Devils Tower - Not This Time!!

Well I tried as hard as I could, but sometimes the weather wants nothing to do with it. This is one of those times. We initially went to the tower and were greeted by snow. Yes, it is May. You wouldn't guess it from the snow coming down though. Our next attempt was thwarted by rain. Anyone who knows me well enough knows that wherever I go an epic adventure will unfold where weather is definitely a factor. Stupid weather.
Since we couldn't climb the tower we went over to the Hills. We still climbed through the snow there because we were clipping bolts and not placing trad gear that would slide out because of ice. It was so cold that I would lead about half of the pitch, have Jason lower me, and then he would climb up and finish leading. It took a long time just to get one route done. Quite monotonous, but we got a few climbs in nonetheless. The next day was amazing and we actually had good weather. We decided to not go to the tower because I thought the cracks should have a day to dry out just to be positive they weren't icy. The last thing I wanted was to climb up, place a piece of gear and have it slide out because of ice. Not fun.
So we spent what time we had climbing in the Hills and not at Devils Tower. Oh so very depressing. I was really looking forward to climbing there, but when you get shut out you get shut out.
I'm now back in Bozeman studying for my comprehensive exam. I failed it the first time, but I'm determined to pass it this time. Passing it the first time would be great, I know, but I didn't... so here we are. So I take that on June 6th. If all goes well, I'll be taking the next week off and going to Utah to do some climbing and canyoneering with old firefighting buddies. I'll keep everyone updated. There are going to be some good trips this summer.








This is Jason coming up on pitch three of White House Wall. This climb is directly behind Mt. Rushmore. I'm taking the picture and we're about 400 feet above that road you see below.