Days 11-12: City of Rocks

From Tensleep, Wyoming we had a driving day to our next climbing destination in Almo, Idaho. We passed on the way through the Wind River Canyon, which was spectacular; it was awe-inspiring to think about the natural forces of water, pressure, and time carving out such a magnificent landscape. The rock in the canyon is some of the oldest in the world, dating back 2.5 billion years. For context, Devil’s Lake quartzite is 1.6 billion years old! It's humbling that we get to appreciate all this natural beauty in our short time here on earth.

Some of the trees were gloriously golden amidst the evergreens - Cassie thinks the golden trees were aspen. On our way to Almo we saw a Culver’s in Utah of all places, and of course we had to try one of their pumpkin desserts. Al (the car) heroically carried us through more than 20 miles of unpaved roads and open range land, where we had to keep an eye out for cows on the road. Supposedly we also had to watch out for antelope running at 55mph! Thankfully, though, we had no close encounters. We arrived in Almo and found the BLM land where we could camp for free. However, we quickly discovered that some of the dirt roads were far too rocky and uneven for Al the Prius to manage.  Instead we located a BLM spot that was more accessible, set up camp, and had a tasty charcuterie dinner.

On Sunday we had a big breakfast of banana peanut butter pancakes and began a big day of climbing. To get to the routes we had a fairly long approach hike. Cassie led all 4 pitches of slabby fun on “Theater of Shadows” which involved a lot of trusting one’s feet. At the top of the formation, we had a great view of the City of Rocks.



We then both led a slightly harder 5.8 and enjoyed more slab climbing!


We did some exploring on the way back to Al, following faint trails and occasionally cutting through the brush when the way was hard to see. The path brought us past a few unique geological formations as well, but we were excited to get back to camp for a pork rib mac and cheese dinner!



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