Been up to a couple of things lately

I have been doing a poor job of keeping up with this blog lately so Ill try to do a little catch-up. Cady, Terra, Sam, Manfred and I climbed all but one route on the main wall of Red Cliffs (6 out of 7 routes?). Sam, Manfred and I did a bunch of laps on Practice Rock, mostly on Theoretical. Cady, Manfred and I were in Red Lodge and got a tip from a local on an easily reached (and climbed), hangover-friendly  Limestone Buttress called The Ovens where we tagged four of the routes. And yesterday I spent about 5 hours scrubbing Manfred's Rock out at the village. Manfred's Rock is now completely done and has 13 routes on it. It has taken me all season to get to this point. I still have a few bolts left over and I have one more buttress I hope to finish by the end of this season.

Yours truly on Theoretical 5.10.

The Ovens was luckily in the shade all afternoon.

What a pampered pooch! Ice water? Jeez! It was 95 degrees out...

Manfred's Rock is hard to get a good pic of, so here is most of it. 25-30 meters tall. Pure trad to pure sport and everything in between. This one will be popular.

Indian Creek quickie

On our way to Hauser to do some boating and camping, Cady, Manfred and I stopped at Indian Creek for some quick, short routes. We started on the Chief wall and climbed 3 routes finishing under headlamp at 11pm. The following morning Cady got her first lead nailed on the Bearclaw Wall which undoubtedly has the shortest approach in MT.

Chief Big Pockets is a jolly good time!

Cragging (climbing routes that are very easy to get to)

Posing (trying to look good para la chicas)

Bringing Sexy Back (I do what I can) LOL

The view out the camper door. This is life.

The Bear Claw wall has the coolest Limestone features I have climbed to date. Even if they make for easy climbing, its still way too much fun. I solo this rock all the time when Im at my parents' house (just down the road on the river)

Suce Creek Bloc Party and Carnival Crag

Sam, Cady, Manfred and I were all invited to check out a new bouldering area in Paradise Valley Adam P. found so join-the-party we did! A crew of about 10 hiked up together and thank gosh we did; that place might stump a few adventurers trying to find it. But wow, what a place! The Dolomite Limestone (?) boulders are more than abundant. This massive pile of boulders is going to take lots of people lots of years to get a grasp of. The boulders are almost too big and too hard. Massive, up to 60' tall! If this wasnt a wilderness area, it would become the new sport climbing mecca of 5.13+ routes in MT. We were able to find a few great routes on some of the smaller rocks and had a full day out. If you boulder, find out how to get there. Wowza!
The next day, we were all still wanting to climb but lacked some of the necessary ambition so off to Carnival Crag we went. This sweet little buttress is a 2 minute walk from the parking area in Yankee Jim campground. Its got a couple of really easy routes and a couple intermediate routes. Cady got to do her first rappel (simul at that)! We climbed until our feet started burning. We jumped in the river to cool off. Even Manfred needed a swim on this hot day.

For being a boulder field, the landings are impeccable!

Thats atleast a 30ft crack going up the low angle side of this massive bloc.

The Shiba boulder.

I dont know if this one got a name but there is a super fun, V1 overhanging problem next to a V hard.

The Ocean Boulder has one route going up the climber's left arete.

You can see Livingston from the top outs. 

Me leading Carnival Crag.

Lewis and Clark Caverns

One way to get out of the rain is to go underground. Back when I used to do some caving, we always went when there was a bad forecast. So on a gloomy looking day I went back to Lewis and Clark caverns and Cady got to see it for her first time. It must have been 20 years ago when I was last there. I swear there was a lot of wood back then. Now it is a plush cement boardwalk through the whole thing. It was actually bigger, deeper, longer and scarier than I remember. Its Montana's first state park and is absolutely worth the time and money for a tour. Pics are tricky because you cant use your flash until the bottom part of the cave so...... go see it for yourself.

Well whatcha find der Cady? A cave?