Lloyd Climbing Blog

Sunday on the Sandstone

2012-01-23T18:23:00.023-07:00

Getting outside wasn't a sure thing this weekend. I had a lot of work to do, and the weather forecast looked cold and breezy. But the skies were clear on Sunday morning, and the breeze wasn't too strong, so we decided to try some toprope climbs on the Sandstone Buttress.

We warmed up on "Dorsal." Then we climbed "Code Blue," and finished with "Road Test." "Road Test" is a fun bouldery route which took us a couple tries to send clean. We enjoyed all three routes, and I highly recommend them. They have interesting features, on comfortable sandstone. It's fun to pull through moves that feel very insecure when you're on a toprope!

Approaching the crux on "Road Test."

Higher on the wall, two climbers spent the day multi-pitching. I couldn't identify what route they were on. It might have been a first ascent.

The topropes were a lot of fun, but they didn't provide a full work out. We hiked up the hill, and ended the session by working on the "B1 Traverse" on the Dolomite Band. It's a difficult problem for short climbers. We found separate sequences to do all the moves, but Ashley will need another session (and I might need two) to send the crux after climbing through the beginning.

Ashley approaching the crux of the "B1 Traverse."

For the past few years now, I've made an effort to post my climbing activities or some climbing thoughts on a weekly basis. This approach has provided a somewhat scientific transect of my climbing life. The interesting stuff is all here, and it's evenly mixed in with the not so interesting sessions.

Going forward I've decided to change my approach. Rather than write 18 posts about our next 18 weekend sessions in Sinks Canyon this spring, or committing philosophy because I feel forced to, rather than inspired to, I'll only be posting when I have something that I feel is worth sharing. With all the extra time I save, I'm going to begin work on a bouldering guide for the Lander area. The timeline isn't set yet, and I'm not even sure what form the final product will take, but I'm committing myself to finishing a guide. If you know about bouldering in the Lander area, and have something to contribute, please contact me. Photos, history, opinions on grades and star ratings, what areas should be included or which should be excluded, I'll be looking for information and support. Thanks in advance.

Sometimes it's Personal

2012-01-16T18:47:00.016-07:00

Were you aware that snow can get in your shoes during a long winter hike, completely numb your skin, and then rub your ankles until they are bleeding, without you even realizing it?

On Saturday, Ashley and I fled windy conditions in Sinks Canyon. So I decided to spend my free afternoon hiking to the boulders I noticed in a photo last week.

Objects in a cropped photo, taken with a zoom lens, will appear closer than they are.

Down in the canyon, it was difficult to tell which ramp the boulders were on. I cut off too early and ended up missing the main field in my photo. The snow was knee deep on the shady side of the canyon. And even after five hours of hiking, round trip, I didn't cover as much ground as I hoped to. I missed the concentrated boulders, but I did come across a few scattered sandstone boulders, and granite erratics that could have some good problems one day.

Next time, I'm planning to pack binoculars and hike the sunny side of the canyon.
While wandering on the shady side, I stumbled upon a well hidden cave in the woods with a wide ice pillar inside. It could offer some great bouldering, and I'm looking forward to climbing in it this spring.
Sometimes when I'm exploring, I can justify the time spent by thinking "I'm finding boulders for other boulderers to enjoy one day." Other times, I'm browsing Google Earth examining giant talus fields, miles from any trailhead in the Wind Rivers, or hiking canyons with very widely scattered boulders. Then the justification doesn't work. I ask myself "Who's going to hike this far, to boulder here?" Not many.

But I will.

Fishing for Boulders on the Reservation

2012-01-08T19:57:00.012-07:00

On Saturday, I dropped 85 dollars for an annual Tribal Fishing License, and spent my first day hiking along streams on the reservation fishing for good boulders. There are a lot of streams I could hike. All access to the mountains on the Wind River Indian Reservation requires a fishing license, whether you fish or not, and some trailheads require a guide. The license lets me explore. Special tribal permission is required for any bolting, but I don't think there are any regulations concerning bouldering. I'd like it to stay that way, so if I find good bouldering, it will probably stay low key. Ask me if you'd like a tour. Jesse got my exploration started by telling me about a sandstone boulder he had seen.

He also said there were sheep, and I spotted them right away.

The boulder Jesse told me about turned out to be really tall, and chossy at the base were it gets submerged each year. It could have a couple scary highballs, once it's cleaned.
Two boulders up the slope were more to my liking. Worthy of a session, if someone wants to clean them with me.
This boulder looked fun too.

The area's scenery and wildlife impressed me, but the bouldering potential wasn't as high as I'd hoped. The sun began to set. Before hiking out, I shot a couple landscape photos up canyon.

The hike out went quickly. I drove home, and downloaded my photos. That's when I noticed something in the photo above. The forested left ridge appeared to have some boulders on it. I zoomed in, and used Iphoto to brighten the shadows, sharpen the focus, and enhance the colors. Boulders emerged.
Suddenly, I was excited to give the area a second look.

In addition to my afternoon's exploration, we've had a couple great climbing days during the last week. The perfect winter conditions continue at Sinks. So perfect, it hasn't really felt like winter.

On January 2nd, Ashley climbed in shorts.
She was happy about it.
Unfortunately, my sending spree, that started on the Bootie wall, hasn't continued. After a wonderful sending spree I usually punish myself by trying to "Take it to the next level!" or even two levels maybe? And by "levels" I mean letter grades. Today's punishment was "Killer" where I worked really hard to link a few bolts together. It felt better than the last time I was on it, but it isn't going to be my project yet.

Eric had much more success on "Nirvana."
The skiers have been complaining, but I'm loving winter this year.

End of the Year Climbing and Exploration

2012-01-01T14:34:00.011-07:00

We spent Christmas, and the following week, with Ashley's family in Colorado Springs. The weather was warm, but snow covered boulders and wind limited our options. We had a session at the Drain and Berthoud Cave in Castlewood Canyon, and a second one at The Blowouts, Garden of the Gods. Both areas are protected from snow, and have problems that don't top out.

The Blowouts, Garden of the Gods, CO

Hidden in the trees on the west side of the Kissing Camels formation is a small section of overhanging, featured, solid sandstone with a couple jugs about 15 feet up.
Ashley climbed a long traverse to the left most hueco, off routing the low feet. It's a tough line, that I didn't quite finish. And it climbs through some cool pocketed stone.
Another fun line starts low and left, and ends with this deadpoint.

Ashley couldn't reach the deadpoint, but then she figured out how to use a tiny undercling to make the span.

Despite expectations of snow covered boulders, I decided to spend a day exploring the bouldering potential of Mills Canyon near Roy, New Mexico. Little did I know, the road into the canyon isn't plowed in winter. The road wasn't even visible. So I parked near a public lands sign and began hiking through the snow towards Mills Canyon.
Once I saw another sign, I knew I was on the right track.
Just past the sign I came across a dakota sandstone side canyon draped with icicles.
The sunny side looked inviting.
I hiked down the road, and explored side canyons, making sure not to cross any fence lines onto private property. The majority of the stone I saw was solid and fine textured like the sandstone of Horsetooth Reservoir. The worst stone I saw was still solid enough to be climbed on with a little cleaning. This boulder had some tick marks, but wasn't cleaned up yet.
Distant hillsides were covered in boulders that I didn't get a chance to see up close. I saw enough to know I'd like to get back to Mills Canyon someday.
Mills Canyon is a vast area, with the greatest potential for Dakota sandstone bouldering I've ever seen. It is so large, that I'd recommend trying to get a tour so you can see the best lines. A tour isn't needed to have a good time though. I'd recommend taking a camping trip in the spring or fall based out of either the Mills Canyon Campground, or the Mills Rim Campground. Take some brushes and explore. You're sure to find some great problems. I'd also recommend packing a toprope and some gear for anchors. The 60 foot tall cliffs extend for miles, have solid featured stone, and occasionally huge roofs.
That wraps up 2011. It was a very productive year, especially for bouldering in the Lander area. The best areas, so far, were discovered in 2011, and I can't wait to see what 2012 will bring.

250 Posts! Maybe It's Time to Get Organized?

2011-12-22T20:16:00.008-07:00

Eight inches of new snow fell last night, and it's our first day of break. Couldn't climb, so we went sledding instead. Then I spent a couple hours improving this blog. Each post is now tagged with the area, or areas, that it's about. All the areas (38 so far) are listed to the right. Sorry, it took me so long to get organized. Now you don't have to scroll through hundreds of entries to find what you want, and you'll see the entries that Google doesn't catch. I can't believe I've written forty-five posts about Sinks Canyon! For a few areas you'll need to click on "Older Posts" to see all the entries.

A couple more bouldering blogs were added to my list as well, Kearney Journey and Try Hard.

It's nice to have some time to get the little things done.

An Early Gift

2011-12-18T20:51:00.029-07:00

Saturday felt like an early Christmas at Sinks. The gift being, The Most Perfect Climbing Conditions I've Ever Experienced! Cobalt blue skies, air so still it felt like being indoors, cool rock, warm sun. And a friendly crew of local climbers assembled at the Bootie Wall to enjoy it.

Evan lowering past Lindsey.

Lindsey climbing "Waiting on a Friend."
The day's ingredients mixed incredibly well, and at one point I heard another climber spontaneously exclaim "I love my life!"

It's wonderful, when people are happy, and are aware that they are.

With no distractions or discomfort to fight, leading felt like top roping to me. I redpointed "Achin' for Bootie" for the first time ever, and then traded routes with Scott and Evan. With their draws pre-hung, I redpointed "Cavity Search", and then Scott put my draws on "Smell My Finger." (Don't blame me, Mark Howe named them.) With draws hung, and feeling very comfortable on the wall by that point, I flashed the route.

Last year, I wasn't sure I'd ever have the endurance needed to redpoint the long climbs on the Bootie wall. This year, I did three in a day. My endurance feels slightly better, but most significantly I'm learning how find rests, take the rests, and climb quickly in between them while holding back my effort. I'm realizing that successful route climbing effort feels very different than successful bouldering effort. Bouldering is all about learning to try harder. Sport climbing is mostly about learning not to try any harder than you need to. In the past, I approached routes like a series of connected boulder problems. Some routes work like that, but endurance routes don't. On endurance routes you need to move quickly, but stay relaxed. Trying as hard as you can between rests doesn't work. You've got to hold back some strength so you can use it later. I'm still learning some of the basics, 16 years into the game.

Ashley enjoyed herself too, top roping each of the three routes, twice in a row without rests, for an endurance workout. Ashley excels by training her strengths :)

Feeling bullet proof at the end of the session, I got on "Grabbing Greta" and accidentally didn't bring enough draws. The sun set, and the rock got really cold really quickly. It wasn't the perfect way to end the day. The session would have been more fun if we had quit while we were ahead. Night falls so fast this time off year.
That was our climbing this week.

Happy Holidays and Merry Climbing Everyone!

Winter Bouldering in Torrey Valley

2011-12-14T21:19:00.015-07:00

Winter bouldering sessions are rare in the Lander area. The overhanging cliffs of Sinks stay nice all winter, but the boulders are usually blanketed with snow. Sweetwater Rocks is almost always too cold and windy, but there was a favorable forecast for the upcoming weekend so Jesse and I made plans for a Sweetwater session. By Friday night the expected temps dropped ten degrees, and the wind forecast increased by 20 miles per hour. Sweetwater wasn't going to work, but we were set on bouldering, so we visited Torrey Valley instead.

The Croquet Ball offers good warm-ups and a couple harder sit-starts.

The north side of the canyon has an incredible micro-climate, and the canyon generally has less snow than Sinks. The forecast was for forty degrees last Saturday, and we climbed comfortably in T-shirts all afternoon. Most of the bouldering on the north side of the canyon is found on about 6 widely spaced granite erratic boulders. The sandstone boulders in the valley are off limits to bouldering because they usually have petroglyphs on them.

Most visitors to the upper valley don't notice the boulders. This time of year they're too busy looking for bighorn sheep. Torrey Valley is winter range for the largest single herd of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in the world. Jesse and I got to see quite a show while hiking to the Croquet Ball.

The challenger circled the boulder, and then crash! It sounded so cool! The female ran off and the bigger male followed.
The challenger watched them run off. The sheep were quite preoccupied by their drama, and didn't seem to care that padded people were walking across the meadow below.

After a bit of hiking, Jesse warmed up a second time on the Coco Cabana boulder.

Just behind the Coco Cabana boulder is a short little boulder with perfect stone, and frustrating slopers where a single unnamed Manley problem is found. It was mostly clean, in the sun, and looked difficult enough, but doable. We decided to give it some burns.

After falling off a few times, things started to get interesting. I wasn't sure if it would go or not. I wasn't sure how it would go, but still felt confident that one of us would unlock a sequence. Jesse was offering some friendly competition for the first send of the day. The conditions were perfect, and the scenery spectacular. It didn't matter to me that the short boulder problem would probably only be given one star on any objective scale. For many attempts it offered everything that a boulder problem has to offer. A very engaging and uncertain challenge, that required and allowed intense levels of effort. That's what it's about.

I made an unlikely move, because it felt like the only move I could make, and it surprised me when it worked. Jesse sent it soon afterwards. Here is Jesse showing what ended up being our key sequence.

I was excited to do some exploration, but Jesse felt tired after working a late night. Jesse napped in the van while I went hiking. It was a successful mission, and I will have some new things to climb and clean on my next trip to Torrey Valley.

We drove out in beautiful light, ate dinner in Dubois, and watched for deer while driving home with a full moon. Unfortunately, we were too late getting back, and missed the bouldering comp at Elemental. I would have enjoyed it. But I can't regret missing it. For me, nothing beats a good bouldering session outside.
Yesterday, Ashley and I were able to try the problems, post comp. Really fun, well set, all new lines, which I highly recommend. Torrey Valley and Elemental offer the best bouldering in the Lander area, until Spring...

Sinks Canyon Climbing, After the Fire

2011-11-28T19:43:00.009-07:00

It took us a little while to get back to Sinks Canyon after the fire. Since the fire two weeks ago, we had a really cold weekend, and then we took a trip to Colorado for Thanksgiving. We returned to perfect weather in Wyoming, and decided to take advantage of it yesterday. The cause of the fire in Sinks hasn't been determined yet, but I can report on the damages.

I'll begin with the bad news. At least a couple, really good, dolomite boulder problems were destroyed by the fire. The Back Pocket Boulder sustained the worst damage. Key holds on "Double Clutch" V4 are now missing, because a nearby tree caught fire and a large flake exfoliated off of the problem. The V7 traverse from Back Pocket to Double Clutch was also destroyed. It's hard to say if the lines will go again. If they do, they'll be much more difficult.

On the brighter side, the cliff was barely affected. An obscure route or two could have been damaged near burned trees, but the popular walls appeared unscathed.
The hillside is an even better solar collector, now that it's blackened. Our day felt quite warm for 45 degrees. T-shirts all day. Incredible conditions for late November, or anytime of year really. We spent the end of the day at the Addiction Wall. Once the sun started going down, the cliff cooled off, and Ashley used the improved friction to make a clean toprope ascent of "Public Enemy."
I managed to struggle through the crux bottom half, but wasn't able to de-pump at the "rest" and fell off the easier second half.

The happiest coincidence, I noticed, was that the large juniper below the Addiction Wall didn't catch fire. It came close, as you can see on the lower branches above. If it had gone up in flames, "Pretty Hate Machine," "The Gathering," and "Dogs of War" would have all been destroyed.

Tony on the spared route, "Pretty Hate Machine."
The fire could have been much worse. If you visit during the next few months, expect a blackened hillside, the lingering smell of smoke, and great climbing. Have fun out there!

A Fire in Sinks Canyon

2011-11-14T20:20:00.005-07:00

Smoke and flames at the Main Wall on Sunday afternoon.

The weather on Sunday morning was looking nicer than we expected it to. We ditched our planned drive to the gym in Jackson, and went up to the Sandstone Buttress to try a few sport climbs on Sinks Canyon sandstone. Turns out, it doesn't rival the dolomite. But it is fun, and feels really different. Even when the moves aren't hard, they are often insecure, and you feel like you could pop off at any moment. I did once, taking a fifteen foot fall on "Lucky's Revenge" when my foot slid off a sandy smear.

About half way through the session, we noticed smoke coming from up canyon. Just when we began to get concerned that we hadn't seen any fire trucks, the first one sped past. The smoke obscured the sun, the wind picked up, and eventually eight more fire trucks headed up canyon. About an hour later the wind picked up so much, we decided to finish our session at the climbing gym. But before driving back to town, we wanted to see where the fire was.
We were upset to find out that the source of the smoke was a large fire at the Main Wall. The fire started at the Fairfield Hill parking area and burned very quickly uphill. The burn reached the cliffs, and burned a large portion of the dolomite bouldering area.
It's too early to say what the impact on the climbing and bouldering will be. And I've heard, or read online, five different rumors of how the fire got started. No official cause has come out yet. I'll update this post when I have more information.

Sinks Season

2011-11-07T20:39:00.010-07:00

Ashley doing a bit of sunbathing in the 30 degree weather yesterday.

I should check her ankles for tan lines.

The weather changed quite a bit during the last week. Yesterday was cold and breezy. But the Main Wall at Sinks was climbable near Killer Cave. We made the best of it, and so did quite a few Lander climbers. It's the time of year when we all gather at Sinks, and get to see each other again.
It was fun to get back on the rope, and get reacquainted with the dolomite. I enjoy Sinks sport climbing. But we do so much of it during November, December, January, February, March, and April, that I try to avoid it during the rest of the year.

Last week Sunday, I had a feeling that it might be my last session of bouldering for a while. We followed perfect conditions on the granite boulders of Sinks Canyon all day. We warmed up at the Riverside Boulder, and contrived a nice V5 sit start traverse across a seam that ends on the crimps Ashley is looking at below.
I did it just before Ashley, and named it "Water Snake."

After warming up, we went to the shady Cabin Boulders, and I managed to send "The Parkers" after two and a half years of sporadic attempts. I'm not feeling particularly strong or light at the moment, but conditions were great, and it all fell together. It felt a lot harder than it looks in the video.

We finished our day on the Rubber Blanket boulder, and watched the evening light move across the pines on the opposite hillside.
Hopefully we'll get some more warm days before the heavy snows arrive. We appreciate the sessions more, and try a little harder, because we know what's coming.

A Lone Afternoon at Sweetwater

2011-10-29T22:00:00.015-06:00

Uploaded in full resolution. So much potential to explore! You can do some of it from your computer.

After two twelve hour teaching/conference days last week, Lander teachers were given Friday off. So I went to Sweetwater, and recovered from excess human interaction by being very far from anyone for an afternoon.

I did five first ascents. Four of them were on this wall.

"Beautiful"
I expected the lines to be in the V3-V5 range, but they were easier. They're nice problems with incut crimps and good feet, and they all fall into the V1-2 range. It will be a good wall to warm up on for "Norwegian Wood" and a couple projects in the area. I was having trouble thinking of names, and I ended up using a set that Danny mentioned on his last trip to Sweetwater. From left to right the problems are called "Easy" "Breezy" "Beautiful" and "Cover Girl." They seemed appropriate.

Next, I'm planning to give this roof some attention. It could be easier than it looks.

After topping out "Cover Girl" I got distracted by a boulder in the distance, and decided to hike over to take a closer look. It has a very cool glassy north face with some thin features that might be climbable. The aretes on each side will definitely go.

I kept following the boulders and found this proud patina covered face.
Then I found a sector of boulders in the sky. I'll get more photos of the problems when I climb there.
Feeling a little overwhelmed, it was time to hike out. On the way, I passed these three boulders, and many more lines, and I just have to keep telling myself "I'll climb on them someday."
It feels strange to have so much rock, and so few boulderers to develop it. Doing it on my own, one day a weekend, for a few months each year, well, I'll never be able to finish the job. It's going to take multiple people with brushes, many days devoted to hiking, and some crews with multiple pads to get the majority of the nice lines found and established. Until that happens, I'll probably be spending quite a few sessions at Sweetwater alone, brushing and climbing boulders. Just me and some wildlife.
Let me know if you'd like to check it out.

A Beautiful Day at Sweetwater

2011-10-23T15:09:00.012-06:00

I'd call it prophetic, if I believed in prophecy.

Yesterday we had beautiful weather out at Sweetwater, and on a good day there is no where I'd rather be. I really like the lines I've found out there, and the ambiance of the place.

Ashley climbing what has become the standard warm up V0 in the God Eye Gulley.
Pronghorn seen on the walk in.

Ashley continued her warmup on "White Knight," a nice V3 first done last June.

"Rook" is a V4 sit start, directly below her in the photo below.
Ashley repeated Jesse's "Rattlesnake Arete" V4 using a direct and static finish.

Here she is responsibly brushing off her tick marks, even though no one ever goes out there. It's the right thing to do.
We spent the rest of the day in the "Norwegian Wood" area. I repeated it with much smoother technique on the top out than I did during the first ascent. Ashley climbed smoothly to the top, but was intimidated by the top out mantel. She will need another session to finish it off. I've begun work on a new problem, and hope that I can finish it before Ashley does. A little competition is a good thing.

I'm really hoping the good weather continues... I have so much that I want to do out there. Yesterday I happened upon a whole new sector just a minute's hike from "Norwegian Wood."

Then, on the drive out, we saw a short horse rockin' a mullet!
You never know what you'll find at Sweetwater.

In other news, the Lander Bolt Anchor Replacement Fund aka BARF has started a blog. Sinks is coming into season and the bolts will be taking a beating. Check out the blog in the links list, and consider making a donation. It helps keep Lander climbs safe, it encourages the establishment of new climbs, and it's the right thing to do.

Lander Rock Climbing, a film by Kyle Duba

2011-10-20T17:34:00.005-06:00

Lander climbing at its best! And it features the Falcon's Lair.

Well Done Kyle!

The New World and a New Problem

2011-10-19T21:11:00.010-06:00

The New World

Saturday, I took the afternoon to check out a new area Chris discovered and named The New World. It's the loneliest set of rocks I've ever visited, found at the point where the Wind River Mountain chain dies, and the Red Desert begins. The rock is gneiss, solid and clean. There are many formations of climbable size, but few individual boulders large enough for climbing. The rock is highly featured, and most of the lines I saw would be moderates.

One of many formations from a distance.

A formation from a closer vantage point.

This wall is nicely overhung, a good height and covered with clean solid holds.
The two track that gets you there and back.
It's a cool place to hang out, and an adventurous boulderer could have a lot of fun in the area. The rock is great and there is a lot of it, so I'm sure some spectacular lines will be found.

For now, I'll keep developing at Sweetwater, which is more accessible and has a higher potential for concentrated boulder gardens. But I'll be keeping an ear out for news of the latest discoveries in the New World.

Speaking of discoveries, on Sunday I discovered the Old Lady Driver project goes from a stand start. It's listed in the guide as a sit start project, but I couldn't find any holds where a sit start would start. It's a technical problem with one fierce move, and it's a little hard to rate. At least V5, but it could be as hard as V7. The crux move is harder than any move on "Frankenstein" but it's over a lot faster.

I'll make some inquiries before claiming a first ascent. It seems unlikely that a granite boulder problem, ten feet from asphalt, in Bruce's picnic area, in Sinks Canyon, in the V5-7 range, hadn't been done yet.

It's worth a visit. "Rowan's Stand" "Robots" and an unlisted line from a diagonal pinch at the low lip left of "Bread Control" make good warmups.

After getting started on the Old Lady Driver boulder Ashley and I did some toprope lines on the Big Vision Boulder. It would have been fun to see this huge block sitting on the glacier during the last ice age.

We toproped "Super Corner" and a line that heads up slopers by stepping off the big grey boulder. Both are fun lines, set up from a good bolted anchor.

In climbing, there is always something new you can try.

A Touch of Winter

2011-10-10T19:28:00.010-06:00

Snow hit the mountains of Wyoming this weekend. It kept me from climbing on the stones, but I did get to see some nice new rocks up near South Pass. Chris took me on a tour of boulders he found at a place called the Rock Shop area. The area we hiked will never have a high concentration of problems, but it will have many high quality lines on some very nice stone. Solid rock, with pleasant friction, in a beautiful open woodland on top of a hill. I'm looking forward to taking my brushes out on a nice day.

Here is Chris below a very difficult, but possibly possible, project.
A very nicely featured overhang with a couple possible lines.
Another good roof with all the necessary holds. Though they are difficult to pick out in this photo.
And a beautiful crimp line out a roof that Chris has been working on. I couldn't believe how solid all the tiny crimps felt.
Bear sign.
A fun afternoon of checking out possibilities in a new area. Thanks Chris!

On Sunday, Ashley and I drove all the way to Jackson and back to spend an afternoon at the Enclosure Rock Gym. It was a good way to spend the day. Six total hours of driving, but it was mostly on empty roads through gorgeous scenery.

The forecast looks better for next weekend, and I'm already making plans.

Getting Things Done at Wild Iris and Sweetwater

2011-10-03T21:02:00.012-06:00

Time is precious this time of year. The weather doesn't get any better, and you never know when it will turn for the worse. School has been keeping us very busy, but we've been taking advantage of the beautiful days to the fullest extent possible. I've been climbing Saturdays and Sundays. School work gets done at night, and sleep gets put off until later. There is so much to get done! And climbing projects are a significant part of it.

At Wild Iris we spent last weekend doing a little sport climbing, and bouldering on a pocket covered roof called "Frankenstein."

The leaves were at their peak.

I put together some video of "Frankenstein" which can be seen in the post below this one.

Kyle and Sophia spent the afternoon on the cliffs, and I got a few shots of them.
Kyle got off sequence, took the whip, and hung out for a bit.
Gorgeous weather, landscape, and aspen!

We went back yesterday, and Ashley completed "Frankenstein" from the low start. A difficult test of power endurance that Ashley sent more quickly than I expected. That's the second line in a few weeks she's done that I couldn't. Nice work Ash!

In other news, things are beginning to cool down out at Sweetwater Rocks, and a new season of development at the God Eye area has begun.
Jesse and Danny came out with me on Saturday to help put up some new lines.

Here they are checking out a project for a cooler day in the God Eye Gully.
I was very excited to get back to a patina covered face I'd happened across. I've never seen wood-like patina as extensive as this before.
The pressure was on to pluck the first ascents. A fun game, with close odds. Jesse got things started with a flash first ascent of "Rattlesnake Arete" V3/4. I didn't get a photo, but maybe Jesse or Danny will send me one to add to the post.

I got the first couple tries on the patina project, but then it was fair game, and the game was on!

Jesse approaching the crux.
A few shots of Danny on the project.

Quite motivated, I snagged the first ascent and named it "Norwegian Wood." It felt pretty difficult in the warm temps, but I think it will be V6 in good conditions. It's one of the highest quality first ascents I've done. Danny got the second ascent soon after, with cool looking beta. It would have been good for video, but I didn't have my tripod packed.

Danny and Jesse got on an interesting roof, I put up while exploring, and named "Take it Easy." It was moderate for me, but appears to be more difficult for taller climbers. Danny did it my way.

And Jesse tried some difficult but straight forward beta, after getting frustrated with my crunched and twisted undercling method.
I added a sit start, after Danny saw that one could be done. And then we moved on to check out some more boulders.

Danny seemed a bit hot and tired, but he was very motivated to finish the line below. I was getting close, and I could barely believe it when he topped it out first, with little rest, towards the end of the session. It was cool to see though!

"Metropolitan Glide" V5

It inspired me. Through determination and pain tolerance, I managed a second ascent of the line. While Danny and I worked on the short, powerful line, Jesse spent his time putting up two more problems. A tall line, and a dynamic one. "Urban Sprawl" is an intimidating line on glassy holds that ascends the wall seen behind Jesse in the photo above. "City Center" is on the boulder to Danny's left. Jesse felt both of them were V3.

The view from City Sector.
Seven new problems were done, four of which I'd consider classics of the area. It was a very fun and productive day. Thanks for coming out Danny and Jesse, and I hope we can get back on a cooler day soon!

Wild Iris Bouldering, "Frankenstein" Video

2011-09-28T22:03:00.006-06:00

Here's a somewhat silly video I put together of the problem "Frankenstein" at Wild Iris. We finally took out a pad, along with our sport climbing gear, and did the line.

What a beautiful day!

Surprisingly fun, finger torture!

It felt sandbagged to me, but maybe I just haven't spent enough time on steep two finger pockets.

The Wild Side of the Falcon's Lair

2011-09-24T20:12:00.018-06:00

Last weekend, we had a big day at the Falcon's Lair. We had a large crew, and more pads than ever. And I had hired a tag team of babysitters so that Ashley could check out the area.

Davin and Seth drove up from Laramie. Danny, Cory, Jeff, and Tony came up from Casper. Chris, Ashley, and I made up the Lander contingent. I was very excited about the day during the previous week, and very disappointed as we drove up in cold rain. When we reached the parking, some snow flakes were falling and the breeze was frigid. It looked like we might end up just hiking and exploring all day.

The crew, about to begin our hike.

Cory took this nice shot of snow on the hike in. Thanks for the photos Cory!
Cory's shot of Danny on the approach.
We made our way down the center of the talus to the Lander boulder. It was a rough way to get there, but we did get to look at some amazing future projects.

As soon as we arrived at the Lander boulder, the clouds began to clear. We decided it was time to eat a little lunch, and start getting serious.

Jeff, Cory, and Davin getting serious.
Chris getting serious.
Jeff getting even more serious.
It was going to be a bouldering day.

The sun hit the Lander boulder, and we got started immediately. "That Easy" got many ascents. Davin did a new line from a sit start, up the arete left of "Danger Danger." "Lander" got done quite a few times too.
Since the first day of exploration with Davin, I'd saved the long low traverse into "Lander" for Ashley. I was hoping she would be able to make it up to the Lair this season, and get the first ascent. The low finger traverse just screamed her name. Danny liked the look of the line, and began working on it too. On an early attempt, Ashley's foot slipped in the middle of the line, and Danny jumped on for a try. He got to the final jug, but dropped off so that Ashley could get the first ascent. He's quite a gentleman! I was impressed.

Cory's shot of Ashley nearing the end of her first ascent "The Landerite." It begins at very low holds about 25 feet right.

I repeated the line, and would rate it V4/5.

While the rest of us worked on a new roof project, and ascents of "Squamish Syndrome," "Boop," "Day of the Black Fly" and "Not That Easy"... Chris and Davin hiked up to the Ice Cave area to get started on their projects. We joined them a little later, and watched Davin come heartbreakingly close to getting the second ascent of "World Conqueror."
Chris was so motivated by the line, he had hiked in alone earlier in the week, and filmed his first ascent. Nice work Chris!

Danny was aiming for an ascent of "Wind in the Willows."
He came close, but will need to make a second trip. Ashley tried "Wind in the Willows" a few times too, but we spent most of our time making ascents of "Cracked Eggs," "Sidewalk," "Captain Falcon" and a new line Chris did that traverses from "Cracked Eggs" into the end of "Sidewalk." It's a fun problem that goes at around V5. I would have enjoyed another hour or two of climbing, but we needed to leave to meet our babysitter. The guys from Casper hiked out with us, just as Chris, Seth, and Davin's session was gaining momentum.

The morning rain was still flowing out of the meadows and down slippery slabs leading out from the Falcon's Lair. This made the trip out more difficult than usual.

Sliding down the dry slab to get around a wet patch.
The talus seemed a little more treacherous too.
Ashley didn't enjoy it.
We made it to the trail, just as Ashley began to feel sick. A mix of exhaustion, altitude, and a cold she had picked up from school, all got worse as we hiked the two miles back to the car. I felt alright on the hike, but developed a sinus infection a couple days later.

Elk bugled on the way out, giving the place a primeval feel. The light was beautiful as usual. The last photo I snapped was this picture of a government mule by the parking area.

The cold, wet weather gave the Falcon's Lair a much wilder feel and left me more tired than I'd experienced on previous trips. I'm very excited that we were able to climb, and that Ashley, Danny, Cory, Jeff, Seth, and Tony were able to experience the place. It was most likely my last trip of the season. I'm sure there will be many more beautiful days at the Falcon's Lair this fall, and I'll be jealous when I hear about other peoples' trips during the next few weeks. But now that the weather has cooled, other areas will fit more conveniently into my weekends, with school monopolizing most of my time.

Thanks for heading in everyone, and hanging in there while the weather didn't look so good. And thanks again to Davin, for taking me in on the first day of exploration, and making it up here for almost every session since. Great times! I'm already thinking about next summer, and all the possibilities. Such as going all out on "Mortal Angel" when it still has a nice snowdrift underneath. Dreams that will keep me psyched until next July...

Labor Day Weekend Post #1, Two Days of Cody Bouldering

2011-09-12T20:06:00.010-06:00

Ashley's been good to me. Watching the girls all day on multiple occasions while I get to climb on beautiful alpine blocks at the Falcon's Lair. Not only do the trips take me away from home for full days, they also keep me from having the time to clean new boulders that Ashley can get to. So lately, Ashley's been getting her workouts at the gym, and sport climbing at Wild Iris. But over Labor Day weekend another option opened up. A cold front came through on Friday evening, cooling everything by almost twenty degrees. The timing was incredible, and conditions were perfect for a trip to Cody. We both climbed on Saturday at the Africa and Dirt Boss areas. The highlight of the day came early, with Ashley's send of the fingery traverse into "Spear Chucker" called "Babies for Breakfast."

Ashley climbing the crux of "Babies for Breakfast."

"Babies for Breakfast" felt good to me at first, and then the power I needed just slipped away. I couldn't do it, and that made Ashley happy, at least. I'll try it again next trip.

Then the rest of the day. We got sandbagged on "Dr. J" which we never did unlock. I did "Drive By" because it was there. We climbed "The Toolbox" but it's a drilled boulder problem. Ashley seemed o.k. with it, but it felt wrong to me that it was ever created, and that it lead to so many other drilled pockets elsewhere at Cody, and for that reason, I didn't enjoy it. "The Prow" right of "The Corner" was easier than I expected, and after doing a few other variations we were quite worked.

On Sunday, I rested while Ashley had a second session. We spent the day at the Maze and the Bat Cave areas.
Ashley warmed up by climbing the classic 60 foot long V1 "West Face Traverse" of the Symmetry boulder both ways. I took what were probably the BEST PHOTOS EVER!!!, but my camera somehow was switched to a random, very wrong, setting, and they all turned out black. Ashley didn't want to pose on it, or do it a second time, so here is the problem in two rather lame frames. It begins in the low horizontal left of Sundance.
And goes all the way around the right arete on rock that perfectly mimics Horsetooth Reservoir.
Ashley worked on "Camel Toe" for a while, and we ran into Kerrik, a friendly, and strong local boulderer. He was in the middle of a difficult circuit, but he hiked down the hill to introduce himself, and was nice enough to tell us about a few classic problems that aren't in the guide.

Ashley wanted to end the day by getting on some problems that she was likely to finish. "Ground Effect" only gets one star in the guide, but for someone Ashley's size it's a great line that begins in a perfect hueco back in the cave.

Ashley squeezed through the gap on "The Mercenary" without dabbing.
And really enjoyed "19th Century Assassin" just to the left.
She warmed down on the Maze's warm up, "Turtlehead."
Very fun days spent on the sandstone boulders of Cedar Mountain! We drove home and I worked into the night so I could spend my Monday off at the Falcon's Lair, as seen below.

Labor Day Weekend Post #2 Falcon's Lair, So Cool, So Bright

2011-09-09T18:10:00.013-06:00

Davin, Brian H., Chris and I spent Labor Day at the Falcon's Lair in perfect, cool, sunny conditions. My appreciation for the area keeps growing. The quality of the rock, the aesthetics of the view, the breezes that come off the permanent snowfield, the adventurous approach, and the fun of sharing it with other psyched boulderers, all add to the Falcon's Lair experience.

For this session, we skipped the warmups at the Lander Boulder area, and hiked straight to the Ice Cave. On previous sessions I''ve been distracted by problems at the lower field, and didn't have enough power left to complete projects by the time we reached the snowfield. Davin seemed happy to head straight there too. He also had a project in the Ice Cave.

We warmed up and got to work. Chris was climbing strong and he made quick work of "Wind in the Willows." I completed the fourth ascent in ridiculously desperate fashion. My feet cut twice, and I almost pumped off of the top out sloper. It was a struggle, but it felt so good to get it done.

Then Chris and Davin began working on the Ice Cave Project. It was fun to watch them piece the moves together, and refine their beta.

The Ice Cave Project's attention grabbing first move. Now you're bouldering.

The hold pictured below is very difficult to catch after working through the beginning. Both Davin and Chris came heartbreakingly close to linking it up. A double digit classic, that I predict will get done next trip.

Brian H. made the drive with Davin from Laramie. He's been climbing for about a year, and just moved to Wyoming in August. This was his first trip to an alpine bouldering area. What a way to start! He shoed up and jumped on "Cracked Eggs."
He came so close to finishing it! Now he has to visit again...that's how it all gets started.
He did three first ascents, the first of his life, on Monday. "Captain Falcon" V3~ is just left of the Ice Cave and starts on two obvious holds in the small overhang. I'm looking forward to trying it next trip.
The only reason I didn't try it on Monday is that I was saving everything I had for another go on "The Yeti." "The Yeti" traverses a thin sloping rail across an overhanging footless face. It has a very powerful start and a longish move to the lip over a suspect landing. Earlier I had linked both cruxes and had just thrown my heal over the lip to top out when my right hand slipped off the rail. I yelled "Falling!" and as any good spotter would, Davin reached up for me. Just as his hand touched my back I realized I wasn't falling. My left hand and foot was enough to keep me on and I didn't swing off the top like I thought I would. Davin didn't take weight, but it was a dab. I rested and tried again a few times, but never could make it back to the lip. "The Yeti" goes at about V7. Doing it in good style is my first priority for the next session. I love the line, and I want to do it right.

Davin did the first ascent of a beautiful lip traverse right of "The Yeti." It's on immaculate stone, and uncontrived, by which I mean it's impossible to top out early, before the apex. The top out is the crux, and it's over a perfectly flat landing. It looked really difficult, and I didn't feel any rush to get on it. We'd start working it eventually. Then Davin tried it, and flashed the first ascent. The rock has such good friction, the line goes at V4/5.

"The Barnyard"

Chris did it too.

And I did the third ascent just before we hiked out.

After "The Barnyard," Chris sent "Mortal Angel," a spectacular dyno problem, which can be seen in the post below.

Bouldering doesn't get much better. Davin wrote a great post about the day on his blog, and I got a photo of Davin dancing at the After Party.

Thanks for the great session guys! I'll be in touch, and am planning another trip as soon as I can spare a day.

This post covers Monday. But Ashley and I spent Saturday and Sunday, last weekend, bouldering in Cody. I'll get to work on that post soon. Climbing so much, that I get behind with the blogging is a problem I can live with.

Labor Day Weekend Post #3 "Mortal Angel"

2011-09-07T00:25:00.004-06:00

So much climbing got done last weekend. It's going to take me days to get everything posted. So I've decided to break the weekend into three sections and work my way back to the start. Once the posts are finished, they will read in chronological order.

Let's begin (or end) with a video I put together of Chris Marley climbing the first ascent of "Mortal Angel" at the Falcon's Lair. It's hard to rate a climb like this. Until it gets some repeats, I'll just say it's quite difficult, very intimidating, and a significant contribution to the Falcon's Lair. Well done Chris!

Enjoy

Happenings from the Falcon's Lair, and the Source

2011-08-23T19:21:00.020-06:00

Today Ashley and I were planning to head out for a bouldering session after school. But the stress of school, and the heat of August, left us exhausted and unmotivated. We stayed home, and I'm catching up on the blogging instead.

On Saturday, I had another incredible day of bouldering at the Falcon's Lair with Davin and Jesse. Each of us left our most exciting projects unfinished, but it was still a great day. Every day I go up there, I come back with at least three more days worth of bouldering that I need to do. So I now have nine sessions worth of bouldering planned out at the Falcon's Lair without even looking for more lines. The projects just keep multiplying.

Davin trying a sit start amongst the alpine flowers.

Jesse got the day started with the first ascent of a tall slab left of "Danger Danger" called "That Easy." I added a sit down start which adds three good moves and bumps the grade up to V5 "Not That Easy."
Two slopers make it go.

We went up the hill for some more work in the Ice Cave. Later we found the stunning line Davin is on below.
It's still a project, and I'm torn on which problem should be my priority. The first ascent of the line above or finally finishing off "Wind in the Willows."

Davin climbing his new slab called "A Fine Evening Indeed."
Jesse spotted this roof/arete line in the morning, and it consumed most of his session.
He cleaned it top to bottom.
Jumped on the start.
Used a few toe hooks.
And came so close to finishing it, twice. It will be a great problem once it's completed.
During every session we've hiked out in nice light. One of the perks of the big days up there.
Thanks for the great day of bouldering and conversation, Davin and Jesse! You can read Davin's account of the day at A Place of Legend.

On Sunday, I decided to take Ashley up Torrey Valley for a session on the Mead boulder. In my memory it sat in the shade of the forest.
Turned out, it was in full sun, and we called the session off after only warming up. A gym session was scheduled for after school the next day.

Source Sessions

During the last few weeks of summer break, I spent many sessions at the Source by myself, and a few more with Ashley. My main motivation was a project which took me four sessions to climb. It's the most difficult first ascent I've done. The only first ascent I've completed which pushed me as hard as the most difficult established problems I've climbed. I really enjoyed heading up during the evenings with three pads, watching the sunset over the Winds, and climbing in silence.

Right after we got back from Squamish I was more psyched on lip traverses than usual. I realized that good ones can be fun. So I added a V3 lip traverse at the Source.

Ashley climbing "A Lip Traverse."

The same week, I connected a low roof into a problem I completed last year named "Thug." The new version doubles the moves, and pushes the difficulty up two grades. Alan put a lot of work into helping me clean the roof. I've given the full problem the new name "John Henry."

It requires a painful hand jam, powerful crimping, and it's at the Source. Ashley says "It will never be repeated."

Another day, Ashley joined me for some work on the south side of the formation near the "Serpent Traverse." Some cleaning and landing work has been done by someone (Chris?), and new lines and projects have been established. Ashley and I enjoyed a new short line that had great movement despite it's lack of height.

An unknown V4/5 from the lowest holds.
We also worked on a line which we think might still be a project? Powerful!!
That's all the news and photos I have to share at the moment. It feels good to be caught up on the blogging for a little while. Plenty more could have been written, but I've got so many other things I should be doing. Got to keep working for the weekend.

Return to the Falcon's Lair

2011-08-16T07:16:00.014-06:00

On Sunday Alan, Bryan, and I hiked into the Falcon's Lair. It looked like it might be a rainy day as we drove in, but the clouds cleared and the weather was perfect all day. We began our day at the Lander boulder, and had a balanced session. About a third of our time was spent on problems done last trip, the other third exploring, and a third trying new lines. Alan committed on his first try, and did the first ascent of "Danger Danger." It involves pulling on a large insecure looking block/flake, and then topping out over a pit. Fun stuff, despite the danger.

Bryan climbing "Danger Danger" V1.

We attempted five new lines that looked to me like they would fall into the V4-7 range, but each one included at least one move we couldn't do. Many had great finishing moves, but we weren't able to climb to them from the best looking starting holds. It was a little frustrating.

Trying a line that should start by my feet.

Bryan climbing "Capp's Slap."

We did a lot of exploration, and saw many good lines. On the sunny side of the canyon the granite isn't as clean, and the talus is a little smaller than it looks from a distance. It will still be really good, but it will take more cleaning, and be less concentrated than I originally imagined.

This line is definitely worth cleaning.

Rather than break out the brushes, we went up to the Ice Cave. I came closer than ever to sending "Wind in the Willows," but I'll need another trip. Alan and Bryan climbed "Cracked Eggs."

Alan at the start of "Cracked Eggs."

And Alan did another first ascent, "Sidewalk" V3.

Named after the white streak leading to the top.

"The Twins" looks beautiful, but is pretty low angle. A great V0 or a scrunchy, silly feeling, V1/2 sit start.

"The Twins"

This wall was the first to catch our attention during the exploration day. It's a nice height, it's featured, but unfortunately it lacks feet and everything faces the wrong way. We tried two lines, and couldn't get up either.
Many of the best looking walls were seen during our hike out, and I got psyched for the next trip.

The future.
It was fun showing Alan and Bryan around. Thanks for coming out, and letting me jump on so many lines. Another big beautiful day in the alpine. The next day, my whole body felt worked. Upper body sore from the bouldering, lower from the hiking. All I wanted to do was eat, hydrate, and watch TV... like a normal American.

Wind River Bouldering in the Falcon's Lair

2011-08-08T13:27:00.026-06:00

Falcon Rock

Yesterday, Davin, Brian, Jeanie and I hiked into the new alpine sector. We bouldered for six hours, and made the hike out again. We hadn't officially named the place yet. Tongue in cheek, I called the area "Falcon's Lair" after the large falcon shaped rock visible above the boulders. "Because the area should have a name at least as cool as Wolverineland." The name seemed to stick, and though I suggested others, it turned out to be too late. The area is called the Falcon's Lair now. It's not my fault, the rock formation deserves most of the blame. Come on, it looks just like a falcon. Anyone would have suggested the name.

Since getting back from Squamish, I see lip traverses everywhere. It's like a disease. We started our day by warming up on a very good lip traverse that caught my eye. I named it "Squamish Syndrome" V2/3. I drew a line showing it on this photo.
Davin and Brian let me try a lot of problems first. The rock has good friction, and things were easier than they looked. I ended up getting to name a lot of the moderates.

Here is Davin climbing "Lander" a very nice V1 roof on jugs. A sloper on the edge of the roof, furthest left in the photo, is the starting hold of a V3 Brian found. Brian gave me the first attempt. I've decided to name it "Capps' Slap."
I'm impressed by Brian's level of motivation. It's inspiring that he drove all the way from Boulder to check out "Falcon's Lair," just days after getting back from a bouldering exploration trip to Alaska. He's traveled a lot, and is able to share beta on the best bouldering areas, worldwide.

Brian getting the second ascent of Davin's problem "Day of the Black Fly" V4.
Brian explored a large section of the valley during the session, and found a lot of blocks that look promising.
We could have climbed boulders in many directions, but we ended up going up to the edge of the snowfield. Drawn by the cool conditions, the beautiful stone, and the fact that we'd already looked at it last week. As small storms passed the temps ended up falling dramatically. The wool caps and fleece we brought were put to good use. Our finger tips hardened, and the rock made a good impression. At one point I heard Brian say "This stone belongs in a museum."

We started climbing on a boulder we call the Ice Cave because it had fresh icicles at the bottom. I climbed the easiest line of holds I saw coming out the roof, for a problem called "Cracked Eggs" V3. In this photo, Davin is sitting at the lip of the problem. The roof moves were lowball yesterday, but they won't be when the snow melts.
Brian climbed the first ascent of the most difficult problem out the roof so far "Wind in the Willows" V8. Davin got the second ascent, and I came close to finishing it.

Brian climbing "Pika Prow" V1+.

Davin put up a classic V1 slab to the right called "Musk."

The best line of the day had caught Davin's eye during our exploration last week. The bottom climbs really well, with interesting movement on pinches, heel hooks, and slopers. The snow has melted, and the landing is worse now, but not ridiculous. The top is difficult and committing. It's still a project, but it will be a classic once it's unlocked.
At six o'clock we decided to head out. If we had visited another sector of boulders, we would have ended up hiking out in the dark.

Brian riding his pad down a snowfield.
Carrying out the sled.
Nice light and a scenic view.
Alpine bouldering in the Wind Rivers takes much more time and effort than a trip to our local sport climbing areas such as Wild Iris. If you've already spent bouldering days going into the main areas on Mt. Evans or to Upper Chaos in RMNP, the Falcon's Lair approach hike is comparable. A complete session requires a full day, some hiking on steep slopes, and across fields of talus. The reward is beautiful alpine scenery, crisp conditions in the middle of summer, and clean granite of incredible quality. I love the area, and plan to get in as often as I can. School is starting, so it won't be as often as I'd like.

Thanks go to Davin, Brian, and Jeanie for the incredible session. I'm looking forward to the next one. Read Davin's excellent post about the day here.

An Amazing Homecoming

2011-08-04T21:36:00.017-06:00

A section of the magical mile.

Imagine how surreal it must be... to get back home after driving over 2000 miles to sample some of the most highly regarded granite bouldering areas in North America. Then just a few days later to discover an extensive new area of the best granite you've ever seen, located less than 20 miles from your house. To be taken to the place, before anyone has ever bouldered there, and see hundreds of potential problems on stone so clean you can just grab the holds and climb. No cleaning required. Crazy right? Yeah, I know how crazy it is.

Davin sent me an email while we were still in Canada, and said he wanted to check out some alpine boulders in the Winds. Just three miles in this time. It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.

Davin already took me to one of the most spectacular boulder fields I've ever seen, nine miles back into the Winds, last year. And his tips have lead me to all the best undeveloped bouldering I've seen so far in the Lander area. He's spent many years finding the best bouldering areas in this part of the country, and lately he's been working as a hard rock geologist, with access to geological maps and enhanced versions of Google Earth. He's motivated, and all the odds are stacked in his favor. We made plans, and made them happen.

The day got off to a slow start. I saw some boulders in the woods from the parking area, and suggested that we check them out. We hiked across wet meadows, and found many large boulders of Vedauwoo quality. There was a time when I might have been psyched, but they weren't what I was hoping for.

We headed up to the alpine, and as soon as we hit tundra we found something strange. A horse's leg with the horse shoe still attached! No sign of the rest of the horse. I can't imagine how the leg ended up there, and probably don't want to.

Davin got out his arial photos and said the boulders were below us, though they couldn't be seen under the steep hillside. We started making our way down, and it felt a little committing. We were losing a lot of elevation and I wondered how difficult it would be to get back out. But boulders kept coming into view, and we needed to see what they felt like. When we reached the valley floor, this is the first boulder we came to. Solid granite featured with edges, with many potential lines.
Some of the largest blocks in the arial photos were still covered in snow.

But we had a full mile of cabin to house sized talus to look at down the valley. We just walked down the center of the boulder field passing many boulders to either side. We knew we didn't have time to look at them all.

The boulders we did walk past, all had superlative featured stone sculpted by the alpine elements. We felt the boulders as we walked past, and I found myself yelling "You've got to see this!" repeatedly.

Davin grabbing fingertip edges.
This is the same boulder from the side so you can get a better sense of the features and the angle.
Davin at the midway point of a fingertip rail that extends behind him another fifteen feet. A low pumpy fingertip rail traverse leading to a top out of casual height over a flat landing with about 40 feet of total climbing. Who would seek out such a thing?
Davin gripping a pinch on a tall and beautiful looking line. If the snow is still there the landing will be good. The start of the problem is out of the photo, below Davin's feet to the right.
A well featured, moderate looking, arete with a perfect starting slot. This line is at least 14 feet tall.
Davin couldn't wait until we hiked in with pads, he established a classic in his approach shoes. "Rusty is a Guy I Don't Know."

We found a good way into the area when we hiked out, and now we know it won't be too difficult to hike in with our pads. That's my story and photos until we visit the area again. We aren't planning to wait long.

Davin has a well written post about the day, and some more photos on his blog. Check it out at A Place of Legend.