I’ve been dreaming about the bugaboos since I (Jason) was a kid reading climbing magazines that show off photos of the most incredible destinations that I could ever dream to go to. Bugaboo spire even made the cover of my favorite mountaineering book, “Freedom of the hills”.

The beauty of a road trip is getting to visit these places that I have been dreaming about for so long.  And the bugaboos exceeded expectations! Plus intimidated the hell out of me…..

You know this spot is crazy as soon as you enter the parking lot where every car is rigged up to survive the nightly porcupine attacks. Apparently they love to chew tires, break lines and just about any other piece of the car they can get their mouths on.

The night before the trek into the Conrad Kain hut we finally got some work done from the van. Here’s proof for those who don’t believe us.

Sunset the night before from our campground with the hound’s tooth, a rarely climbed spire, poking up in the distance (note the bear spray in hand; it never leaves your side up here!).

The real fun began the next morning with a brutal climb up to the Conrad Kain hut at the base of the glacier.

Despite the brutal climb, we were rewarded with a rainbow over the Purcell mountains.

The Bugaboos is a truly magical place, but the routes are intimidating! These massive spires rise thousands of feet out of the largest glaciers I’ve been on, in a setting that feels like the top of the world. Not to mention the fickle weather!

Unfortunately the weather held us back from doing any big routes. Instead we had a great day of practicing glacier travel, ice skills and touring around the incredible cirque beneath Bugaboo and Snow Patch spires.

Relaxing after a long day

And heading down to the warmth of the hut

Though we didn’t conquer any of these summits, the trip was still a success. Some of the most awe inspiring terrain we’ve ever seen!

The Wind River mountains are blessed with some of the most impressive Alpine granite in the world. Home to some of the most famous climbs in North America (Wolf’s Head and Pingora), these awe inspiring towers make trekking all the gear in well worth it! It also makes the climbs a bit more daunting, looking out across the imposing landscape of the Cirque of the Towers.

We got an early Alpine start, a quick approach from base camp and a unimaginably wind-free* ascent of Haystack, a 5 pitch 5.6, topping out around 12,000 feet.

*The guide book reads, “If there is wind anywhere in the world, there will be wind on the north face of Haystack.”

From our basecamp at Clear Lake, the beginning of the north face was a quick hour scramble.

Halfway up the route the views were already amazing and the weather was uncharacteristically clear.

Summit!

From here you can see into the Cirque of the Towers (top right) and almost to our base camp at Clear Lake (bottom left)!

Wyoming is picturesque! Rivers winding through grassy meadows, thunderheads dotting the horizon, and snow capped peaks rising from the high planes.

From Evanston, Wyoming we drove up to Wild Iris, a beautiful limestone crag nestled in the meadows of the southern Wind River range. The white washed pocketed walls rise out of rolling grasslands, dripping in wild flowers, with a back drop of the largest peaks in the Wyoming Rockies.

A half hour stroll through a meadow of wildflowers you head out to the cliffs.

To find steep, pocketed sport climbs leave the arms feeling like jello by the end of the day!

Smiles after an exhaustingly awesome day of climbing…

…and no better way to finish off the day than lounging in the hammock and enjoying our favorite Utah beer: Hop Nosh

One of the great perks of climbing Wild Iris is what the town of Lander has to offer: Wild Iris Mountain Sports for the friendliest and most knowledgeable folks around town (Thanks, Kyle!); American Fork Cafe, Old Town Coffee Shop, and Lander Brewery are all delights.

Becky’s route in little cottonwood canyon was a superb return to trad climbing. 3 pitches of steep granite cracks and we were blessed with delightfully cool, cloudy skies!

We woke up this morning in a canyon of Pinnacles-esque, conglomerate rock (ie a petrified stream bed of pebbles and boulders turned on its end), and climbed ourselves silly. (K: The routes are so well bolted, I was even able to comfortably lead some routes.)

We almost missed this gem.  A super knowledgeable and friendly guy at Mountain Works in Provo sent us this way. Thank you!