Devil's Tower, Wyoming.

Every now and then a trip report shows up that has nothing to do with Colorado 14ers. Here, is one of those.

Who hasn't thought it would be fun to stand on top of Devil's Tower? If you raised your hand, turn the page now.

I met my friends Doug and Joan, who had come down from Alaska, at the Belle Fourche Campground on Wednesday night. Our original plan was to meet Tuesday, but a harsh cold front and serious rain forecast for that Wednesday pushed the rendezvous back a day.

It rained all day while I drove the 10 hours from Montrose and I was happy we pushed the meeting back a day. The rain had quit when I set camp and the forecast for the next day was nice. The temperature the day before exceeded 90 degrees but when I woke up, frost was covering everything.

So on Thursday morning we slept in late and let the frost melt while we ate breakfast and drank coffee and discussed how to tackle the Tower in the days ahead. By 11:00 in the morning it was agreed we would set out and try the first pitch of the Wiessman route, which is also a direct start to the Durrance Route, but adds a little difficulty to the effort.

In the previous photo there is a red jacket visible almost directly above the yellow helmet Doug is wearing. This is one of the four Koreans that we watched starting the route through our binoculars from camp some hours ago. More on the Koreans later.

We get to the top of the Wiessman start and look around and think, let's get to the top of the Bent Column. The top of this column is where the red jacket of the previous photo stands.

Well, from here the Durrance Route really begins. It is around noon, the weather is perfect, the red jacket group is out of sight and we think, if not now, when? We are a little light on food and water, but with 2 liters of water and one headlamp we set off!

This pitch, for anyone still following along, was the easiest of all day long. But it did make for my favorite photo of the climb!

So we are sitting on top of the bent column at around 1:30 in the afternoon, still not yet committed to finishing the climb, and decide that this seems to be a perfect day to go for it. And on we went.

I think the next pitch after getting on top of the bent pillar is the Durrance Pitch. It looks like this:

It is pretty stout. For anyone thinking about the Tower, I will interject my thoughts about the rating here. It is rated 5.6 and later on some folks say it should be 5.8. My experience is somewhat limited, but I climbed El Cap East Buttress which is rated 5.9 and I thought the Devil's Tower is harder. Certainly the tower is more difficult to protect. But also, I think the moves are more difficult. Maybe because I was 30 years younger when I did El Cap? Sure, but be careful if you set out on the Tower! Enough of that, back to our story.

The previous photo was a look down, after taking the look up two photos back.

Now here is an action shot on the Durrance Pitch.

After the Durrance Pitch is the Cussin' Crack. It was not hard to figure out why this pitch got it's name. It looks totally benign but is extremely difficult to protect and awkward to climb. After that is the Chockstone pitch. At the end of the day we had a debate about the single most difficult move on the climb. There was some debate, but it came down to either the pull over the chockstone, the finish on Bailey's or the first pitch on Wiessman. I can't say for sure, but I can say that all of them exceeded what I considered 5.6 climbing!

Here is what it took to find pro on the "Cussin' Crack".

The Chockstone pitch was also difficult to protect. And when you got to the top, and had to pass over the chockstone, it was very slick. No photos, but set your pro well before trying to power over this obstacle. It was hard.

After the Chockstone you have an option to take the "Jump Traverse" or the Bailey Direct finish. We opted for the Bailey Direct. This is a serious pitch. The online descriptions say this is just a 5.4 walkoff, but that is not correct. This direct finish is a serious pitch and every bit as difficult as the earlier bits.

The next photo shows Doug looking around to the left, but then finishing right. The crack to the left did look inviting, but after committing to the right he found an old fixed piton to suggest the better path.

So yeah, when you get up here, finish to the right. Also, the lower section goes easier on the face to the left so that pro in the center makes things harder.

Bailey's Direct goes up and to the left for 75' and then doglegs to the right for the final 75'. If you are carrying a pack, as I was, this will be really difficult. I had to call it the most difficult pitch of the day, but only because I was tired and carrying a pack. I does get quite obscure as you reach that dogleg and try to figure out how to ascend past the roof that seems terminal. But inch by inch, it comes away and eventually, it gives way! The route descriptions say the Bailey's direct is a 5.4 finish. I am calling BSt on that. The final twist to get out of there was 5.8 all day long. But pull through and the summit is yours!

Oh yeah, the Koreans. We started our descent just past sunset. At the third rap station, where a double rope gets you to the ground, we found the party of 4 struggling with their rope, which had become stuck in a crack. They decided to abandon their rope and came down on ours. It was dark by the time we were all on the ground.