Is life a cozy nestor is life full of daggers?That is a question I have been asking myself lately as I have had some time off over the holidays and have been making plans to do some things with my son. I had gotten him a new pair of ice boots for Christmas and after traveling to my parents house for Christmas my kids stayed a couple extra days. They were to be brought back by my dad later in the week. Me being slightly ADHD went out climbing several times but thinking what we could do when he gets back.

Jack, my son, has done Bridalveil Falls several times this year. It is a really nice local flow that is ten minutes from town and only a 2 miniute hike across the creek. He has also been on 11th Hour another flow twenty minutes up the canyon with another short approach but the top is not in and what is in is very in your face and he did not get far it. He has pretty much been restricted to these climbs and a couple others in the years he has been ice climbing. This is because he has been using his ski boots and they are pretty much impossible to walk in.

So I am watching the weather and have five days off. I can take three to travel if I want to, as we have some family obligations over the New Years Day weekend. As it turns out it is supposed to be in the upper 50's on the days I have off. So I am thinking ice climbing in Cody and camping in the campground there or heading to Devils Tower. Both had their appeals, but both also had issues that make me think it would be tough to pull either off with style and safety. We decide to bag Cody because after driving across the whole state with his grandfather Jack is not too excited to drive another 6 hours to Cody. We had been working on climbing the tower this fall but due to the short days that would be iffy as well. We then talk about heading to the southern hills to try to climb the Harney Flow. I am unsure if that is the correct name but that is what we have called it over the years. It is a 120 foot WI3 that is the longest piece of verticle ice that regularly forms in the Black Hills. With the plan that we take all of the trad gear and can climb in the needles if it is not in or things go bad. I still have hopes of getting to the tower but do not say much and intend to check the weather in the morning. We will do what seems best when we get up.

In the morning the weather is warm already in the mid forties, but it is cloudy and quite windy. That seals it and we are off to the Harney Flow. For financial and other reasons I had climbed in the southern hills only once or twice this year. It is only about 70 or 80 miles away but due to car issues, the price of gas, the time it takes to get there, and having to buy an ever more expensive Custer State Park pass this year I decided to forgoe the whole area and climb at Nemo and Devil's Tower more this year. So in order to save some money and not drive two cars we jump in the car with my wife and daughter in the morning. My wifte works in Deadwood and it is on the way to the Needles so we will drop her off at work on the way. We drop Ruby off at daycare and drive with my wife to her work. We then drive to Hill City and the Palmer Creek cut off road where the trailhead is located. If you drive past the trail head just a little you can see the majority of the flow, but the problem is you can't see the bottom. The other problem is that the bottom is by far the steepest part and is prone to falling off all together just leaving a blank needles slab with no pro for 30 feet. This is something I am not willing to climb with my son two miles back into the wilderness. Oh yeah, did I mention that the other problem is that many times the bottom is also so thin when it is "in" that it leads to no pro. Now this is usually easier than blank rock I am still unwilling to lead this with him as well. The point is you can not see the bottom until you get to the base after a two mile uphill hike. I had tried to hit up my friends for beta, but apperently no one I knew had actually been to the base this year.

Well putting all of the bad thoughts out of mind we head out. I loaded Jack a small pack knowing we have a long hike. Because the climb is 40ish meters you have to take two ropes and I take extra screws hoping to find it in fat conditions. I have only found it fat a couple of times, but have sketched my way through the climb many times over the years. It is very cold as the climb is at the base of many hundreds of feet of granite domes which are in turn at the base of the north face of the Black Hills highest mountain Harney Peak. It is still a fairly grueling hike steeply uphill for the last two-thirds of the approach. Well we start walking and I notice Jack is dragging back more and more all of the time. We start talking and telling funny stories to keep him motivated, but before too long he is starting to be bothered by his new boots. We are only about 1/3 of the way there and it is obvious that he is not going to make it with out doing damage to his feet and having a very unhappy experience in his new boots. I take all of the weight out of his pack but that is not enough either so we turn around and head back to the car planning to rock climb at Mount Rushmore. Rushmore is just a few miles down the road.
As we are walking back it starts to rain. The clouds had been building but since we were going to go ice climbing I really did not care. As we keep walking it starts to rain harder. Before too long it is pooring. My hopes of rock climbing start to seem hopeless. We grab the food and jump in the car. We are unsure what to do so we head back north and stop at the shop in Hill City and I get a great deal on a mini-traxion something I had been looking to get over the last several weeks. Things might be looking up. We head farther north and it is still pooring. Before long it is snowing and snowing hard. Rock climbing in Nemo is now no longer and option. I am starting to curse the weatherman as they had been predicting mid to upper 50's all week. We keep driving but it is getting treterous with about 2-3 inches of slush on the road.

We have one last option. It is to go to Bridalveil Falls and climb that. Like I mentioned earleir Bridalveil is only ten minutes from my house but we will have spent half of a tank of gas and the better part of a day getting there. We will then still have to drive 40 minutes back up to Deadwood to pick up my wife by 4:30 afer she is done from work. On top of that we then have drive a half hour back to Spearfish to pick up my daughter. We will be pressed for time.

Anyway, we finally get to the flow, get suited up, and start climbing. In the mean time the clouds have blown away, the sun is out, and the temperature is heating up. Through all of the rain and snow the ice has turned perfectly plastic. I cruise the pitch, putting one screw before the crux and one screw right after. I throw in one extra screw just because the ice is so good and my 85 pound son is belaying me. He has never cleaned an ice route before so I feel this is a good opprotunity. He does it in great style. We still have time for me to do a lap with my new toy and him to get a TR lap on a steeper bit. We head out of the parking lot at 4pm and we are only 10 minutes late to pick up my wife. We order a pizza and wings on the way home pick up the food and my daughter and head for home.

It was quite a day! After having having lofty ambitions, maybe hanging daggers will have to wait for a while. But through skicking with it, being flexible, and making a few compromises we proved we weren't just ready for the cozy nest either.