Greetings from Wyoming

Susan the naturalist loving life at Eagle Bluff


A typical Minnesota sunset from the bluff.


3,371 miles as of last week when we left Minnesota.

Hey everyone! We're here in Lander, Wyoming where we've been freezing out butts off for almost a week now. We left Susan's in Minnesota and headed to Devil's Tower where it was very cold with a snow storm on the way, so we decided to climb for a day (sadly, no summit... but next year for sure).

The tower is a cluster of igneous intrusions in the middle of the Northern Plains of Wyoming. It's unique presence in the otherwise feautreless rolling hills of northeast Wyoming caused the native Americans of the area to worship it. They actually still do to this day. We saw some "prayer scarves" hung in the trees surrounding it's base... it felt little eerie if I do say (not to disrespect the deeply spiritual practice of the natives). To us as climbers, the tower is 800ft. of vertical cracks with a mere half acre grassy summit. So, we were all gung-ho to summit this thing, but as we drove up to it we were seriously humbled by intimidation. This is world class vertical crack climbing here, a whole new ball game for us, as our whole three weeks of traditional rock climbing skills have been aquired on the horizontal cracks of the Gunks.


Devil's Tower, the veiw from our campsite.

Josh and I among the cotton wood trees at our beautiful campsite at the base of the tower.


Besides, it was cold and windy, and a snow storm was on the way. These factors not helping build the mental commitment we would need to muster in order to undertake this summit. We decided we'd just do couple of pitches and return next summer for our summit. We'll gain some experience with vertical cracks this winter in the desert, and come back with a bit more confidence.


So after two days and a gorgeous full moon night at Devil's Tower, we were headed to Tensleep. Plans changed as soon as we hit the Big Horn Mountain Range where everything was COLD and icy. Our sights were then directed a little further south to Lander. So, here we are. We're camping in Sinks Canyon State Park. The rock here and style of climbing here is very similar to Ten Sleep or Paint Rock Canyon, so we haven't been dissapointd by the change in plans. It's still pretty cold here though. On Halloween morning, we unexpectedly woke to a frozen campsite. We also had a little problem with deer mice taking refuge from the cold IN OUR CAR!!! This was quite scary as we just read an article on mice carrying Hantavirus and transmitting it to climbers living out of their car last year in Colorado (about 6% of all deer mice carry the virus)! So Josh insisted we immmediately drive to town, empty out all our belongings, vaccuum, and wipe down the whole car with bleach water. The Sentra's never been so clean. We've been setting mouse traps every night since then in the car, and sadly, I think the deer mouse population around our campsite has really taken a hit. :(




Happy Halloween!!!

We've been waiting on a few packages from the family which finally came today. We're dying to get down south. Getting out of your sleeping bag in the morning to face cooking oatmeal with freezing hands is becoming quite difficult. We put off getting out of the tent every morning until our blatters are about to explode!! It's amazing how much you miss the comfort of four walls and a roof as soon as the cold creeps in. Getting our packages today was great!! Whoo hoo!! Feels like Christmas... by the way Mom Di- Josh wants to know where his Halloween socks are!! :) Seriously though- thanks for the granola and seeds... they will help to keep us regular in the face of too much camp food!! We'll climb here for one more day, then we're off to the desert. May I just say, praise God for warm places to go and the means to get there. When we figure out where we're going next, we'll let ya'll know.


Can't beat a view like this! Another beautiful sunset while making dinner at the campsite at Sinks Canyon.

As for Josh and I, we're learning new things about each other everyday, and falling deeper in love anyway : ) We are learning many lessons in patience, grace, and mercy being within 6 feet of each other 24-7. We've decided that if we can do this for a year and still be so in love, we can do anything. We've been meeting some really great random people along the way that are encouraging us when we need it most. Married Life is interesting and fun, and certainly a blessing from God.

Missing you all, Love You!


Mitzi and Josh