VEDAUWOO (part 1)

vedauwoo (pronounced vay-duh-voo) was our first stop on this awesome trip. this would be our location for two nights, and we would spend two days climbing here. (tons and tons of cows on the roads in to vedauwoo)


amazing clouds is something we would see PLENTY of on this trip... and you'll see plenty of pictures of them too... i like clouds.

our wonderful circus tent that us four girls stayed in. it's actually called a "mid", but we joked that the circus was in town everytime we put that sucker up. although it looks goofy, it did an awesome job at keeping the rain out all throughout this trip.

this was the place of amazing climbing, and this was also the place where we got a taste of what unpredictable weather is like. clouds springing up in the matter of moments and pouring down on us as we rock climbed was something we would learn as normal. i was the first on the rock climbing, and about half way up my climb, the lighting bolt appears in the distance, the thunder claps shortly thereafter, and the rain pours down immediately. it is quite an amazing experience being caught in the middle of a thunderstorm on a rock in the middle of a climb. after finishing out the climb and getting back down, we all found a little shelter under the over hang of a rock.

mmmm... nutella, and what better could it be than to be spread on with a stick found fresh off the ground. nutella was a common meal for me!

the second day of climbing saw a little rain, but not enough to stop the fun like it did the first day. i completed a 100 ft ascend and rappel (including a part with a 20 ft overhang where i was dagling in the air and being pushed around by the wind) and was exhausted once i reached the top. good stuff!

this element (unpredictable weather) was something that would come everyday this trip, and something we learned to be able to recognize in the shape and size of a cloud in the distant horizon, and something we all came to love.

campfire was a luxury at vedauwoo (with most of wyoming on a fire ban, we didn't get to have campfires in the backcountry at wind rivers...) the guy with the white hat is ryan, the head leader of this whole thing. he has SO many amazing stories, and he loves to share them. and they all begin the same way... "ok, true story..." i love this guys stories.

vedauwoo is a great climbing place, and we eventually returned to it after our backpacking time in the wind rivers... but that is going to be a different post... and i am REALLY excited for that post... you'll see why.