City of Rocks, Idaho

There is no picture that can capture the image of City of Rocks. After driving from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, leaving behind images of the Tetons, we drove through the plains and the high desert. We left the main highway, drove down many country roads, the towns getting smaller and smaller, until we arrived in the town of Almo, Idaho. It consists of a General Store, a hotel, Outpost (restaurant) and Rock City (store and mechanic with pizza on occasional nights). Driving past this, the Ranger station and a couple of farms, we turned right onto a dirt road and drove up from our elevation of 5000' to about 7000'. There, we were amazed to find rocks, everywhere. Not the cliff lines we were used to seeing, but outcroppings of rocks, interspersed with desert sagebrush, a couple of trees and beautiful views.
For those who have been bouldering in Squamish, you can identify. Only, the rocks were much bigger and there was no forest.
It was breathtaking, rugged and we couldn't wait to climb. Only, it was raining, and unlike the red, you cannot climb in the rain. So we waited, for 2 days of rain and overcast, until we could finally head out and see what it was all about.
We luckily met some friends on our first day, Jazmine and Matt, who were also joined by their friend Geoff. As well, there were their dogs, McKayla and Poncho. We were quite a crew, all camped at BML land (free camping). We were the only people most of the time, others preferring to pay 12$/day to camp in "The City" (of rocks, not the town).
The climbing was.. different. Lots of trad, but also lots of adventure. Many walk-offs rather than rappels or multiple-rope rappels, lots of route finding and other challenges. LOTS of exposure. I found myself challenged on many levels.
However, by the last couple of days, I was able to relax and enjoy my climbing, more than I thought I could. Jake was my rope gun and climbed some amazing things. We challenged our dogs a lot as they did not like to see all their masters disappearing for multiple pitches or just some really long climbs.
The weather was not optimal. After our 2 first days of rain, we had some beautiful sunshine, but some very cold days and freezing nights. Jackets, hats and even mitts on some days. Then, as the week went on, there was talk of snow, below freezing temps and much wind. For our exposed climbing and camping, this was not as enjoyable.
Our last night, we all went for supper and after having been outside for 4 days straight, never fully warming up, this was heaven. Burgers and beer, warm temps and good conversation, finishing with a wonderful campfire with our friends, left us somewhat sad to leave, however, happy to be getting away from the impending snow.
Driving south, we headed to Utah and were going to go to Salt Lake City. However, a quick decision was made to spend the weekend in a town North of Salt Lake (Ogden) to avoid the crowds but have access to some conveniences (showers, laundry and internet) while we waited for weather to pass.
Last night was spent in a truck stop, warmer than we had been all week, and with flush toilets, a true luxury. Some snow and rain today and tomorrow, our friend Jess arrives and we head south, to warmer and hopefully dryer areas.
Check out our photos at
http://picasaweb.google.ca/tjkuenzli