ElisifHarro Posted March 5, 2007 Posted March 5, 2007 Trip: Bozeman, MT/Cody WY - Various Date: 2/22/2007 Trip Report: Summary Hyalite Canyon 2/22-2/23 Cody, WY 2/24 Historically it seems that I find some sort of excuse as to why I can't write the trip report, but after a fair amount of procrastination here you go. Last Wednesday night (Feb 21st) Team Harro jumped in the 4runner after work and headed to the Bozone. Arriving at Daniel's twin brother Mark's apartment at 4 in the morning, we passed out for a couple of hours before Mark, the other member of Team Harro, Daniel, and I headed up to the canyon. The road to Hyalite was in good condition on the 22nd with packed snow easily handled by four wheel drive. It wasn't until just right before the parking lot that the snow got a little too soft for comfort. We decided to go up to the Mummy Cooler area to get back into the swing of things. Elisif leading Mummy II (WI 3+) I just started ice climbing last season and have limited days under my belt so Mummy II was by far the longest, steepest climb that I have led, but with minimal freaking out I made it to the top. And yes John, my heels were down We then decided to toprope the Scepter (WI 5) and had a good time playing around on steep ice for the rest of the day. Daniel on the Scepter The next day Mark had to prepare for his very own art show(showcasing his pottery), aptly titled "WTF", that evening so Daniel and I headed up to the canyon for a short day of climbing. Unfortunately our short day became much shorter...and then much longer as it snowed and snowed and snowed throughout the day. Though making good time on the way up we had to spend quite a bit of time helping dig out the only other two fellow climbers daring (or stupid) enough to drive up the road. Knowing we needed to leave early enough to get back in time for Mark's show we gave up on more ambitious plans and resigned ourselves to the goal of just climbing ice. We decided to just do the short approach to the amphitheatre climbs as they had intrigued us in the past...bad idea though, brittle ice and blowing snow made for a sketchy lead and a fairly miserable belay on both climbs. Elisif leading the left amphitheatre climb The real adventure began on the way back. We met up early with the other climbing pair to tag team it back to town. With all the snowfall throughout the day it was pretty ridiculous even with 4wd, diff locks, and chains. It took us 4 hours to get down and shovels became our best friends. On the dam there were hood-high snow drifts! A couple of friendly snowmachiners helped us out for quite a bit on the dam (Thanks guys! ). We finally made it down (missing Mark's show ) just in time to meet up with "Operation Save Team Harro" (when Mark had realized we still weren't back yet he had mobilized a team of overly capable Hyalite rigs to come to our rescue, it's nice to be loved ) Cody, WY So Hyalite was out, so the next morning we rallied out of Bozeman at 3:30 in the morning with Mark and Mark's friend Mark P. en route to Cody. Arriving in Cody we headed up to Bleeding Heart but when we got there we found sun-baked ice. Mark was able to kick steps halfway up it without crampons Getting ready Mark bowing to the sun gods We decided we wanted to see more of what Cody had to offer so we headed farther down the road. High on Boulder and Mean Green looked great but we were pretty sure there were parties on both as it was getting later in the day. High on Boulder from afar We decided to go check out Smoked Turkey in the upper valley. The approach is a little challenging as you can't see the climb until you get to it. Follow the river until you can see where two drainages converge and then head up The first pitch was fun WI3-3+. There was then 500m hike up to a short WI3 that we soloed. About 200m farther there was another short WI3 pitch. And then the piece de resistance, another short hike and we found a 60m thin WI3 and great WIfun (4+ to 5). Mark on the right climb Descent was hiking and rappelling down to the base of the climb and a hike down the drainage. The river was frozen in quite a few spots for easy crossing. mmmmm Cody Daniel and I were exhausted from a busy three days with minimal sleep so Sunday the 25th was a day of R&R before the drive home to work in PDX . Good times though, it was great to spend time with Mark, great to get in some ice climbing, Even better not to have to spend the night in Hyalite, and awesome to see Cody for the first time. We can't wait to go back to Cody now that we’ve done some recon. Gear Notes: Standard ice rack. Lots o' coffee Approach Notes: shovels and strong backs if you want to go to Hyalite. I’m not sure what the conditions are this week, but last week was pretty gnarly. Quote
Dechristo Posted March 5, 2007 Posted March 5, 2007 very nice TR and great pics. What's the story on the major drainage on the left side of the bottom pic? Quote
olyclimber Posted March 5, 2007 Posted March 5, 2007 Great trip report! Looks like some fun climbing out there. thanks. Quote
Weekend_Climberz Posted March 5, 2007 Posted March 5, 2007 Awwww Yeah!! Ice climbing season ain't over yet :tup: Nice pics. I need to make it over to Montana, maybe next season :tup: Quote
John Frieh Posted March 5, 2007 Posted March 5, 2007 Best first post in a long time Elisif Strong work team harro and other team harro I can only imagine how much penguin pumping and AK discussion went on Good to see you are putting that HUGE pile of gear you two have to use... how many pairs of boots did you guys bring? And good to see no one puked on this trip Quote
Chad_A Posted March 5, 2007 Posted March 5, 2007 Very cool...might have to make a trip there, yet. Nice TR and pics! Quote
Knuckles Posted March 6, 2007 Posted March 6, 2007 very nice TR and great pics. What's the story on the major drainage on the left side of the bottom pic? This drainage has no ice... It is a large scree gulley. Quote
PickleJuice Posted March 9, 2007 Posted March 9, 2007 Nice work Elisif! I love the shot of you leading... and the one of the guy bowing to the sun gods! Quote
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