Devil's Tower

Another great climbing trip! I've never climbed at Devil's Tower before but Fred and I did visit it a few years back. This place has a special place in my heart (I love Close Encounters of the Third Kind!!!) but as a climbing destination, it has always intimidated me. In particular are the famous photos of people climbing El Matador and the extreme stemming up the 'elevator shaft'. Hmmm...my legs are a lot shorter than that...yikes!!



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Day 1

We start on the northeast side of the tower, nice and shady (it was 90 the first two days). I lead the first pitches of New Wave and Broken Tree. Fairly easy leads but a big step for me who thought the most I'd do would be one lead on the last day after getting a feel for the place. The second pitches on both climbs are great. New Wave has a couple of tricky spots but nothing outrageous. Broken Tree is just a blast! I can actually see myself leading this...next year...I think.

Then we go further right to McCarthy's North Face. The longest single pitch I've ever led! It's nearly 70m (200'). It takes every bit of me to finish. Between all the other climbs of the day and the incredible rope drag forcing me to muscle through every simple move for the last 75 ft, I'm absolutely exhausted when I finally get to the anchors. Mentally, it felt more akin to a marathon than a climb. The crux is at the end and I think I'm powering through to a nice comfy ledge. I pop my head over and see another 10+ feet of a slabby dihedral crack climb before the anchors. Jerry speeds up the climb and it's an incredible work out belaying him and keeping pace. With the hour getting late and my exhaustion level, I do something I almost never do...opt out of a chance to even try the stellar 11A climb that follows. When Jerry gets to the "ledge", I rap down and watch Dave lead p2. It's a stout and strenuous lead for Dave and Jerry also takes a couple of falls on it. I have some regrets about not staying and giving it a run but it'll be another goal for next year.

We get to the camp site at dark...our camp mates are more than ready for dinner but we have all the ingredients! Dave and Jerry quickly whip up dinner - buffalo marinara pasta...delicious!! Later in the evening, we head over to the front of the KOA (the best one I've ever stayed at!) and watch the nightly showing of Close Encounters. I can practically recite the lines. Amazingly, I'm so tired that I'm dozing off near the end of it. I head back to my tent and sleep well.

Day 2

Beth, Jean, and I go to the northeast side of tower. The previous day, they had a miserable time climbing in the sun. Beth got sun stroke and had to call it. So today, it's all about what we can do to stay in the shade. Beth leads the first pitch of Broken Tree for a warm up. Then we head over to check out some climbs but settle on Mystic and the Mulchers which John and Bruce just climbed. This is suppose to be easier than McCarthy's North Face, but I find it very spicy with a heart stopping moment or two! It's a much thinner crack with narrow flaring spots - not gear friendly like all of yesterday's climbs! About mid way up, I place a RP, go for the move, my feet slip and I nearly fall. I manage to keep hold and scurry to a very secure stance. Looking down I see that my RP 's pulled out. I had run it out before that so if I had fallen without the RP, it would have been quite a whipper. I also didn't consider the length of this climb (about 140') when I started and took only about 11 or 12 draws. Do the math! Another stress factor is that I couldn't see the anchors for 99% of the climb and was very confused about how much further to go and how much more gear I needed to conserve or not. In any case, I finish the sucker with no draws left, only one medium sized nut, and a hand full of cams. Arg. Lesson learned on both fronts. Later I compare notes with Todd and he nicknamed the climb "Butt Muncher". Enough said?

After Jean and Beth run it, it's about 3 and no one is up for another lead. Dave and Jerry pop up and they say they're done for the day too so that cinches it...we head back to camp, get ice cream, take showers, and chug beers before dinner. Ahhh, dinner...nearly an epic of it's own! The short story is it takes us 4 tries to find a restaurant that's open and/or we want to eat at. We finally end up at the BBQ place just around the corner from the KOA, eat a very hearty meal, and wait nearly an hour for them to tally and add up our bill. It's about 10:45 before the dinner 'ordeal' is over and we're back at camp chuckling it up over wine.

Day 3

Not much to day 3 except the KOA's camp pony gets loose and 'wanders' into our campsite. Wander is an understatement since Bruce lured him over with bread and tried to get him to step into Todd and Kristen's tent while they're still asleep. Yeah - we laughed for a while about that! Dave R, Debbie, and Jean stay for more climbs. Poor Beth stays in camp due to a groin pull. The rest of us hit the road for the long drive back to town. I would have loved to climb some more...next year!

All Girl Climb/Camp Weekend...yes honey, that does mean you can't come!

Spent a wonderful weekend with a group of intelligent and savvy outdoor enthusiasts who happen to all be women. It's so funny how many men & significant others asked if they could come. What part of "All Girls" don't you understand?! Some of the other gals recalled their last "all girl" camp outs. After racking my brain, I'd have to say this is my very first! Sure I've camped with a girlfriend before but not a whole group.

I have to admit, initially, I was tentative that there would be too much "estrogen" for me. Instead I was completely blown away by how brilliant, diverse and accomplished these women are - not just in their outdoor activities. There were also lots of women specific topics too and I think I learned way more about the trials and tribulations of breast feeding than I ever wanted! And yes, lots and lots of laughs for the entire weekend. Best part, I think I walked away with some new found friends for life!

We camped and climbed at Vedauwoo, WY, just a short 2 1/2 hours north of Denver. Beautiful granite rock formations that reminds me very much of my beloved Joshua Tree NP. It's the first time I've delved into crack climbing (vs. face/sport climbing). Wow, it's different! I was reduced to novice and struggled at everything. But the support and patience from all the gals helped me persevere.

On of the gals, Kira, is a writer for The Mile Hive. Here's her cool article about our weekend: Inside an all-lady outdoors get-away.

Yes, another trip where I took absolutely zero photos. I wanted to make sure my engagement was completely devoted to climbing and socializing. I only knew a couple of the ladies and the last thing I wanted to was annoy them with my camera and it's phallic lens! The rest of you know me well enough that I don't have to give a crap about annoying you!! ;) Here are some pix from Kira, Kre and Andrea:


(Group Shot: Kre, Kira, Beth, Andrea, Ida, Silvia & Tanya)

Here's my climbing log for the trip: All Girl Climb/Camp Weekend - Climbing Log

All Girl Climb/Camp Weekend - Climbing Log

The first day was spent around the Nautilus. I followed the first pitches of Captain Nemo, the Grand Traverse and Friday the 13th. I had an easier time with the Grand Traverse than Captain Nemo though it was suppose to be easier. The Grand Traverse had more for my left foot (not in the crack) to use where as the rock around Captain Nemo seem smooth and barren of features. Also, my belayer Silvia, an immensely experienced climber, gave me a great primer on how to place a hand jam. What a difference!! But didn't help much with Friday the 13...boy was that ugly! My lack of crack climbing technique had me lie backing the first part...strenuous to say the least. Then I got a primer on how to properly cam my toes into the crack. Much better but painful! I think I just about took every few feet. It's a miracle I made it to the anchors!

The second day was spent at the Fall Wall primarily slab climbing. Foot work and trust are big factors and when it's been a while, it's hard to feel anything but wigged out...even on top rope! We climbed 5.11 Crack (actually rated 5.9), Cold Finger and Gunga Din. Amazing how the smallest non-feature is HUGE with this kind of climbing. The first two went well enough but Gunga Din was crazy hard and barren! Yes, there was lots of taking, grunting and chewing...I was sucking on Shot Bloks and every time the slab got nasty, I demolished the blok with nervous chewing.

I was suppose to try and lead an easy 5.4 crack but honestly, the slab climbing had my nerves on end and my head unscrewed (...more than usual). So we went on to Edward's Crack on Walt's Wall instead. Beth and Silvia led with Tanya and I in tow. I found the middle of the first pitch the hardest. It's was larger than a fist crack for me but not large enough for a chicken wing. I know what all the books say I'm suppose to do, but at the moment, all that info was useless static. After some dropped gear (I was just butter fingers the entire weekend!), a stuck cam and a nut tool (how not to lower a nut tool while on a finger/hand crack), and Beth's scary lead fall at the top of the second pitch, we made it to the anchors, waited for the Silvia and Tanya, rapped down, and walked out chilled, tired, hungry but happy.