Climbing Devil's Tower Part 2

The trip out to the Tower was exhausting, as well as interesting. My two companions, Pat and Fred, were great company, except for the fact that both loved opera. I will get into that in a bit.
We made the trip in Pat’s mini-van. I brought along a TV-VCR combo, which would run on DC and a bunch of videotapes. Lying in the back of the van while one of us drove, the other two would watch the videos. This made the endless hours on the road more bearable. The trip out is well over 1000 miles and we made it nonstop. Well we would stop for gas and eat but that was it. Take that back. We drove nonstop to the badlands of South Dakota. We had allowed a couple days to get there but didn’t want to waste it on the endless prairie. Since we felt that the badlands were the first thing we would come to, that was worth stopping for, that we would stop there and then on to the Black Hills to see Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse’s Monument.
When we got to the badlands we just had to take a side trip down into the park. This is beautiful country. The country that we crossed was endless. Rolling country with few trees! That is one boring State!! Nothing but huge round bails of hay and thousands of acres of Sunflowers. They even bail hay on the median between the east and west lanes of the highway!
Shortly before we got to the little town of Wall SD, the town made famous by Wall Drugs, there is a turnoff, south to the park.
As you drive towards the park on the road at the eastern entrance, you pass a tourist trap called something like Brown’s Soddy. It may be a tourist trap but it is a good one!! The Brown family lived in this thing for 40 or so years! They had a pretty big family too if I remember right. There is a visitor center in front and that is where you can get books about the family and the usual souvenirs and pay a few bucks to tour the Soddy. Then you are directed out the back door and into what was once the Brown front yard to the squealing of a prairie dog or two. On your left is the hand dug well, that is the reason that the Brown were able to make it on this empty land for so long, when most of their neighbors had to move on. The Soddy is original for the most part. I guess the roof had caved in and had to be rebuilt but the walls were the original walls. This thing was lived in until after the Second World War if my memory serves me.
The house amazed me! It had three rooms so it was one of the deluxe Soddy’s I guess. There was a kitchen, with the original stove, and a sleeping area off it. Built onto this at I later date was a living room of sorts. It was very interesting to see just how those people had to live and prosper. Tough people!! The old out buildings were there too. Small animal shelter, that served as a barn of sorts and a garage where there was still some kind of, beat up old car.
After touring the Brown’s Soddy we again headed for the Badlands Park. Just before the park entrance there was a place offering helicopter rides over the park. We figured, what the hell, and pulled in for a ride. We paid our money and hopped on. That was a great ride. I have flown on a lot of small planes in my float fishing days and in fact took flying lessons for a time but the ride in a helicopter was a thrill. I had been in them before but the thrill was still there. We also flew over Mount Rushmore on another copter the next day. :0)
The Badlands is an awesome place. It is very dry and eroded. At times it was covered with people living in Soddy’s, trying to scratch out an existence. Now there are a few ranches down on the flats but all the small places are now gone due to the lack of water. Many dinosaur bones have been found in the eroded landscape.
From there we headed west. On to the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore and Crazyhorse. We stopped at each place and to make this thing a bit shorter, I will not go on about those places.
I mentioned my two traveling companions loved opera. Fred brought a bag of audiotapes along so I knew we would have music. Early in the trip, I was a snoozing and all of a sudden I heard a hell of a noise. Woke me up and I asked what the hell that was. Fred looked back and said it was Opera and he loved it. Not only did that big sucker love it but he SANG along with it. #####! So did Pat. They had been friends too dang long it seemed. They would crank that bad boy up and sing along with it. Tape after tape for hours it seemed. Worse thing was the fact that they both knew the ##### words too! Funny but it seems that the only way to sing opera is at the top of your lungs!! What was even funnier was the fact that I actually sorta developed a liking for it. Not that I have listened to any since but it seems that I finally developed a tolerance for it. Like I had a choice! L
We traveled West on I-90 until we got to Sundance. From there we headed north, which would take us to the Tower. That country is rolling with quite a bit of vegetation. Lots of trees in that country. To me, the first look at the Tower is a thrill. You drive through this country and at the top of every hill you are searching the horizon for your first glimpse of it. All of a sudden, there it is. At first it isn’t all that impressive but since you are about 10 miles away and it still stands out, it gives its first hint of its size! As you drive closer it just keeps getting bigger. It is easy, when you are back in Michigan, to be confident that you can climb a ##### hill but when you see that thing, you start to wonder what the hell you got yourself into. I looked at the faces of my buddies and know they were thinking similar thoughts. We were all looking at it as we drew near with mouths agape. Of course our bravado was controlling our mouths so we were saying stupid things like, “That ain’t s*it! Piece of cake! Lets do it twice!” but I for one, was a thinking, “I’ma dumbass!!” When we got to the base of that bad boy we were a looking straight up 840 ft and that is impressive.
There is a KOA camp just outside of the Park and that is where we set up camp. One of the first things we did was go to the outfitter and meet Andy Petefish. He was our guide and the best in the outfit. Since it is a one-man operation, he is also the worse! He is a slim, friendly guy, in his middle thirties. He has climbed the tower more than any man on the planet. In his guiding business he once climbed it four times in one day. He said it ##### near killed him but it was a busy day.
Our climb with Andy was to be a two-day deal. On our first day he would take us to a cliff face and assess our climbing abilities. He would climb up the face and then belay us from the top as we climbed it one at a time. He just wanted to have an idea if he was gonna have to baby-sit us or guide us.
The next morning we all met at his shop. He checked all of our gear and supplied what we were missing, which was little. We had our backpacks, harness, rope, rosin bag and shoes. The shoes are important as the soles are made of a soft rubber that helps grip the rock. They had to fit tight! Too ##### tight to wear until you got to the face. We loaded our gear into his truck and headed for the Tower, which was where the face was we were to climb.
We arrived at the parking lot at the Tower and again were awestruck by the size of the ##### thing! Andy had us grab our climbing gear and we headed to the trail that runs around the Tower. Tourists were looking at us like we were nuts and I am not all that sure that they didn’t have a handle on the situation. We struck out for the face we were gonna climb with a bit of fear in all of us. Not fear of the climb but fear that we would not measure up to the task at hand. Not one time during the whole adventure did I fear that I would fall. Using proper techniques it is a pretty safe sport but I feared failure. Hell that 56 ft wall we practiced on was not a ##### Devils Tower and I was a 55 year old kid. Our EGQ’s will get us through a lot of crap though! Mine has always been a big sucker that has led me to adventure and gotten me in trouble a time or two. I was not sure that this was not another of those stupid ideas it had led me to.
Andy led us up through the low brush to a rock face. We were out of the view of the tourist at this point and I was glad. J As we faced the rock wall I realized that this was gonna be a chore. It was about 150 ft and pretty much straight up with an outcropping we had to get around. Andy checked out gear and we looked er over. It is best you scanned the face to get an idea as to the route you wanted to take. When you are climbing it is hard to see very far. Of course Andy was the one that was gonna decide how we would attack the wall. He grabbed a roll of rope and took of up that ##### wall like a squirrel! It was, as it didn’t take any effort at all. As he climbed he would put anchors at intervals to which he would snap a D ring and insert the rope. We belayed him from below. If he had fallen we could have controlled him with a pull on the rope. When he got to the top of the pitch he did the belaying from up there.
One thing about Andy! He never rushed you. You have to think out every move before you made it. This day and the next he was constantly telling us that we were climbing too fast. I think Pat was the first to go up and he did it without much problem. The outcrop was a bit of a problem but he took his time and finally got up to where Andy was. Then it was my turn. I don’t really remember it being all that difficult. When you climb you have to be aware of everything around you. You have to use your hands and feet. Sometimes you have to jam your fist into a crack and haul yourself up that way. You have to stretch and get into some positions that don’t seem all that natural but you keep moving up.
It is tiring and that is why Andy kept on our ass to slow down. He would squall like a mashed cat if he saw you grab a hold of the rope. This is rock climbing, not rope climbing, he would say!
We all got to the top and Andy asked us how we felt. Hell I felt great! I made it and really it was a piece of cake. We were cocky as hell now! J Andy saw that and pointed up! Hell there was the Tower at our back and we had barely gotten to its base!
We then repelled down and that was fun. I had never done it from that height and it was thrilling!! Hell, I was a rock climber now! Common world!! I will take you on.
Andy then said lets try a harder one! Bring it on, says us!! We walked along the face and he pointed up and said, “How’s that look”? Hell it looked like a smooth rock face and unclimbable! I told him I hoped he was kidding. He just put down the gear and went up that bad boy like it was easy. He was latching onto cracks that I couldn’t even see. He got to the top and tossed down the rope and said some dumbassed thing like “Next”
I then said my dumass thing. I will go first! I started up that wall and couldn’t find a ##### thing to grab onto. Little bitty cracks that I might be able to get a ##### fingernail into but nothing substantial. I wedged my feet where ever I could and got up a ways but after 30 ft or so, I slipped and fell. #####! As the rope wasn’t anchored directly above me, I swung to the right like a ##### pendulum and bounced off the wall back first. Andy lowered me and I tried again with the same results only this time I rotated my body as I fell and hit the wall feet first. That was better!
My cockiness was starting to leave me as I was bounced off that wall over and over. Finally with some help from Andy, I made it past the smooth area and managed to get up to the ledge with Andy. Boy I was pissed at myself! I watched as Pat started up and then he was bouncing off that ##### wall as I did. We wore ourselves out on that ##### wall. My forearms were pumped so solid that they were useless and I didn’t have the strength to hold on even when I got a good grip. Pat too, with Andy’s help, got up. Then came Fred. With the same results, I might add. There was a bit of satisfaction in the fact that I had company with my failure.
When we got down Andy told us that we had done pretty good and that not many made it up that wall. He said that there was nothing on the Tower tomorrow that was that hard. I asked him just what the object was to take us to a wall did nothing but humble us. He said he had to see how we handled ourselves in such a situation. He said we climbed the other wall too easily and figured we needed to test ourselves. Well we did and ##### well failed. I was a bit pissed. He said that we did as good or better than most and would not have any problems tomorrow. Right! :0(
We then were done for the day and headed for our camp. I was really upset with myself and it bothered me the rest of the day. It was childish of me but that is the way it affects me when I fail. That mountain looked huge and I knew we would be tested the next day. Andy wanted to be to the Tower at dawn and that was 5 or so in the morning. He wanted to be up to the top before noon or so to beat the worse of the heat.
I had a fitful night, wondering if my ancient ass had what it would take to not make a fool of myself in the morning.
After a rather fitful sleep the alarm went off at 4 am, well before sunrise. Andy wanted to be sure we hit the base of the tower early. If I remember right, dawn was around 5 or 5:30 and if we were at the base with first light, we could be down before the afternoon heat.
We arose grumbling and with all the false bravado three dam fools can muster. The memory of the previous days climb was all too fresh in our minds and the climb today was to be much harder.
We threw something together for breakfast, I cannot remember much about it but we ate something. We assembled our gear, backpack, harness, climbing shoes and rosin bag. We would not be taking much more with us. Andy told us to wear long sleeved shirts to help protect us against abrasions. Fred chose not to but that was Fred.
At about 5am, Andy came to our camp, fit as a fiddle and ready to go. We mimicked him as well as we could but I am not sure we pulled it off. He asked if we were ready and we assured him we were as ready as we would ever be. I was 55 or so at the time and was sure hoping I was ready.
Andy jumped in our van and we headed for the parking lot, at the base of the Tower.
There is no way a person with my limited writing skills can describe the Tower, from its base, at dawn! This thing is HUGE!!! The road from the campground to the parking lot, winds through some beautiful country. It is only a couple miles but that early morning I am not seeing it. I see the dark outline of the Tower and am wondering if I have finally bitten off more than I can chew. I looked at my two buddies and saw that I was not alone with my feelings.
We pulled into the parking lot and offloaded out gear. It is hard to take your eyes off the thing. Andy checks all our gear and gives us a rundown of out climb, what to expect and set up our climbing order. He would go first, setting the anchors and stringing the safety rope. Pat would be second, and I third with Fred following. It would be Fred’s job to take out the anchors. When we got to the top of each pitch, Andy would take the anchors to reuse on the next pitch. A pitch is from ledge to ledge. If you want to call them ledges.
At the top of each pitch, there is a permanent anchor, set in the rock by the Park Service. These pitches are of various lengths, depending on the conditions. Most are between 40 and 80 ft.
If I remember right, the Tower is over 800 ft from its base. From its base it LOOKS like a couple thousand ft, especially at first light.
There is a paved walkway running all the was around the Tower. It is an easy walk, with places for tourist to rest and there are even telescopes for them to watch the climbers.
The first time I was there, I was standing on the walk and I could hear climbers talking. The acoustics are great there, it is the same when you are up on the face. I could hear the climbers talking but for the life of me, I could not see anyone on the Tower. It was so huge. Finally I saw them. The only way I could see them is by their brightly colored helmets. Red, yellow, blue and white, specks, which gave them away. It gave some sense to the huge size of the Monument and on reflection, it gave me a sense of the job I have bought for myself.
Andy led off, with us following, from the parking lot to the trail. We were to walk around to the other side of the Tower before out attempt.
We were taking the Durance Route. It was the route taken on the first successful climb, up the Tower, using mountain climbing techniques. I can not remember the whole story but some Guy attempted to parachute to the top and was gonna rappelled down. Problem was he landed on the top but all of his climbing gear missed. He spent a number of days up there, with no equipment, before Durance climbed up and rescued him. A google search can probably give you more information. It is fascinating!
It was getting lighter now and the full majesty of the Rock was coming into view, with the clear blue sky and the rising sun, backlighting it. I think I gulped around here.
The bunch of us, with Andy in the lead, finally left the trail and headed through what is called, the rubble pile. This is a field of huge boulders that have broken off the face, over the years. They are huge and many are as big as cars with a few buses thrown in. It is quite a scramble to get through them and we were breathing hard as, after 15 minutes or so, we came out at the upper side of the field. Now we were climbing. This is where Andy had us all rope together for safety. We spread out, about 15 ft apart, or so and picked our way, ever higher, to the first pitch.
I was breathing pretty hard by now and to my concealed joy, so were the other two. So far so good. As we arrived at the base, I realize what a chunk I had bitten off. I was just hoping I was up to the task!
I rested my hand against the face and looked straight up and up and up and up! From that vantage point I could not see the top, or the middle. All I saw was rock!
Andy once more asked us if we were ready. I nervously smiled and said sure, knowing he knew exactly what was going through my head. My head and my two companions, I was sure.
He told us to give him our backpacks as he was gonna take them to where we would be rappelling down. We would not be taking them to the top with us, it seems.
He grabbed the three packs and disappeared into the stunted trees that were to our left. When he was gone we had a chance to talk. I was happy to see that my companions shared my feeling of apprehension. Somehow this was comforting for me and I am sure for them. We are not climbers but took the task to do and wanted to finish, successful.
After about 10 minutes, Andy reappeared. He said, “Lets hit it” and he started off.
The tower is an extinct volcano. I guess what we are climbing is the core. All the rest had eroded away, leaving the harder center core. It is made up of long vertical tubes, is guess is the best way to describe it. You can see it in the picture. W would be following the cracks between the tubes. These tubes were about (and I am guessing) about 4 or 5 ft across the e cracks are pretty small, in places and maybe 8 inches at most, in others. We would be using the rope for safety but were not allowed to use it for climbing. Andy would raise hell if we tried! This was rock climbing, not rope climbing!
I saw that Andy stopped at one of these tubes that was broken and leaned to the right, angling up the face. He looked back us and smiled, then started up, climbing the tube.
We stood there and watched as he reached the top of the angled tube and started up the crack. He sure made it look simple but he was not fooling me! He would go up about 5 ft and set an anchor, hooking a d-ring through it and then slipping the safety rope in it. He kept going up and setting the anchors until he reached the top of the first pitch, which was about 60 ft, if I remember right.
Next was Pats turn, with Fred and I standing back and watching his assent. It was slow but he took his time and made it fine, after a few stalls and rest periods.
This climbing is a slow business. There are no steps up that thing and very few handholds. Some of the holds are big enough for a good grip but some are just a little projection that you might get a couple fingers over. At times you must just shove your hand in the vertical crack and use that for purchase. Once you have your hand anchored, or both hands if you are lucky, you have to move your feet up a bit and set them. It is a slow process and some times you think you will never find a grip. You don’t want to release one until you have the next but some times you have to. You might see a handhold, which is out of reach and have to lunge for it. I had to do that on a number of occasions.
You are reasonably safe because of the harness and safety line but when you look down a 250ft drop, you just don’t want to fall! There were a number of places that there was nothing to stop us but the bottom, if the safety system had failed.
Pat reached the top of the first pitch and anchored in. Then Andy yelled down for me to start my assent. Man I was not up for this but macho kicked in and I told Fred, “Piece of cake” and started up.
I climbed the angled tube with no problem and reached the bottom of the pitch. I looked up and could not see them. It was straight up and they were on a ledge. Then Andy looked over, high above and yelled, “Climb on!” and I started my assent.
I had watched Andy and Pat on while they climbed and tried to memorize where the handholds were. The only problem was, Pat was 5ft2in and Andy was about 5 ft 8 and not many of their handholds and anchors would be of use to me, 6ft 1in! Great!
I reached in the right crack and gripped as best I could and did the same with my left hand on the other side. I spread my feet, one to either side and pushed against the opposite tubes. Once I was anchored with the feet I would work, first one hand and than the other up, either side of the tube. This took me up 5 ft or so to a point that I saw a nice handhold on the right and worked myself to it. I got a good grip on it, with my right hand and let loose with the left. This allowed me to swing to the right side, where there seemed to be a few hand and foot holds. I didn’t like being all spread out like that.
I started up the crack, both hands walking up it and my feet finding whatever purchases they could. It was grueling work but taking my time, I worked my way up to Pat and Andy. It felt great to know that I could at least get that far! Andy said we had done a fine job and there was no rush.
I do remember that Andy’s only admonishment was that we were climbing too fast. I thought I was slower than heck but he said it is too easy to burn out if we didn’t keep a slow steady pace. I think our ego’s had kicked in and we felt we had to run up the dam thing!
I clipped my rope into the anchor, d-ring and relaxed. My god it was beautiful from up there. I don’t have a clue how far we were above the trail but I imagine we were up there about 150ft or more by now. The trail looked mighty small by now. It was still too early for anyone but us nuts to be on the trail though.
We stood there, the three of us, on a ledge big enough for one, watching Fred make his assent. This gave us plenty of time to relax and calm down. You get quite an adrenalin rush at times like that and you have to force yourself to slow down. It was a long way to the top yet, and I was to find the hardest was yet to come!
Fred finally made it to the ledge and we did our back patting and attaboys. Andy unclipped from the anchor and headed up the next pitch. It too was straight up, we were to follow the crack, which was only a couple inches wide, at this point. When the opportunity presented itself we would take advantage of any knob or horizontal crack we could get out hands on. We all leaned back on our ropes, as far as we could and watched Andy’s assent. That boy sure made it look easy. He was lugging a video camera across his back, in a protective tube too! The video he took was sure worth the money! J
When Andy reached the next ledge, Pat headed up. He is a short little sucker but all guts. He is strong and fearless. He has a 2nd degree black belt in one of those jap slappin’ sports and cocky as heck. He is a good climber. I watched him to but it was just about the same as the last pitch. Straight up and grab what you can to advance yourself.
I did notice that the right hand crack seemed to open up toward the top but it was a long way up and I could not tell for sure. This pitch had to be 80 ft or so but I can not remember. Pat was climbing well and fast. Fast for rock climbing that is. Andy kept saying, “Slow down, slow down. You guys are gonna burn yourselves out”
Pat reached the top and again, it was my turn. Off I went, slowly grabbing for anything I could to get a solid anchor. As I came to each temporary anchor, that Andy had set, I had to take my safety rope out. Some times this was a chore because I was holding on with two hands, two feet and my teeth. I was plum out of hands to unclip with but I did manage.
I was getting rather tired. My old arms were sure pumped. This is because I am stupid and not a rock climber. Women are good rock climbers because they don’t have a lot of upper body strength so they climb with their legs. This is as it should be because they are the strongest muscle in your body and have a lot of endurance. My arms and upper body is strong, from years of working out with weights but they don’t have much endurance and pump up fast. This is good when you are on a bench but ain’t worth a dam on the face of a big rock, a couple hundred feet from safety.; Oh well, I had it to do!
The way I had climbed the last pitch was the proper way to do it. Slow and easy, spread out like a spider monkey and inch the way up. I was doing fine until I started getting tired. I found a way to rest and still climb. I had gotten within 20 feet of the ledge and was to a point that I need a rest. The right hand crack was about 8 inches wide at this point and I could jam my whole arm in it. It is funny because when I did it all I could think is, I hope there are no wasps in there!
With my right arm jammed in the crack and my left foot in the left crack I brought my right foot over to join the left. This meant my arms were at the right vertical crack and my feet were pressing against the left. I was halfarsed horizontal! Sorta in a relaxed way but sure out of position. I will never forget Andy saying, in a gentile way, while hanging out looking down at my dumb arse, “What you doing?” In mountain climbing talk that means, “You are a dumbarse” but he was very calm about it.
I looked up and even though I didn’t want to tell him I was dying, I said I was resting a bit. He said ok, “But it is gonna be sorta hard climbing like that” What did he know. Is he 55 years old? Senior 55year old mountain climbers climb like this, I was thinking.
I turned my head to look down at Fred and he didn’t look like he was in any hurry to come up. He was quite a way below me and the ground was a Waaaaay down there. I think I could see some tourists now, on the trail, looking up. Maybe it was my imagination. I looked out over the vista and it was incredible. I could see for miles up there.
I heard Andy finally say, in his gentile way, “What you doing?” Still resting says I and he just said OK. Guess that meant, get a move on dumass.
I started inching myself up. I would have liked to have swung around to the normal position but I was so out of position that I was not sure how without falling. I just inched my back up against the right tube and raised my hand higher in the crack and then crossed my left foot over the right one and gained a couple inches. That is the way it went, inch by inch. Andy said it would be easier if I would switch over to facing the wall but frankly, I could not figure out how to make the maneuver! Without falling that is. I may be in a safety harness but that three hundred feet of nothing but air sure looks like a long way and my ego did not want me to fall.
I don’t remember feeling any fear at the time. I was too focused to be afraid. I was focused on how to make that next couple inches. It was getting tough because the distance was getting further between my hand crack and my feet crack.
Andy kept saying, “You are doing fine. You are still climbing too fast. You are doing ok, take it easy” in his slow calm way. To tell the truth, I wanted help but I would not ask. If he had offered, I just might have excepted and to this day I would have been ashamed. He probably knew this too.
I finally got to within about 5 ft of the ledge and was out of handholds. I was stretched as far as I could and was screwed, I felt. Andy said that my right hand, now an arms length back into the crack, was with inches of a bucket. That is what a good handhold is called, a bucket. From his advantage point he could easily see what I could not. I asked where and he said a couple inches up. I had to go on faith at that point. I was out of holds and options and I sure was not gonna ask for help now!
I jammed my right hand as far into the crack as I could and it was narrow back there. I was sweating from exertion and it was getting hot. I was pissed at myself too. I reached back in there and made a fist, there was nothing to grip onto at that point. I again asked Andy where the bucket was and he said three inches above my hand but I was out of options. I could not reach it!
I jammed my hand in and made a fist. That jammed it tight. I had never done this but had read about it. I jerked on it and it felt secure.
I lay there with my fist jammed far back into the crack; my legs were about to give out because of the silly way I was stretched out horizontal like that. I lay my head against the wall and said to hell with it and dropped my feet loose. I swung like a pendulum against the rock fact and latched on to something ( I don’t remember what) with my left hand. Having never done that before I was afraid I might pull my dang hand off or pull loose but neither happened.
I looked up and Andy was smiling. He said, “Good job. Can you get the bucket now?” I asked where it was and he told me it was a few inches above my fisted hand. I found purchase with my left hand and inched up a bit, using my feet and knees, along with my right fist. I pulled up 6 inches or so but was a bit leery of releasing my right. I finally shoved it forward and opened, grasping upward at the same time. I had it! That bucket felt great. Now I knew I had it made. I had not given thought to the fact that we were probably less than half way up that dam thing.
I hung there for a minute or two, but had to get to the ledge to relax a bit. I only had about 2 ft to go by this time but my heart was a jack hammering and I was a panting and sweating. Pat and Andy were standing there and all Andy said was to take my time.
I pulled up a bit and reached the shelf. I was never so happy as when I finally swung up there. The ledge was just big enough for two of us and the fact that there was now three did not stop the feeling of elation on my part. There was a big boulder in at the side and I leaned on it, gasping for air. Pat took the video camera and told me to smile for the camera. I told him to screw the camera or words to that effect.
As Fred was making his assent I had plenty of time to look things over. I have no idea how many miles we could see from there but it was a long way. I looked down and could see minute ants on the walkway, looking up at the dang fools climbing the Tower. It is amazing because I could understand much of what they were saying from up there. I wish I had a gift for words so I could describe for the reader the vista I was seeing. I could see the rolling hills and looking down I could see hawks, flying far below us.
We waited for Fred to finally make it up. He made it faster than I did but he was a sissy and did it the right way. I thanked Andy for not offering me help and he said that he figured we all did great, He said he had people climb the thing that he had to almost pull the whole way. One thing I forgot to mention is the fact that as we are climbing, Andy was belaying us. He watches us like a hawk and if we were to start to fall, he would lock the safety rope and keep us from falling all the way to the ground, far below, by this time.
When Fred got to the ledge it was pretty tight so Andy checked to make sure we were secure and started off on the next pitch. This was a far easier one than the last two. It was much like the rubble pile at the base, only the rocks were much smaller, the largest the size of a bathtub. We had to be very careful and were still linked by rope but it was more of a scramble than a climb, at this point.
I came around a big boulder and there was Andy and Pat, waiting for us. He told us to rest a bit as we were panting again. It was no easy climb but much easier than the last pitch.
This next part was quite a bit different. A guy was killed negotiating this next spot earlier. He was stupid and had too much confidence, it seems.
What we had here was a place we had to go horizontally, over a gap in the rock face, with a drop of 250 ft and a bounce of couple hundred feet after that. Oh goody L I looked down and would not have been surprised to see a 747 fly past, below us. I really had no fear of the height though, which is odd because I normally don’t like them. I think it is the fact that we are so focused that it is not an issue at the time.
We had to get across the gap, which was about 10 or 12 ft to the other side. Andy went first and strung the safety line, as usual. I was next this time for some reason that escapes me now.
The way you had to negotiate this gap is sorta interesting. There was a horizontal ledge running all the way across, about chest high. The problem is, this ledge is about 3/8th of an inch wide, at most. There was another about the same at foot level. I had to work myself along this pissant little thing until I could leap to the other side. It was not far but felt like a dang mile. It would have been much easier if the upper handhold had been higher but that is the way it was.
I was hot and sweaty but the top was not within reach, so I was eager to go for it. In mountain climbers lingo, that means I was a dam fool. J Anyway, Andy was on the other side watching closely as I started across. It was not an easy thing to do, I am here to tell you but I latched onto that top little ledge and stepped onto the bottom with the side of my right foot. They were too close together to make easy negotiating but I had to get across. Andy was watching with the belay very closely. I got to the other side and Andy was there to grab my hand and haul me to the level ground. Aaaah I made it. Andy said the rest was a piece of cake and I was taking him at his word.
Next came Pat. Being so short, the ledges were perfect for him and then Fred followed. Andy said common and we followed.
We scrambled horizontally for about 60 ft, maybe more and then turned up again. No more rope and the climbing was pretty easy. I finally could see the rise to the top and Andy told us to wait until he was on top and ready because he wanted to take a picture of each of us topping out.
I heard him yell and was on my way up the last 50 yards or so. The top looked beautiful and the view was breathtaking. The top is gently domed with a pile of rocks in the middle. In this pile of rocks is a 5-inch pipe with a pipe cap on each end. Inside is a book where we wrote our names and when we reached the top.
Andy said that on the day OJ made his famous slow motion getaway, someone signed the book---OJ Simpson, they will never find me up here!
We spent a half hour up there, relaxing and enjoying the scenery and taking pictures. We could see 4 states from up there. There were some small mountains we could see, called the three sisters. It was a ball but eventually we had to go back down. This was gonna be a ball.
We saw Andy rigging the rappelling lines. He tossed them off, each of us had a separate line, and told us he would go down first. That way he could belay us from the bottom. Sounded good to me!
I tried to look down but it was straight down for 8oo feet! Well maybe not that far straight but 4 or 5 hundred feet vertical and then you would bounce for a couple hundred but it was a long way.
It was not to be one rappel but a series of them, each at least 70 ft or so. Andy got ready and stepped off and was out of sight in a flash. In a couple minutes I heard him yell, “Royal! It is your turn”, I was rigged up and stepped backwards off the top. My parts were in full pucker at that time but so was my macho so out and down I started.
That is a ball! The first drop was vertical. It was a thrill to be setting out there, in some places 15 ft from the face because of the over hang and just relaxed as you went down the wall. I got to Andy and unhooked and hooked onto the anchor for the next drop.
That is the way it was all the way down and one of the best parts of the day for me. So relaxing and just fun.
When we got to the bottom it was rather anti-climatic for me. We did it but it felt surreal to me.
Later in the day, Pat and I were in the swimming pool at the campground and were looking up at the Tower. I told Pat that it didn’t seem possible that a few hours earlier, we were at the top of that thing. He agreed.
This is something that anyone could do if they were in good condition and were smart enough to get some training.
Andy got back to his office and there was another young guy that wanted to climb it that day. Andy said sure and took him up. We saw him later and he laughed. He said the kid did good but was so nervous he pooped all over himself when he got to the top. He said the kid crapped all over his mountain,
Andy Petefish is a great climber. Do a google search on his name and you might find out a bit about him. He said he has climbed it hundreds of times, more than anyone else ever has. He once, during a busy time, climbed it 4 times in one day. He said it liked to have wore him our on that day.
He has an office at the campground and when we were there, lived in a motor home at the campground.
I hope you all have enjoyed my efforts as much as it has pleased me to relive it.

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