Idaho

Rock climbing is alive and well in the United States.  Nowhere is that more evident than the City of Rocks.  Virtually everyone here climbs, including the park rangers.  There are old climbers (like us and many others); families climbing with small kids; teenagers with their parents or aunts and uncles; and hard men/women knocking off the toughest routes.  Climbing here is more like climbing in the UK where it is almost a mainstream sport instead of being viewed as a fringe activity pursued by adrenaline junkies.  This is the most relaxed and collegial scene of any destination climbing area that we have visited.  Yosemite has more rock and a beauty that transcends probably every other climbing destination, but it comes with crowds, traffic and a 6-month waiting list for campsites.

Idaho traffic jam

Local flora

Our campsite in the City is the best we have had on this trip.  It is private, protected from the elements, doesn't get blasted by the early morning sun and is shielded from the moon.  The views from it in all directions are breath taking.  We are already making plans to come back. 

Best campsites around

Camp Life

View from camp in one direction

Twin Sisters view from camp

Yesterday we climbed in 90-degree weather with not a cloud in sight.  We went to bed tonight with several inches of snow at our campground after a day of howling, wind driven precipitation and temperatures in the low 40’s during the day.  Snow in June is the reason I don’t live in Idaho.  Today was still enjoyable, even if it was spent doing mundane activities.  We took our first showers in several days (delicious), washed clothes, posted to the blog, went to lunch and saw the new Snow White movie in Burley before 4-wheeling it back to our campsite in the mud and snow around 11 PM.

Snow!

 

 

 

We wake up the next morning to a spectacular sunrise, and are treated to our second full-moon rising of the trip. The forced rest day turned out to be well timed as yesterday was Kick Jeff’s Ass Day.  Up until now I have been climbing with good technique and suffered none of the normal hand wounds that easily distinguish climbers.  That all changed on our third day in City of Rocks.  After an easy 5.9 warm-up I jumped on a 10C sport climb that had several pumpy cruxes.  The third and final of them was one move from the top, but I managed to fall off it five times as a result of having spent so much energy lower down.   I donated several pieces of skin and a ration of blood from numerous fingers and my reconstructed ankle in the process.

After that I dragged Babe up an easy 5.8 crack climb, but managed to fall on it as well as a result of not paying attention to my feet and slipping on easy ground.  Unlike the earlier falls which ended with me dangling in space, this one hurt as I hit a ledge with my hip after about eight feet.  I finished the climb and Babe cruised right up it on a top rope.  It was not my best day despite the fact that I have been climbing well and feeling strong.

Sunrise

Full Moon Rise

The bad weather drives almost everyone out of the park except for us; talk about having your own private Idaho!  Babe tried out the new Massif knee pads in a non-climbing activity that left her boyfriend gasping for breath.  I had used the knee pads earlier to both climb a chimney and reciprocate the extracurricular pleasure, and am very impressed with the comfort, protection and flexibility they offer.  Kudos to Mike Munter for developing them; there are way better than any knee pads I have climbed with previously.  Babe wanders off to explore the caves and extraordinary rock features that surround us while I spend the morning working on this blog.  I spy her an hour later, sunbathing au naturel off in the distance amidst the rocks.  Damn that girl is pretty!

Blogging

Troll cave

Rock Nymph

The storm front blows through and the temperature climbs into the 60’s with sun, so we venture out of the main climbing area to do some multi-pitch routes on the fringe of the Park.  We climb two long alpine routes on the largest cliff in the City, Steinfeld's Dome.  The climbing is moderate, bolt (over) protected, and the scenery is stunning.  While belaying Babe, a large golden eagle soars lazily beneath us, effortlessly riding the wind as if were surfing a wave.  That is one skill we both covet.

Steinfeld's Dome & the Thumb

Cruising

Rappelling off Steinfelds

Afterwards we hike back to the car and drive into the town of Almo where Babe is planning to treat me to dinner.  Guess she was getting tired of my campfire cooking.  Headed down the road out of the Park the old California Trail spreads out beneath us, the same path taken by early settlers with gold fever.  I am overcome with a feeling that I have only experienced a few times in my life: a complete oneness with the land and all that surrounds me.  Barely able to speak, I whisper to Babe that I felt the hand of god; both humbling and completely rapturous at the same time.  Despite being raised as an atheist, it brings tears to my eyes to feel so connected to life and nature.  I realize once again that there is a level of connectivity that binds everything together, even if I am not normally aware of it on a conscious level.

Pre-bliss moment

California Trail

I like to work and have been exceedingly lucky to have worked at several great companies with phenomenal people, doing meaningful work that I loved.  But one of the thoughts that has crystallized for both of us on this trip is that like most Americans, too much of our lives has been spent working and not enough time has been spent connecting with our spiritual beings.  While some may be able to make that connection through church or organized religion, that never worked for me.  I can only seem to find that inner peace and understanding of my place in the greater cosmos when I’m in the wilderness.  Bill Gore, the founder of Gore, used to tell me that the key to life was finding that balance between work, family and whatever helped you find that spiritual center.  He found his in the outdoors as well.

Our last day, we decide to visit Castle Rock State Park which adjoins the City.  Thanks to the Access Fund this area opened to climbing a few years earlier and contains some of the best rock and finest routes in the area.  We climb a 5-pitch sport route and find ourselves rappelling in the first drops of rain from approaching thunderstorms and another weather change.

Castle Rock

We are off to the Tetons.  Along the way we stop off to visit Babe’s mother Ree in Idaho Falls.  If there is one word to describe Ree it would probably be extra-terrestrial; she is a free spirit to say the least.  At one point she was stopped crossing the Canadian border because Babe had filed a missing person’s report on her as she hadn’t been seen or heard from in nearly a year.  But Ree has a good heart and is very happy about our visit.  It is cold and blustery when we drive north to Montana.