain Nemo (5.8). Definitely a stout 8, but that goes without saying at Vedauwoo

Grand Traverse (5.10a) We didn't do the "traverse" part. That's pitch 2. The moves getting past the roof at the top are super tricky. You chimney up until you can get a finger lock on the left, then reach over to a flaring hand jam in the right side crack, then have to awkwardly swing your right foot over to a good hold. Crazy!

Today, Jason and I will leave for Devil's Tower, one way or another. If worse comes to worst, I will leave my car here and ride up with Jason, then come back here, and drive back up by myself later. Jason will only be going up there until Friday. Hopefully, they will get my tire in by 3 or so, get it put on, and I'll be able to head out, in my own vehicle, at a decent time. We shall see!

Route List for 7/6-14:

• Wind Ridge (3 pitches, 5.6 Trad) (Onsight)
• Calypso Pitch One (5.6 Trad) (Onsight)
• Reggae (5.8 Trad) (Onsight)
• Cold Finger (5.7) (Onsight)
• Hole (5.7 Trad) (TR clean)
• Flake (5.8+ Trad) (Led with a couple hangs)
• Wild Thing (5.10b Trad) (TR, had to aid the crux)
• Soft Touch ("5.5" Trad 5.7 is more fair) (Onsight)
• Zipper Pitch 2 (5.7+ Trad) (TR clean)
• Hammer Pitch 1 (5.7+ Trad) (Onsight)
• Nail (5.7+ Trad) (TR clean)
• Handjacker (5.7+ Trad) (Hangdog) - I finished the lead of this stout offwidth after Mike bailed. I had to hang a couple times though.
  
• Lower Progressive (5.9+ Trad) (TR)
• Slit (5.7 Trad) (TR clean)
• Mother 1 (5.7+ Trad) (Onsight)
• Captain Nemo (5.8 Trad) (Led with one take)
• Grand Traverse Pitch One (5.10a Trad) (TR clean) - Damn proud of this one!