An Ode To Massachusetts via An Ode to Ten Sleep

Hi again! So, I fell a bit behind in my blog updates…I know it seems like we were just in South Dakota due to my last update, but we actually spent the last two and half weeks in Wyoming! Our first stop in the great state of Wyoming was Ten Sleep Canyon—my (now) absolute favorite climbing area around. We had a phenomenal eight days in Ten Sleep. I’d even go so far as to say it was the best eight days of the trip yet…at least from my perspective (if you haven’t picked up on it yet, this blog is written pretty exclusively from my perspective…Marco hasn’t even read a single entry! I convey the gist of them to him.). For those who like to sport climb, Ten Sleep should be your NEXT climbing destination without a doubt!

We arrived at Ten Sleep during the late afternoon. Neither one of us was sure what to expect—the guidebook is a bit out there (“a bit” is being generous, it’s so whack!). As we slowly climbed the mountains and wound our way down Route 16, we were captivated by the beauty of the general scenery of Big Horn National Forest (in which Ten Sleep is located). And then…we came around a bend and saw Ten Sleep Canyon and we were in complete and utter awe. I think time stopped. Immediately we were both drawn to the canyon walls. I have yet to see the Grand Canyon (stay tuned, it’s on our to-do list!), so maybe I don’t have a proper gauge for stunning canyons, but Ten Sleep Canyon absolutely took my breath away with its sheer size, endlessness and beauty. The beautiful limestone walls just stretch on for 8 or so miles (not sure of the exact length). There’s no way a picture could even do it justice, but here’s an attempt to convey what Marco and I stumbled upon.

Note the creek that is running through the base of the canyon…stunning! The old dirt road just above the creek has free camping. We camped down at the very base of the canyon along the paved part of the old road, because the dirt road portion does not open until June 15 and we arrived just prior to its opening. The campsites along the dirt road are gorgeous! Though I still think we got the BEST campsite ever! Pictures/description below.

Since we arrived late in the afternoon, we decided to set up camp. The guidebook mentions free camping along Old Road 435 (if you drive all the way down to the west end of the canyon, turn left!). We snagged ourselves a pretty awesome spot perfect for our Lil’ Bean! We were right on the creek (so plenty of water to boil/cook with) and the views up into the canyon were stellar. Plus, we finally got to break out the personal shower/toilet tent I purchased (I love putting things to use!). Check out our setup!

The kitchen, with the creek in the background.

Marco does all the cooking. His mom taught him well!

The bathroom, for our portable toilet and pump shower.

Bill, this is the shower you suggested! It works SO well. We filled it up with creek water, which got warm in the sun during the day, and were able to shower at night! Or, I should say, I was able to shower at night (emphasis on “I”). See below for Marco’s version of a shower.

The bedroom! Note, the fire pit on the left side. We had to pull the van out to use it, but we put it to use a few times.

View of the canyon above from our campsite!

 Now, as I mentioned above, we had a very lovely shower/toilet setup, but, of course, Marco chose to take his shower in the creek rather than use the actual shower we purchased. His initial goal was to cross the creek and bath in the calmer section of the water, but during the first couple days the creek was way too high/powerful. It was raging! But, of course, that wasn’t going to stop him. He tied in, anchored himself to the van, and attempted nonetheless.

Attempt #1 to cross the creek.

Shut down!

Attempt #2. He was not to be deterred!

Perhaps with the proper footwear he could get across.

Maybe a different route across the creek will help…

Nope! Shut down again.

Oh, and the water was FREEZING!

To his credit, Marco ultimately crossed the creek on our very last afternoon in Ten Sleep. The water level was very low and the creek calmed down considerably. It was still freezing though!

And now for the climbing! Ten Sleep was a turning a point for me in my climbing career, so everything I say about it is probably through rose-tinted lenses. I’ve been climbing for almost five years now and have really, thoroughly enjoyed it, but I can officially say that I truly fell irreversibly in love with climbing in Ten Sleep. I felt a palpable change in my outlook on climbing and my mental approach to climbing. Maybe it was due to the ass-kicking I got in the Needles (see prior blog entry), but I finally made a conscious decision to focus on my mental game and have a little confidence in my physical abilities. I found myself getting genuinely psyched on every climb we approached and I actually wanted to lead routes on my own, prior to Marco taking the first lead and hanging the draws. I mean, let’s not get crazy…I’m only talking 5.10s and under. But for me, that’s a huge step. I finally feel like my mental game has caught up to my physical ability. They’re both hovering around the same level right now and it feels good to be psyched on routes and climbing routes that are at my physical limit, rather than letting my nerves/fear confine me to leading routes that are two grades under what I can physically climb. So, long story short, I’m no longer a giant climbing wuss! And I took my first huge whipper! It was on Godfather 1, a 5.10c on the Godfather Boulder. I threw blindly around a corner for what I knew was a jug, but threw too far left. I bumped my hand right, but overshot right. And I was too pumped to throw again so I peeled off. I was pretty far above my last bolt and Marco had a lot of slack out (I think he wanted me to get my first real fall out of the way and he wanted it to be big), and I fell a few bolts down. It was a nice overhang, so it was a really soft fall. And the best part, I didn’t think about falling once—I just went for the move and was focused on the climb. That’s something I’ve never been able to do. I usually always fixate on the potential fall before going for a move. Here’s hoping that this new found mental game sticks with me. I love Ten Sleep dearly for whipping me into shape! And, in full disclosure, I should note that Marco and I came to the conclusion that the grades at Ten Sleep are not super consistent and tend to fall on the softer side. So, that may have had something to do with my boost in confidence as well. Either way, I’ll take it!

Personal divulgence aside, Ten Sleep is a phenomenal sport climbing area. Every route we got on was stellar—there are so many three, four and five star routes, it’s out of control (um, this is a good time to note the guidebook doesn’t use actual stars to rate each climb, rather it uses kitty icons to signify three stars, porn/sexy lady icons to signify four stars, and nationalism/military icons to signify five stars…I told you, it’s weird). Every climb we got on was genuinely worthy of its star rating. We climbed seven out of the eight days we were there—the area is that great that we couldn’t take more than one rest day—and we didn’t even make a dent in the tick list of climbs we wanted to do. All of the climbs are bolted up the wazoo…we’re talking no more than five feet between each bolt (that may have had something to do with my ability to really step up my mental game!). It’s a genuinely super fun area to explore and it doesn’t hurt that it’s ridiculously beautiful as well. Marco onsighted his first 5.12a, As Wicked As It Seems on the Godfather Boulder, and cruised another 5.12a, Moltar!!! I think we’re both starting to gain some of the endurance we were obviously lacking while climbing at the New.

Heading home for the day. As shown in the picture, most of the approaches are pretty steep, but most are really short. Everything is right off the main road for the most part.

The approaches are also beautiful in themselves! Lots of strolls through pretty flowers. Lots of ticks too, but they all seemed to LOVE Marco and not me. He had roughly 2-3 a day, and I didn’t get one the entire trip! It’s his warm Guatemalan blood…guess I’m just a cold-hearted redhead!

The view from the top of a climb.

Clipping into the anchors of Beer Bong, 5.10b. It’s a beautiful face climb that has a little chimney at the top. Apparently everyone climbs the chimney portion facing out away from the rock…total American flag-worthy climb!

And that concludes my Ode To Ten Sleep! Now, on to my Ode to Massachusetts. So, the first day we climbed at Ten Sleep, we noticed one of the cars in the pullout had a Mass license plate. Um, whoa! Get out, I want to find these people stat! So, naturally, I asked every climbing party we passed whether they were from Mass (creepy and intrusive, but all in the name of finding good Mass people!). No dice! I couldn’t find my fellow Massachusetts folk anywhere! At the end of our second day of climbing, as Marco and I were stripping down to our skivvies in the parking lot to do our daily tick-check ritual, a couple approached us and said they were from Mass. It was love at first sight! It turns out they were trying to track us down too. And that is how we met Tyler and Irina from Massachusetts. Now, as an aside, I have to say that people who hail from Massachusetts (and New England generally), are just plain old good people. Obviously I’m biased, since I’m from there, but I truly believe Massachusetts people have good values and are solid people. I always feel that I can immediately relate to most people I meet that are from Massachusetts. There’s a mutual sense of loyalty and respect. So, I was obviously very excited to run into some of my Mass brethren while in Ten Sleep, Wyoming, a town of 260 people (see Exhibit A).

Exhibit A

Tyler and Irina, who are taking a three month climbing tour of the country, were great! I immediately felt the Massachusetts bond kick in. We hung out at their campsite one night, ran into them on our rest day, and spent our final day in Ten Sleep climbing with them. It was GREAT (and SO necessary) for Marco and I both to have some interactions with other people aside from each other. It was very therapeutic. Our last day of climbing was by far my favorite day of climbing. We checked out two areas on the south side of the canyon, Ten Sleep Falls Area and the Godfather Boulder (mentioned above). There’s a beautiful 5.8/9 climb in the Ten Sleep Falls Area called Water Into Wine. It follows a slab alongside a subtle waterfall. And the Godfather Boulder is a MUST DO for the area. It only has five routes on it, but four of those routes (5.10a, 5.10c, 5.11a and 5.12a) are top quality! It is definitely worth a visit. And it gets shade all day long. Plus, you get to rip off your shoes and wade through a lovely (but freezing!) little creek during the approach!

Marco gearing up for Water Into Wine.

Irina getting on Water Into Wine.

Ty at the top!

Ty climbing Godfather 1, the 5.10c I took a whipper on! It was just past the point he’s at now.

Irina on Umpalumpa Humpachu, 5.10a.

So, all in all, we LOVED Ten Sleep! We had a great time with Ty and Irina. Hopefully, if our timing works out, we’ll all be in Squamish the first week of August as well, so we can have a mini-Mass reunion! And that concludes my spiel on Ten Sleep. Bottom line, go there! For those who are planning a trip to Ten Sleep, our favorite area by far was Mondo Beyondo. It is packed with so many rad routes—definitely the highest concentration of our favorite climbs.

We hope everyone is doing well and having a great summer…wherever you are! And a big shout-out to my bestie Hayley, who turned 31 on June 26! Sorry to have missed your birthday Hay…per my usual excuse, I have NO service in the parts of the country I’m choosing to roam. But, you can ask Marco, it was the first thing I thought of as soon as we woke up on the 26^th! Miss everyone! Lots of love.