After getting back to camp we waited out a storm, which gave us some awesome down time to reminisce and talk about the area, since we were leaving first thing in the morning. It didn’t hurt having the sun shine through; illuminating the cirque unlike any other day we were there. We ate dinner killed a few more mosquitoes and went to be, totally giddy from the weeks events. We woke up early, said some goodbyes to another couple and high tailed it out of there. The hike out went pretty quickly although I was hating my backpack compared to my climbing pack by the end of it.
We cruised out of there and decided to make a go for Mizzoula that day. We made a huge mistake, not stopping close by for some food. Just be warned that if you are driving through the middle of Idaho on a Sunday afternoon (and maybe any other day of the week), make sure yo start with a full tank of gas and some good, quality food…. Especially if you’ve just come out from a 5 day camping trip!
Well, we made it to Mizzoula, hung with Lucas’ parents, saw some friends, did the brewery tour, and finally returned to Seattle to prepare for the next extravaganza.
Day 1 - Hike in, skunk's knob and camel's hump
Day 2 - Pingora N face
Day 3/4 - Wolf's Head E ridge
Day 5 - Overhanging tower
Day 6 - End of the trip
Lucas' trip report
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
COTT Day 5 - Overhanging Tower
Having a full day of rest we decided on a nice scramble in Overhanging Tower (OT) and then an attempt at Sharks Nose. We hiked up to Wolf’s Head, OT col went around to the N and then West of OT for a very nice, easy ascent. Shown is OT from Shark's nose with some mocking clouds just over top. The trippiest part was being on the summit and knowing that you were on a … well … overhanging piece of rock with nothing below what you are standing on, easily seen from the pic. We got some nice picks of wolf’s head, reminisced about that awesome climb and the bivvy, and had a nice break. Shown is a summit shot with Bollinger behind Lucas and me.We then went back down the West side and made our way around to the col between OT and Shark’s Nose (shown right). We dropped the packs and started up the route that was loosely described by Kelsey’s guide. There was a description of a cave mid route, but damned if we never saw a cave. But as the climb went, we were 1 or two pitches behind another group. I led the first pitch up the middle class four gully. Lucas took the second lead which was some nice, but easy lower class five. I continued and, in retrospect, hit the crux of the route. While en route, I learned that the group ahead of us thought they were off route, it was getting significantly harder, and was bailing on account of weather rolling in. From there I belayed Lucas up to where I was at, conveniently next to a rap station. We
assessed the situation and decided to bail because of weather and not wanting to get over our heads on another route as Kelsey wrote that “a few old pitons can entice a wary climber off route and onto a 
much more difficult 5.10 version.” In retrospect, we were probably on route, right next to the supposed cave and probably could have finished, but so be it. We ended up retracing our steps, caught up to the previous group and had a nice hike back with them. A noteworthy eerie experience we had on the way back was a nice snowfield we had crossed 8 hours earlier had turned into a giant tangled mess of avalanche debris.Day 1 - Hike in, skunk's knob and camel's hump
Day 2 - Pingora N face
Day 3/4 - Wolf's Head E ridge
Day 5 - Overhanging tower
Day 6 - End of the trip
Lucas' trip report
Thursday, July 24, 2008
COTT Day three - Wolf's Head
We awoke Thursday to beautiful skies and set out to try the E ridge of wolf's head. This is indeed one of the 100 classic climbs of the world (I believe). The guidebook says that it's easy and straight forward if you don't mind walking on a two foot wide sidewalk with 1000 feet drops to either side. If not, and you try to protect it, it's a long day. We planned to jump off that ridge when we got there. ... But first was the approach.
We started off hiking close to the base of Pingora and beyond. We found a ramp that led up to the ridge ..
. class three, or maybe four, or maybe five? Things looked wet and we saw a pair of climbers possibly struggling up another route. We decided to pick a route that looked easier. Soon thereafter the other group caught up to us and our routes merged. Things would have been fine and dandy but the rock was dirty and wet, with increasing exposure. We finally decided to grab the rope and I led in my boots up the slipperiest/steepest parts. Afterward lucas said “You’re insane.” “Why?” Because you just led that in boots! Wtf, we should have put on rock shoes.” The rest of the approach was straight forward and soon we were descending the ridge to where the real fun started.
Lucas started leading up the ramp which was exactly as advertised: a steep “sidewalk” with drops on both sides. Due to the exposure we decided to protect the class four pitches – which indeed was a recipe for a very long day. Lucas led most of the ramp - he is pictured on the first lead with the other partners in the crack just above him - and we took a short break to study the route descriptions that we had. On the ridge there are 5 towers, the last of which is the true summit. Pictured is me approaching the first tower on a nice shelf. The best description was a drawing from Steph’s trip report. You have to go in front of, behind, and through different towers, but the key is figuring out which tower is which up close. Most of these pitches are mostly rising and descending exposed traverses. Not knowing if we had gone around the first tower yet, I found a crack that led on the bac
kside to a blind corner. When I got to the corner and looked around there was absolutely nothing and I almost crapped my pants – but at least we knew where the route needed to go. I back climbed, cleaning my pro on the way and led down to what we figured now was the first tower and traversed in front of it (in front = cirque lake side). Lucas led the next pitch which included a fun move up a boulder wedged between the two towers and then traversing between tower 1 and 2 through the “squeeze box.” I heard some moaning and bitching but couldn’t see the route, or Lucas. I followed with the pack and realized what the bitch and moan was about. Even with my small frame, it was a tight squeeze through the squeeze box –go figure. Add in the pack on my back and I thought I was going to get stuck and/or have to ditch the pack behind. Not fun when you are slightly claustrophobic like me – but I still made it. So I took the next lead which steph calls the piton pitch. I think this should be a hand traverse but I led it as a foot traverse using the piton as aid and leaving the pitch very much run out. I guess I wasn’t comfortable with the exposure and I was just trying to get through. After this pitch I realized that 1) we had to power through it and get over the summit because there was no turning back, and 2) daylight was waning and we couldn’t lollygag and worry about the exposure. So in other words, just deal with it. The human mind works in a weird way and after that I was totally comfortable with the exposure and route. Details here get a little fuzzy, but I think that I led most of the rest of the climb to save time. We traversed the smallish third tower via a hand crack, passed between the third and fourth t
ower to the front, and trended down via a hand and foot traverse to the base of the fifth tower – the summit block. These last two pitches were very fun now that I had “coped” with the situation. The rock was nice and the cracks were perfect sizes. After this last traverse two more pitches up class four-ish rock led to the summit. ….right at sundown.
We spent the obligatory 5 minutes at the summit for 1 or 2 pics and tried to figure a plan now that we were without light. Shown is a self portrait on the summit along with the summit sunset. We couldn’t stay the night on the summit so we rapped once to a ledge. I found another rap station so I egged lucas on and we rapped one more time to another nice ledge. It looked like we would have to up climb a sketchy little section to get back to the front for the next rap. Continuing down the backside has also been described but we didn’t know to where and couldn’t find a rap sling. So we decided to stay put on the comfy ledge and spend the night. We cleared out some room on the ledge, put everything we could under us, grabbed the sp
ace blanket from the first aid kit. We “slept” under the space blanket using the ropes to wait it down and for added warmth. Not the most pleasant night but what were we gonna do?
The next morning in the light we climbed up to the rap sling and finished rapping down a snowy gully. This was miserable with rocks falling all over the place, ropes getting hung on rocks and such. But we finally arrived at the base of the gully to pack up the rope and hike to camp. In retrospect, it would have been worth finding the other rap slings – or setting our own since we ended up doing that in the gully - descending to Overhanging tower:wolf’s head col, and going from there.
We arrived in camp at about 10:00 and said hello to the other climbers (who got back to camp at 1:00 themselves) that knew we were up there. We crashed in the tent to take a nap and then decided this would be a rest day.
This was by far my favorite climb of the trip. I could have done without the unplanned bivvy, but the combination of the approach (actually I could have done without that too), the interesting rock and route, the relatively easy climbing with the immense exposure, was great. Maybe that is why it has such a great reputation – and it didn’t disappoint.
An outline of the route from atop overhanging tower:
Day 1 - Hike in, skunk's knob and camel's hump
Day 2 - Pingora N face
Day 3/4 - Wolf's Head E ridge
Day 5 - Overhanging tower
Day 6 - End of the trip
Lucas' trip report
We started off hiking close to the base of Pingora and beyond. We found a ramp that led up to the ridge ..
. class three, or maybe four, or maybe five? Things looked wet and we saw a pair of climbers possibly struggling up another route. We decided to pick a route that looked easier. Soon thereafter the other group caught up to us and our routes merged. Things would have been fine and dandy but the rock was dirty and wet, with increasing exposure. We finally decided to grab the rope and I led in my boots up the slipperiest/steepest parts. Afterward lucas said “You’re insane.” “Why?” Because you just led that in boots! Wtf, we should have put on rock shoes.” The rest of the approach was straight forward and soon we were descending the ridge to where the real fun started.Lucas started leading up the ramp which was exactly as advertised: a steep “sidewalk” with drops on both sides. Due to the exposure we decided to protect the class four pitches – which indeed was a recipe for a very long day. Lucas led most of the ramp - he is pictured on the first lead with the other partners in the crack just above him - and we took a short break to study the route descriptions that we had. On the ridge there are 5 towers, the last of which is the true summit. Pictured is me approaching the first tower on a nice shelf. The best description was a drawing from Steph’s trip report. You have to go in front of, behind, and through different towers, but the key is figuring out which tower is which up close. Most of these pitches are mostly rising and descending exposed traverses. Not knowing if we had gone around the first tower yet, I found a crack that led on the bac
kside to a blind corner. When I got to the corner and looked around there was absolutely nothing and I almost crapped my pants – but at least we knew where the route needed to go. I back climbed, cleaning my pro on the way and led down to what we figured now was the first tower and traversed in front of it (in front = cirque lake side). Lucas led the next pitch which included a fun move up a boulder wedged between the two towers and then traversing between tower 1 and 2 through the “squeeze box.” I heard some moaning and bitching but couldn’t see the route, or Lucas. I followed with the pack and realized what the bitch and moan was about. Even with my small frame, it was a tight squeeze through the squeeze box –go figure. Add in the pack on my back and I thought I was going to get stuck and/or have to ditch the pack behind. Not fun when you are slightly claustrophobic like me – but I still made it. So I took the next lead which steph calls the piton pitch. I think this should be a hand traverse but I led it as a foot traverse using the piton as aid and leaving the pitch very much run out. I guess I wasn’t comfortable with the exposure and I was just trying to get through. After this pitch I realized that 1) we had to power through it and get over the summit because there was no turning back, and 2) daylight was waning and we couldn’t lollygag and worry about the exposure. So in other words, just deal with it. The human mind works in a weird way and after that I was totally comfortable with the exposure and route. Details here get a little fuzzy, but I think that I led most of the rest of the climb to save time. We traversed the smallish third tower via a hand crack, passed between the third and fourth t
ower to the front, and trended down via a hand and foot traverse to the base of the fifth tower – the summit block. These last two pitches were very fun now that I had “coped” with the situation. The rock was nice and the cracks were perfect sizes. After this last traverse two more pitches up class four-ish rock led to the summit. ….right at sundown. We spent the obligatory 5 minutes at the summit for 1 or 2 pics and tried to figure a plan now that we were without light. Shown is a self portrait on the summit along with the summit sunset. We couldn’t stay the night on the summit so we rapped once to a ledge. I found another rap station so I egged lucas on and we rapped one more time to another nice ledge. It looked like we would have to up climb a sketchy little section to get back to the front for the next rap. Continuing down the backside has also been described but we didn’t know to where and couldn’t find a rap sling. So we decided to stay put on the comfy ledge and spend the night. We cleared out some room on the ledge, put everything we could under us, grabbed the sp
ace blanket from the first aid kit. We “slept” under the space blanket using the ropes to wait it down and for added warmth. Not the most pleasant night but what were we gonna do?The next morning in the light we climbed up to the rap sling and finished rapping down a snowy gully. This was miserable with rocks falling all over the place, ropes getting hung on rocks and such. But we finally arrived at the base of the gully to pack up the rope and hike to camp. In retrospect, it would have been worth finding the other rap slings – or setting our own since we ended up doing that in the gully - descending to Overhanging tower:wolf’s head col, and going from there.
We arrived in camp at about 10:00 and said hello to the other climbers (who got back to camp at 1:00 themselves) that knew we were up there. We crashed in the tent to take a nap and then decided this would be a rest day.
This was by far my favorite climb of the trip. I could have done without the unplanned bivvy, but the combination of the approach (actually I could have done without that too), the interesting rock and route, the relatively easy climbing with the immense exposure, was great. Maybe that is why it has such a great reputation – and it didn’t disappoint.
An outline of the route from atop overhanging tower:
Day 1 - Hike in, skunk's knob and camel's hump
Day 2 - Pingora N face
Day 3/4 - Wolf's Head E ridge
Day 5 - Overhanging tower
Day 6 - End of the trip
Lucas' trip report
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
COTT Day Two - Pingora
We decided to do Pingora our first full day in the cirque - arguably the quintessential summit in the area. We went for the S buttress. We got up early not knowing what our speed would be nor whether T-storms would approach. We only met two other groups on the mountain - one passing us on an adjacent route, and one c
limbing late in the day. To the right, Lucas is "excited" to be at the base of the climb. So from there, L and I traded leading pitches and it turned out to be very pleasant and fun climb, even if it was a bit slow. On the left, me leading one of the pitches.Upon summiting, the weather was getting a little dicey and kind of weirded us out. We quickly took our camaras out to snap a few summit pics, but they started humming (like snow on your television) - I am guessing from all of the electricity in the air???? So we scurried off the summit to to avoid the putative lightning and stared rapelling. After two rapels the sun came out and we basked in the warmth on a little ledge and had some lunch...
This pic from the summit shows tomorrow's objective - Wolf's Head, and the E ridge route (knife ridge) that we will take.
Day 1 - Hike in, skunk's knob and camel's hump
Day 2 - Pingora N face
Day 3/4 - Wolf's Head E ridge
Day 5 - Overhanging tower
Day 6 - End of the trip
Lucas' trip report
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Cirque of the Towers - Wind River Range
So the d
ay after Kari's wedding Lucas flew into Denver to meet me. We had Indian food with my fam, said goodbyes to the fam, went shopping, and got everything packed for an early start. Packing was no small feat - four kegs, 200 plus pounds of grain, climbing gear, and everything else in a golf. About 8 or 9 hours driving time and we were at the trailhead. On the way we stopped at Bitter Creek Brewery in downtown Rock Springs, WY for some good beer and food. We decided to have them cook up an extra deli sandwhich and some fries for that evening. We arrived at the TH at about 5 or so and decided that it would be adventageos to hike in as far as possible. Set up camp half way to big sandy lake and found a decent camp spot. French fries on a camping trip was a welcomed first - a new tradition might have been born. Pictured is me and my absurly huge backpack entering the wilderness area.
In the morning we continued up to Big Sandy Lake and up to Jackass pass. We deviated and went over the climbers pass that saved sufficient elevation gain/loss and distance. As we approached we could see Pingora, but the views from the pass were incredible. Pictured just below is the cirque how we entered. Pingora just left of center with the rest of the cirque around. We hiked in, dropped out packs and found the spot that we'd call home for the next few nights. We even had refrigeration right next to us, although by the end of the trip the refrigerating snow was down to a patch or two.
So while we set up camp, we discovered what would be the most annoying thing for the trip. The mosquitos. We doused ourselves with three different types of carcinogenic goop, but still the mosquitos swarmed us. We considered it to be some motivation to get our asses in gear and get out climbing. Weather was wonderful so we decided to get out and hike but not try anything technical. We ran away from the mosquitos towards Skunk's nob which turned out to be our first "summit. " I have to quote the guide book describing this a popular summit because "any kid can walk up it." We rested, were eaten by mosquitos, and continued. Below is a pic from the knoll of Pingora ... and me, in the bottom left.
We climbed up to Texas Pass and then up Camel's Hump, pictured below right. We meant to do an easy scramble but we started up some very low class five stuff from Texas pass, but soon figured a way out and into class 3/4. A pleasant scramble up to a slightly more prestigious summit. We chilled at the summit for a bit, took a few pics (shown on the left) and headed back to camp. We were soon met by the mosquitoes and retreated back into the tent for refuge.
Day 1 - Hike in, skunk's knob and camel's hump
Day 2 - Pingora N face
Day 3/4 - Wolf's Head E ridge
Day 5 - Overhanging tower
Day 6 - End of the trip
Lucas' trip report
ay after Kari's wedding Lucas flew into Denver to meet me. We had Indian food with my fam, said goodbyes to the fam, went shopping, and got everything packed for an early start. Packing was no small feat - four kegs, 200 plus pounds of grain, climbing gear, and everything else in a golf. About 8 or 9 hours driving time and we were at the trailhead. On the way we stopped at Bitter Creek Brewery in downtown Rock Springs, WY for some good beer and food. We decided to have them cook up an extra deli sandwhich and some fries for that evening. We arrived at the TH at about 5 or so and decided that it would be adventageos to hike in as far as possible. Set up camp half way to big sandy lake and found a decent camp spot. French fries on a camping trip was a welcomed first - a new tradition might have been born. Pictured is me and my absurly huge backpack entering the wilderness area.In the morning we continued up to Big Sandy Lake and up to Jackass pass. We deviated and went over the climbers pass that saved sufficient elevation gain/loss and distance. As we approached we could see Pingora, but the views from the pass were incredible. Pictured just below is the cirque how we entered. Pingora just left of center with the rest of the cirque around. We hiked in, dropped out packs and found the spot that we'd call home for the next few nights. We even had refrigeration right next to us, although by the end of the trip the refrigerating snow was down to a patch or two.
So while we set up camp, we discovered what would be the most annoying thing for the trip. The mosquitos. We doused ourselves with three different types of carcinogenic goop, but still the mosquitos swarmed us. We considered it to be some motivation to get our asses in gear and get out climbing. Weather was wonderful so we decided to get out and hike but not try anything technical. We ran away from the mosquitos towards Skunk's nob which turned out to be our first "summit. " I have to quote the guide book describing this a popular summit because "any kid can walk up it." We rested, were eaten by mosquitos, and continued. Below is a pic from the knoll of Pingora ... and me, in the bottom left.
We climbed up to Texas Pass and then up Camel's Hump, pictured below right. We meant to do an easy scramble but we started up some very low class five stuff from Texas pass, but soon figured a way out and into class 3/4. A pleasant scramble up to a slightly more prestigious summit. We chilled at the summit for a bit, took a few pics (shown on the left) and headed back to camp. We were soon met by the mosquitoes and retreated back into the tent for refuge.
Day 1 - Hike in, skunk's knob and camel's hump
Day 2 - Pingora N face
Day 3/4 - Wolf's Head E ridge
Day 5 - Overhanging tower
Day 6 - End of the trip
Lucas' trip report
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Road to Kari's Wedding
OK, this is the start to the crazy part of my summer. Crazy in a good way, but crazy nonetheless. I had been gunning to drive to my sister's in Boulder CO and bring beer for her wedding. I had spent many of the previous weekends brewing four batches to hand deliver for her wedding. Well, it was only fitting that on the 12th of July, Mark and Alison (friends from my homebrew club) were having a homebrew meeting at their place. They have a place in the country that has always sounded spectacular, but i have always found an excuse not to go. Well, I went up there and had a grand old time and brought the wedding saison for taste. It received high marks (A good omen I must say) and 6 months later I would taste the exact same recipe from a fellow homebrewer because he wanted to brew it. It was a great start to the more than a month that i would be off work and "on vacation".
Packed the car up Sunday, trying not to forget anything I might need for the ensuing adventures and took off at about 7 pm (!!!) on the way to Boulder county. Slept in E WA and was on the road again before 5am, arriving in Yellowstone by evening. Saw the geysers etc. and I talked to a dude about day hike suggestions. Hearing that Yellowstone at this time of year can have "crowd issues" I told him I wanted to get away from people and wanted to do something 'strenuous.' At 5 the following morning I started out on the hike. If what I was doing was strenuous, I hate to see the average day hiker in Yellowstone! It was a nice, "relaxing" hike - I thin kI climbed a total of 300 feet. The fun part was that I got lost. Evidently, the strenuous part was to send me on an abandoned trail 3 miles in that was "obvious." Well, not so much, so I hiked the normal trail for many miles and the backtracked to find the vacant path to the little quaint lake. All in all a nice hike, nice exercise - I think it ended up being 12 or 14 miles - on the road to Longmont. Pictured is the major trail I took, early enough to avoid any crowds. ... Oh and very few rests because of the mosquitos. Damn they were bad.
Since I got hiking early, I got out early and headed to the Grand Tetons and quickly decided that this was more my speed. I found a free camp and figured out a day hike for Tuesday. Not a bad free camp with the mountains in the background and right on the Snake River (pic on right).
4 AM I was out of camp driving to the hike with oats in hand. Hiked (actually more like trail ran) up to the base of the Grand Teton, salivating the whole way because I just wanted to climb it. The grand teton appears to rise up from nowhere and they we just screaming to be climbed.... maybe next trip down there with lucas. Alas the hike up to Amphitheatre was gorgeous in everyway. Pics of me at the lake and some flowers on the climb. I had some second breakfast there, hiked randomly for a bit at the end of the trail and then decided that making such good time I could make it to Longmont in the evening.... and so I did. As I was hiking down it was like a pilgrimage going
up ! I said high to the first people I passed but I soon bec
ame horse. The amuzing part was that I met some pretty fit dudes with ENORMOUS packs. I asked them if they were climbing... "yes." What? ... "The Grand Teton, duh." So I wished them luck and proceeded on my way with a funny feeling of stupidity for an unknown reason. After passing the rest of the ant-line up realizing that the discourteous, inexperienced folks were likely guided, in part, by the dudes I wished luck to. Well, good luck climbing this mountain for the 259th time ... you'll need it! Well, at least I was heading down, and them up.... By 10 AM I was heading out of the Grand Tetons, following the WIND RIVER (!!!), destination Longmont.
Packed the car up Sunday, trying not to forget anything I might need for the ensuing adventures and took off at about 7 pm (!!!) on the way to Boulder county. Slept in E WA and was on the road again before 5am, arriving in Yellowstone by evening. Saw the geysers etc. and I talked to a dude about day hike suggestions. Hearing that Yellowstone at this time of year can have "crowd issues" I told him I wanted to get away from people and wanted to do something 'strenuous.' At 5 the following morning I started out on the hike. If what I was doing was strenuous, I hate to see the average day hiker in Yellowstone! It was a nice, "relaxing" hike - I thin kI climbed a total of 300 feet. The fun part was that I got lost. Evidently, the strenuous part was to send me on an abandoned trail 3 miles in that was "obvious." Well, not so much, so I hiked the normal trail for many miles and the backtracked to find the vacant path to the little quaint lake. All in all a nice hike, nice exercise - I think it ended up being 12 or 14 miles - on the road to Longmont. Pictured is the major trail I took, early enough to avoid any crowds. ... Oh and very few rests because of the mosquitos. Damn they were bad.
Since I got hiking early, I got out early and headed to the Grand Tetons and quickly decided that this was more my speed. I found a free camp and figured out a day hike for Tuesday. Not a bad free camp with the mountains in the background and right on the Snake River (pic on right).
4 AM I was out of camp driving to the hike with oats in hand. Hiked (actually more like trail ran) up to the base of the Grand Teton, salivating the whole way because I just wanted to climb it. The grand teton appears to rise up from nowhere and they we just screaming to be climbed.... maybe next trip down there with lucas. Alas the hike up to Amphitheatre was gorgeous in everyway. Pics of me at the lake and some flowers on the climb. I had some second breakfast there, hiked randomly for a bit at the end of the trail and then decided that making such good time I could make it to Longmont in the evening.... and so I did. As I was hiking down it was like a pilgrimage going
up ! I said high to the first people I passed but I soon bec
ame horse. The amuzing part was that I met some pretty fit dudes with ENORMOUS packs. I asked them if they were climbing... "yes." What? ... "The Grand Teton, duh." So I wished them luck and proceeded on my way with a funny feeling of stupidity for an unknown reason. After passing the rest of the ant-line up realizing that the discourteous, inexperienced folks were likely guided, in part, by the dudes I wished luck to. Well, good luck climbing this mountain for the 259th time ... you'll need it! Well, at least I was heading down, and them up.... By 10 AM I was heading out of the Grand Tetons, following the WIND RIVER (!!!), destination Longmont.
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