Bridal Veil Falls

Christmas in Spearfish (Part 5)

I am finally nearing the end of these Christmas posts! Only one more after this, and then I will have to find something else to entertain you all with. 

Due to the forecasted bitter cold, we decided that Sunday would be our last chance to climb. After Sunday the temperature was supposed to (and did) drop significantly, with highs in the single digits; not exactly pleasant climbing conditions in my opinion.

Since it had been a bit colder than the previous days we decided to head back to Bridal Veil Falls, hoping that the ice conditions had improved. We were not let down either. There were certain sections that still had the brittle, crusted over ice, but most of it was perfectly sticky and a blast to climb. At one point all three of us climbed to the top of the waterfall and walked down the creek that feeds it for a short ways. We once again had near perfect weather, with snow slowly falling the entire time we were climbing. I was giddy hiking around with my camera in snow that at times was up to my waist. It was a great last day of climbing, needless to say.

As mentioned earlier, I only have one post to go from this trip. I've been trying to stick to one post a week, but with my thesis show and defense rapidly approaching (I install my show one week from today, *gulp*) those photographs, which focus on my precious nephews, may have to stay hidden on my computer for a little longer. So, if I go quiet for a few weeks, just know that big things are happening and will be shared here once it is all over. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and happy Monday!

Christmas in Spearfish (Part 4)

The day after Christmas was another day spent climbing. We tried a different area first (Bridal Veil Falls), but the ice was rather terrible, which made for not very enjoyable climbing, and not the safest of conditions either. After Kyle attempted it, we decided to head back to where we went the first day since we knew the ice was decent there. However, instead of climbing a bunch with the guys, this time around I hiked up the canyon to get on top of the ridge. I walked around photographing the canyon and forest for some time, including some shots of Scott and Kyle climbing below me.

It was slowly snowing while I was up there, and I watched some low clouds roll over the hills in front of me. At one point I just sat in the snow with my camera on my lap and took it all in with a big grin on my face. There isn't much that makes me as happy as a snowy forest. The incredible quiet and simple beauty never fails to leave me in awe, no matter how often I experience it.