On our way to Portland OR we stopped in City of Rocks, ID for a day. We pulled in late at night and had some trouble finding a camp site. In the light of the full moon we found one and set up camp. We woke up the next morning to discover we were camped under the Twin Sisters formations. The photo above shows the tents nestled behind a rock in the sagebrush.
Tom climbed up to the base of the formation to check out the routes. We later discovered this formation is closed to climbing to preserve the view for tourists exploring the California Trial who might be offended by climbers. Outrageous as far as I am concerned.
We did some climbs on Bath Rock. We started with a few lines easier lines on the front to get warmed up. The photo below shows Jasper climbing the Cowgirl Route (5.5).
We moved around to the back in the afternoon and Tom started off by leading Colossus (5.10C) [picture below]. I tried leading a bolted face route (5.8/5.9) to the left of Private Idaho (5.9) which I backed off of a bit more than half way up. Tom completed it so we could all try it on a top-rope. He then put a rope on the corner/crack route Private Idaho. Clea did all three routes, Jasper and I did the face and Private Idaho which was a bear.
It turned out out be a fun day of climbing in an area I first climbed in 17 years ago with David Pearson.
Garrett and Sarah and I returned to Vedauwoo again today with Penelope and Erdos as well. Garrett led Cornelius (5.5) on the Nautilus and we all followed. This is a short crack climb that I'd compare in difficulty to Baby (5.6) at the Gunks. This was the first time Garrett placed his own pro on lead. After lunch we hiked to the Valley Massif and Garret lead Bill Steal (5.6) on the south side. The photo shows him at a rest a few moves below the crux. This is a very impressive lead and I would compare it to double crack (5.8) at the gunks.
Went rockclimbing at Vedauwoo with Garrett and Sarah. We climbed two bolted routes on the left (Northeast) end of the Crystal Freeway. Oddly, neither of these routes are listed in either guidebook for the area, nor are they in the online guide. They start just to the left of the start for the climb called the Northeast Cutoff. 
Both climbs are friction routes, the first one is about 5.7 and is two pitches. The first pitch ends at a pair of bolts and another pitch continues up to a second set. With a pair of 60 meter ropes it might just be possible to descend from these bolts in a single rappel. Garrett led the first pitch, his first lead. I lead the second, short pitch. The second route, another 30 feet left of the first is harder (5.8 or 5.9) and the start is a bit more difficult since the first bolt is maybe fifteen or twenty feet off the deck with a very bad landing in a wide crack. Garrett led this pitch with aplomb. It ends at the same pair of bolts after a steeper and smoother ascent. We lowered Garrett off the shunts and then Sarah climbed on top-rope, cleaning the route and I followed after her. It was a mostly sunny day with a few clouds providing nice relief from the sun which can be brutal at 9000 feet.
