Mason Lake Bouldering

The Tobacco Roots are my favorite mountains. Lots of reasons why. One of them is the untapped rock climbing. I probably shouldnt say that but if you can find the stuff I havnt climbed that I want to, kudos to your adventurous spirit! I would never discourage someone from being adventurous. There has been this looming 'big wall' rumor circulating around for years that I just had to investigate. So Sam, Joe and I took the bouldering pads and cameras for a walk. Said 'big wall' happens to be in a newly developed bouldering area dubbed the Mason Lakes boulders. We found and climbed several boulders on the way to the easily identifiable cliff on Hollowtop. Our first stop was at the Circus Cluster. There are 7 total problems from V0 to V5. I flashed everyone of the problems except a V1 called Step Right Up. That was the second or third time I have ever flashed V5! Next we walked up to the Black Beauty area so I could try a V6. And try is all I did, again and again and again... the V6 Interplanetary Insanitarium became a project. We waffled around on some other problems before ditching the gear and heading up to the cliff. We found some old bolts and pitons in a couple of different cracks. I knew there was no way in hell that Bozeman climbers hadnt been there. I have since learned of a couple of the original climbers. I dont really care that it has been sent though. It such a pretty place to climb on impeccable rock that is so easy to get to. I like that kind of climbing. Ill let the pics do most of the talking on this one. (I did not have a camera for this trip; pics courtesy of Sam)

Sam sending Circus Slab V0

The cliff band. The tallest section is straight down from the skyline highpoint. 

This lower right section has some superb looking single and two pitch trad routes.

Lower right hand buttress

The crack that is essentially coming straight pu tof the top of my head is continuous ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP! There is atleast two pitches that cant be seen; a ramp to an upper headwall.

Before I die, I will set my hammock up under that roof and attempt to sleep. 

Zoomed in on the upper section of the previously mentioned crack; notice its continuity!?

The crack of interest runs up the grey slab left of center. The old pins are on an old aide route that goes just left of the great roof.  There was an old bolt left of the crack of interest as well. 

The cliff is just above Joe at upper Mason Lake. 

Pipestone Bouldering

I was lucky enough to win tickets to a Trampled By Turtles and The Devil Makes 3 at the Big Sky Brewery in Missoula so Manfred and I found ourselves pulling the gypsy wagon down the road to Zoo town. After an awesome show and a not-so-awesome hangover, I arrived in Pipestone to break up the drive home. I got a great afternoon bouldering session in on some boulders McAlpine and friends cleaned several years ago. I hesitate (as always) to claim any first ascents on these boulders. We did, however, remove some shrubbery and rocks exposing previously unclimbable (to most folks) lines. The gem, which we named the Chinese Mr.Potato Head Boulder (now commonly referred to as the Potato Head Boulder) was hard then and remains that way now. I awoke the next day in a slight panic because not only was it extremely smoky but I could smell fire. It turns out that the crazy lightning storm I drove through the afternoon prior started some fires right there on Homestake pass. I thought I was going to be hopping in the truck and driving for my life to outrun the fire! But it never showed up and I got another great morning of bouldering accomplished.

Genesis Boulder, Unmasked Boulder, Potato Head Boulder

Potato Head Boulder is about 15ft tall. The face is a textbook 'problem'. I sent it in 2011 but couldnt get it this trip.

And they call this place the desert....

This photo is kinda cool just because of the sky; its on fire to the left and blue sky to the right with ominous clouds. 

My morning warm-up boulder. All of these have names but I dont remember them. We had nothing to do with developing these (Mastodon area).

A fun, blankish, hard open book.

If this isnt called the Morel Boulder it should be!

The book calls the hidden offwidth a 5.9 that stops a ways short of the top. I used the offwidth to gain the tips crack and proceeded to scare the s*** out of me topping out. I estimate its atleast 22ft tall. Bad landing, no fall zone.

The super classic Mastodon crack.  This one gets up there a ways too but the climbing gets easier the higher you get. 

Revenue Village: City Limits Buttress; Climb day

Sam, Jeff, Manfred and I all went out to the Village to climb 3 routes I just cleaned and bolted the weekend prior. I lead Black Angus Orchestra without any issues besides the shit-eating grin on my face! The crux is the bottom quarter of the route with some intimidating looking ceilings but there are cracks and holds that take away the difficulties, I give it 5.9 40m two bolts and gear. Cattle Scratch Boogie shares the ceiling start with B.A.Orchestra then takes the the low angled, uber-featured face to the top with bolts and one or two cams, 5.9 only because of the start then 5.7 to the top. After that I lead Trooper Down with a couple of cams to bolts back to gear and one last bolt before the top, 5.9 40m. They are all 5-star routes in my book! I knew they were going to be fun but they surpassed my expectations. I cant wait to develop the rest of this rock because its got a bunch more routes that look just as good! This was Jeff's first rock outing in a season or two and his first trip to the Village; I think he was rather impressed!

Me sending the ceilings; left of the first and right of the second. 

My hands are in a textbook hands crack with bomber gear right where it gets a lil airy. This is lap two on TR.

If you are going to climb with half-ropes you might as well climb in tandem if you have a group of 3. 

Looks like we are a ways up there!

Me on the FA of Trooper Down. 

Its gear until you get to this face that Im on where you'll find a few bolts.

Revenue Village: City Limits Buttress - Development

Armed with only 20 bolts, I moved the cache and started work on a new chunk of rock that Im calling City Limits because the uphill side borders private property. From one anchor I was able to clean and bolt three 40m routes. Climber's left to right we have Cattle Scratch Boogie 8 bolts and gear, Black Angus Orchestra 2 bolts and gear and Trooper Down 7 bolts and gear. They will all go at 5.8 or so. These account for about 1/3 to 1/4 of the possible number of routes on this chunk of rock. These should be pretty darn fun.

My new gadget. Digging through the fanny pack for the blower or the brush or bolts or a new bit has always been a pain but this thing puts 'em at my finger tips. I dont have to put my beer in my chalk bag! 

The best of the bad photos I took of the right side of City Limits. A couple of bolt dust patches can be seen.

The only place (I know of) where you can climb while looking at the Madison Valley and Gallatin Valleys simultaneously. 

Revenue Village: Morning Glove climb day; Raven Memorial...

Sam, Manfred and I got to climb the last unclimbed (but developed) climbs on the Morning Glove. We warmed up on R, like Rain a 5.7 mixed line with a 5.8 move for the crux and walked off. Then I lead The Raven Memorial a 60m 5.8 with 17 bolts and two cam placements. Using strategically placed alpine draws I was able to keep the rope drag to a minimum but I will be the first to say I put one or two bolts too many on that face. I didnt bolt anything that could be naturally protected but I took the fear out of it. The 'sharp end' is pretty dull but fun nonetheless. Again we walked off. Then Sam lead Climber Quotes, topping out in a downpour. I didnt climb it cause it was soaking wet. Time to start the camping part of the weekend! The cows were still out there but I didnt let them fool me twice.

R, Like Rain goes up the crack to ceiling to dihedral and finishes pretty much at the skyline notch.

This is the first time I have even seen Manfred voluntarily sleep on a rock.

Looking 60m down The Raven.

Theres Sam about half way up.

Backcountry brass monkeys. Vitamin R. Vitamin C.

Wildflower #40

When was the last time you turned your phone off for 4 days? I admit that its been awhile for me. Wildflower is a MT festival founded by some old hippies and is invite only. They release the location a week or two in advance to try and keep it not necessarily small, but not full of tourists. No cell service is one of the criteria for location. Everybody seemed to know everybody up there. It encompasses live music and camping and I would say it is primarily a disc golf tournament. I played more folf last weekend then I did last summer! They have some really cool custom made wildflowers that were used for baskets/targets. My buddy Neil has been attending for several years now and was the person that gave me the invite. This year it was in Bernice MT, a chunk of the state I have not spent any time in. I feel fine saying Bernice cause that is just the exit from the interstate; you still have over 10 miles of dirt roads before you camped and I dont think you would ever find it without the map. Manfred and I made a few new friends and will hopefully be attending again next year.

The festive Gypsy Wagon