Devil's tower

Well we did it! We didn't think we would get to climb at the tower because all the kennels were closed on Saturdays. Isaac was bummed, but not too badly. At the last
minute, as we were leaving our KOA campsite, we stopped in and asked about their policy on leaving dogs in a tent. The woman said she didn't care. We left Rizo with a picnic table, tree, and tent for shade, lots of water, and off we went.

We climbed New Wave into Assembly Line and topped out on the tower. Isaac loved it. I cried in pain because I didn't tape up, but made it anyway. We met some really cool folks-- Brad and Diane from Rapid City and Dave and Jeannie from Missoula, and got a kick out of being the main attraction for other tourists at the National Monument.

Today we couldn't resist the urge to take a side trip to Mount Rushmore.

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Lander and Wild Iris

Ok so we arrived in Lander, WY and immediately sought out the climbing gear shop to find a guide for wild iris and Devil's Tower. (Sorry mom and dad--you might not want to read this post!)

So we found the Wild Iris Mountain Shop (or something like that) and met a really nice young lady that gave us the lowdown on the area and sold us some overpriced climbing guides (in my opinion anyway). We had a late lunch and headed out to camp at Wild Iris. Incidentally, the town of Lander offers free camping in the city park--now that is pretty cool. Flagstaff could learn a few things.

So we found a spot at Wild Iris and took our bikes out to explore the climbing areas. The place is beautiful with large grassy meadows and patches of really cool mixed con forest at the base of the climbs. We were about a week early to see the fall colors, but I bet the Aspens are spectacular (unless the constant wind just blows the leaves right off!)

We awoke to some sketchy clouds and high winds. We sat around wondering whether we were going to get rained (or snowed) out of our climbing day--but decided to risk it. We had the whole main wall to ourselves all morning long. We climbed some 3 star routes and I tried out my new full-body pregnancy harness. Once I had it positioned properly, it wasn't too bad, but what a pain in the ass when trying to clean a route! Anyway, the climbing was different than what I expected. We were told that Wild Iris was steep and powerful. Indeed the harder grades are just that, but I was expecting it to be more like Enchanted Tower where even the moderates were steep and pumpy. Not so here. There were actually quite a lot of slab routes--which seemed strange for limestone. The limestone was bullet hard and beautiful though. We took a little break in the afternoon and ended the day climbing Zorro--the first route ever set at Wild Iris. Isaac red pointed it while I struggled as the top-rope queen! Ah well. (BTW we were also told that the climbing would be hot and to wear sunscreen--I wore my down jacket all day yesterday!)

So today we're off to Devil's Tower--perhaps stopping at Tensleep if we get the urge. It is hard not to turn this trip into a climbing trip, but that wasn't really our intention. So we have to have a little restraint.

Lots of fun!

Still on the road

Ok so we're driving a lot these days. We woke up in Moab and made our way into town to look for a book for Isaac. At the book store we saw that the Moab Creamery advertised "homemade gelato from the Gelato Junction in Grand Junction, CO" hmm we thought, maybe we should go that way. Since we had no particular plan that seemed as good an idea as any!

So we went to Grand Junction, found the gelato store and met Jim and his wife (whose name I can't remember). They were really sweet and gave us a tour of the shop and lots of great advice. While their definition of "homemade" was slightly different from my own, they ran a successful business and had a pretty good product. And you can't beat their friendliness and hospitality!

So with our bellies full of sugar, we headed up a scenic highway along western CO. Originally we thought to visit Dinosaur Nat. Mon. Unfortunately, we read on the website that the Dino excavation site was closed to the public. The only way to see the bones was to take a shuttle. Since we couldn't do that with the dog, we skipped it. We ended up camping at Freeman Reservoir outside Craig, CO instead. It was a pleasant surprise. Lots of beautiful Aspen trees and chimpmunks for Rizo to chase.

Anyway today we made it to Landed. Yeah. We'd decided that our trip really didn't start until WY. So now let the fun begin!

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