Climbing Devils Tower, WY

Gabe and I made a quick run from South Dakota up to Devils Tower with the intent of doing a one day summit attempt on July 26th. We were a little wore out from climbing in South Dakota so we got a hotel in Hulett and got a good nights rest. We started later in the AM around 11:30 AM. The forecast was clear so we were not as concerned about thunderstorms but we still kept our eyes open to any changes. We went up the Assembly Line route which was a 5.9. We are not used to crack climbing so it was very challenging. It was 110' of sustained 5.9 crack. After we completed the pitch we were both pretty wore out. The last two pitches to the top were relatively easy. We signed the summit register and enjoyed the view from the top for about 20 minutes. Three rappels later, we were down on the ground and back to the parking by about 4:00 PM.

Gabe is starting the 5.9 pitch of the Assembly Line

Gabe and I holding the summit register at the top of Devils Tower

Gabe and I sitting on the edge and enjoying the view on the West side. We are clipped into two bolted anchors. You can see the visitor center and the lot where we parked below.

Gabe getting ready to start the first rappel down to the base 800' below.

This is a short video clip of Gabe mid-route on the crux of Assembly Line on Devils Tower.

Climbing in Custer State Park, SD

Gabe on the summit of Spire #1. I wanted to get more of the summit, Gabe and background in this photo, but the top of Spire #1 is only about 7' in diameter. Not a lot of room to move around or back up to get more of the subject in the picture.

Me at the Moonlight Ridge area. This is a great single pitch climbing area although we were only able to spend one day in this location. A lot of the bolts are new, cruxes seemed pretty well protected, everything else is run out.

Gabe and I at the base of the Cathedral Spires

On July 23rd-25th, Gabe and I spent a couple of days in the Needles climbing. We camped at Sylvan Lake which was a very nice place to camp. It stormed hard one night but we managed to stay dry. We climbed Spire #1 and Spire #3 in the Cathedral Spires area then spend a day doing some of the sport and trad routes at Moonlight Ridge. The rock was very different from what we were used to and many of the sport routes had bolts that were very run out. This is the norm for the Needles.

Climbing at Devils Lake

Gabe and I decided to see how climbing would be in the insanely hot weather on Friday, July 6th. Temps were in the 100's; the rock felt like glass; chalk was sweated off seconds after putting it on your hands during a climb; every climb felt a grade up. We went to the B-Day Rocks and ran some laps on BD Crack and The Twins. We brought extra water and still pounded down 3 liters each. We did have a little breeze that would tease us periodically, but otherwise the air was dead. All-in-all...great day and a good experience. Pictured is Gabe on BD Crack (5.7).