In addition to the birthday challenge, I also just got back from a great road trip out west to help my good friend Kevin Rafferty drive his new van/house back out to Utah for school. The trip was loosely based around an ill-fated 2 month trip he and I embarked upon a few years ago. I think he was 16 and I was 17 at the time, and we made it just past Ten Sleep where we hit a deer and totalled his car. Still can't believe our parents let us do that...
Back in the day, our first stop was in the Black Hills, where we were definitely in way over our heads. This time around we were much more prepared, and had a great time climbing the precarious, spindly spires. Climbing in the Needles is a very similar experience to climbing at the lake, in that I'm constantly in awe of the boldness of the routes, as well as when they were first done. We also got in on the first day of the Sturgis motorcycle rally, so obviously that was awesome.
Hordes of bikers from the top of Bloody Spire
The first day we ventured into the Cathedral Spires, with an eye on climbing West Gruesome, South Tower, and Spire Four. After spending quite a while trying to find the routes, we finally got to the top of West Gruesome only to experience one of the apparently common afternoon thunderstorms, and forced to retreat. Luckily it was just a brief shower, and after waiting at the car for 15 minutes or so, we decided to climb Tent Peg in the Ten Pins. Tent Peg was cool, and offered a great little intro to the Needles with a moderate run out to the top of the spire. It also was a great experience hanging out on top as hundreds of bikes went by waving and shouting congratulations up at us. The next couple of days we went and finished up the South Tower, Spire Four, and Spire Two, as well as went to the Needles Eye and did the Gnomon, Bloody Spire, and a "sport" route called Goldline with 4 bolts in about 80 feet.
Awesome view from Spire Two
On our last day, we ran into Mr Mix and his family who were returning from Wild Iris. Unfortunately we were on our way over to the Ten Pins when we ran into them, and never got a chance to climb with them. In the Ten Pins though we were excited to test ourselves after getting into the groove of climbing in the Needles the last few days. We warmed up and simul rapped off of the super cool three pronged summit of Tricouni Nail, and then walked over to the Pete Cleveland scarefest, Hairy Pin. The story goes that on the FA, Pete's belayer locked him off where the second bolt is, and refused to let out any more slack until he drilled the bolt. Before I set off, we looked from all over to see if we could find the second bolt, but couldn't. Luckily we had a topo in the guidebook, and I was pretty sure I knew where the bolt was. After a couple minutes convincing myself to do it, I set off. I made it up to the first bolt no problem, and spent a few minutes contemplating the crux moves and was still looking for the second bolt. I pulled through the crux, and after about 10 or so feet got onto a big, but kind of awkward hold, that I had hoped I would be able to clip the next bolt from once I stood up on it, but it was no where to be seen. I figured it must just be blending into the rock, and if I went up just a bit further I would see it. About another 10 feet from there I made it to a bigger, but again rather awkward crystal, and still no bolt. At this point I was pretty terrified, and called down to Kevin that the bolt wasn't there, and I had no idea where it was, or whether it was even still there (the bolts on Super Pin were recently chopped, and that was definitely in the back of my mind). Despite my terror, I was somehow able to stay somewhat calm, when I realized I couldn't down climb, and had no choice but to keep going up. I hung out on that big pebble for a while, eventually slung it rather poorly, and shouted to Kevin over the bikers that I was going up. A few moves later the bolt finally came into view from its hiding place on top of a bulge, and I very thankfully clipped it. The final "runout" to the anchors felt about as well bolted as a gym route, and just like that I was on top of probably the most demanding lead of my life. When Kevin got to the top we exchanged high fives, and enjoyed the bikers for a few minutes before rapping down and heading further west.
On the summit of Hairy Pin
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