Lander, Wyomin'

Ok, so I suck at updating this. It can only get better, I think. Of course, there's always the prospect of complete abandonment, which is never out of the question... but lets hope for otherwise.

The last few weeks I've been riding a whirlwind, which dumped me off at the airport in Salt Lake City. There, I met up with good friend and wonder woman Devaki Murch, who whisked me away to lunch and to meet with my ride to Wyoming. Muchas gracias Devaki... you seem to always save the day in your invisible jet! Misty hooked me up with the ride (thanks Misty!) with her friend Damien, a cool Argentinian who brought along his girl and their bouncy little dog. Even though the car was packed... the drive was fast and fun.

Destination: Lander, Wyoming.

Morning 1 in Lander I hooked up with Chris Lindner and crew to do some climbing at Wild Iris. The rock there is the polar opposite of the Red... short, bouldery, and slippery. I loved it. Got in a couple really good mid-12's and tried a 13a.


Two Kinds Of Justice 12b/c... Spencer belaying.

After belaying Chris on the famous "Throwin The Houlihan" 14a, which looks impossible, and takin some big falls off of "When I Was A Young Girl, I Had Me A Cowboy", 13a, we headed back to to the hotel for some Mexican cookin.

Now... Chris is sponsored by Camp Chef, so he brings these huge incredible camp grills and cookware with him, and makes these elaborate dinner (always in a tortilla) every night. I'm a Chef Boyardee kinda guy, so it was fun to witness all this. While Carlos was videotaping the Chris Lindner Cookery show, the hotel management showed up at the door.... told us we couldn't cook there!! However, the show must go on. We set up the grill in the middle of the alley in back of the hotel. Haha. It was comical to say the least!





Chris finding the spatula he'd just sent Scotty to find... for the 2nd time.



Chillin in the alley with Chris.


After the tortilla fest, we headed to the bar so I could emcee the raffles and introduce Chris to the Lander crowd, where he would be showing his movie "Spray".

Its amazing how the climbers and cowboys coexist there. No tension at all... just beer and laughs.

Next day I headed to Wild Iris with Misty Murphy and her hubby Bill. Misty and I had just met, despite doing several songs together, and I think we were both nervous about how we'd get along. It didn't take much time to realize that we were both a little off our rockers and we all had a great time. Bill is one of those silent strong men who has developed as many sport routes as most people ever climb. Those kinds of guys deserve way more credit than they get...

I tried "When I Was A Young Girl..." several more times... falling off the final move twice. I was pretty psyched to be close to a 13a in an area other than the Southeast, that didn't fit my style, and on completely foreign rock. I didn't even intend to try anything hard... but after my first go, I thought I might have a chance. Only one day left though...


The "Rose Move" on "When I Was A Young Girl I Had Me A Cowboy", 13a



That night, I had to perform at the festival, and Misty and I were going to do our song "Float", a tribute to Todd Skinner... who's family were going to be present. NERVES!!! We were both pretty nervous, but we got the sound system set up (finally), and ran through the song once... our first time doing it together. It went great. Now for the real thing....

Once the crowd thickened, and the dyno comp was finished, I took the front and center position. Of course, its not hard to get climbers to listen when you talk about climbing... so I had their attention from the get go.

A few songs in, I brought Misty up to perform "Float". All these people staring at us were friends and family of Todd... including his wife and children. Scary. We pulled it out... and the crowd loved it! Amy Skinner, Todds wife, came up and gave us hugs afterward. Phew!! Emotional...


Misty Murphy and Odub... Live in Lander



I finished out the show with a couple of big songs, and then to shouts of "Encore!", I did an acapella version of a "name dropping" song that Misty and I are working on. They were lovin it!

Misty and I hung out, sold CD's, talked to lots of drunk people.... and got our drink on as well.

It couldn't have gone better.

Next day I went climbing with the crew Misty had been camping with. Lots of laughs! Did a cool, slippery 12a called "Saddle Tramp"




Saddle Tramp 12a


Late in the day, Bill volunteered to hike WAY out to the Erratic to belay me on my last goes at "When I Was A Young Girl...". We arrived... and NO DRAWS. I had brought just enough to do it... and nearly sent it hangin the draws. Rested 20 minutes... and crushed it. Psyched! The coolest part... its an Amy Skinner FA.

So, Lander was amazing. The climbing was extra cool, the people were even cooler. I can't wait to make it back...

Big gigantic thanks to Misty and Bill (and Joe and Lily) for getting me back to the airport just in time!!