Shell and Ten Sleep Creeks

Its that time of year, I begin my treks across the big horn basin to visit the wealth of whitewater in Big Horn Mountains. This time we were joined by some paddlers on the other side of the mountain Eric Seymour, Brenden Cronin, Chris Johnson and John Whiedie. These guys along with the usual suspect Tom Sunderland and we were missing Randy and Nathan because they got their man cards revoked.

 Shell Falls will have to wait to be run by a different human being

Levels were on the way down as cooler weather was sweeping across the state so we were able to grab Shell Creek at about 600cfs (7inches on bridge gauge) and Ten Sleep over two feet.  

 This is such a great road side rapid that perhaps someone will fire up someday but the last 25 footer is gonna be the crux. 25 feet into a pile of rocks that looked to have been placed in the falls during road construction.

The Fine Dining establishment of the Ten Sleep Saloon. If your going through Ten Sleep its a must stop for a bite to eat or a drink. 

Kayak trash has arrived in Ten Sleep Wyoming!

Chris Johnson gettin his game on in the entrance rapid to the first gorge of Shell Creek

Eric Seymour tickin off one of the unrun rapids in the LTP section of Shell Creek. 

Shell canyon is a pretty rad place

After some rest and prayers for Ten Sleep to lower its water level we heading back up the mountain to check levels. Ten Sleep dropped a little bit but not much. This 300+ft per mile run is unlike any other run I have heard of or paddled. The gauge was a little over two feet and it was sorta like navigating a mine field, one wrong stroke and things are gonna blow up.

Aaron Mulkey looking for the next eddy to catch a breath. 

Eric Seymour wondering where the OFF switch is.

As Eric pulled into an eddy we were both trying to catch our breath and he looked at me and said
 "This is really fun but on the edge of disaster"
Here is Eric Gopro footage-


Thanks to John Whiedie for Ten Sleep photos!

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Snapshots Of Norway Ice Climbing

Here are few shots from the Rab Norway Shoot.  I climbed a couple of the local routes and our new line we did which you can read about here. Thanks a bunch to Ben Winston for the shots!

There is also a video Ben made that you can view here







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The Dutch Rudder

The Dutch Rudder was a First Ascent from last year that was one of my favorites. I had been climbing in the Schoolhouse drainage a month prior with Kevin Craig trying to get to the base of this monster and we were turned around by avy conditions just a few 100 yards short of the first pitch. We ended up climbing Dunces Corner which was in "SPICY" conditions.

Aaron Mulkey On Dunces Corner Photo:Kevin Craig

I had spotted the drip the week prior while hunting for some high hanging fruit in the valley and couldnt stop thinking about it. After Kevin and I were shut down I waited about two weeks for the warmer temperatures to settle conditions and melt snow.

The elusive "last climb before the war" was trying to come in

Tanner Callender coming up the first pitch of Dutch Rudder Tanner and I returned to find great conditions and the ice was surprisingly good despite the way it looked.

Mulkey gettin in the business with "The Dutch Rudder" Photo by:Tanner Callender

The climbing was engaging and fun. The gear wasnt the best but careful balance and stemming provided some amazingly good climbing. I would highly recommend this route.

Tanner and I psyched on the First Ascent of the "The Dutch Rudder" and another great day in the South Fork valley.