SInks Canyon & Wild Iris CLIMBING
Dates: November 2022(x2 days)Partner: Nate Arganbright
List of Climbs I've Done and 1 Trip Report
Photo Trip Report for
1st trip to Sinks Canyon and Wild Iris: Thanksgiving 2022: 2 days of climbing, 20 pitches
Sinks Canyon is a premier climbing destination near Lander, Wyoming. Within a few miles, the rock changes from sandstone to limestone, and then to granite as you get closer to The Wind River Range. There are fantastic trad climbs on the sandstone and granite and superb sport climbing on the limestone. The rock quality is generally excellent, and the climbing ranges from 5.6-5.14. You can climb at Sinks year-round, seeking shade in the summer and south-facing walls in the winter.
The nearby Wild Iris is one of the most sublime sport climbing areas in the United States. It is a couple of thousand feet higher elevation than Sinks Canyon, so less of a winter climbing spot (but still can be quite warm on a cold sunny day). The rock here is limestone. The climbs are mostly short and steep, occasionally sharp, and with great movement. There are plenty of routes from 5.9 on up to 5.14.
The first time I climbed at both Sinks Canyon and Wild Iris was over Thanksgiving Weekend 2022. I had never been there before (Nate had climbed at Wild Iris only one day about 16 years previous, and never at Sinks) and it sounded like a great place to climb in the sun on superb rock and avoid the Thanksgiving crowds elsewhere. We stayed at a cozy airbnb near Lander. Unfortunately chilly temperatures and lack of sun caused us to shorten our trip by a day but it was still a great trip. We will be back!
On this page, I keep a list of the climbs I've done at both Sinks Canyon and Wild Iris. Below the list, I've included a trip report for my one (so far!) trip to the area.
Table of Contents for this page
List of Climbs I've Done at Sinks Canyon
List of Climbs I've Done at Wild iris
One trip report
Trip report for 1st visit to Sinks Canyon and Wild Iris Canyon.
Sinks Canyon: Main Wall Sandstone ButtressWild Iris: Main Wall
Trip Report #1 for Sinks Canyon and Wild Iris: 1st trip to Sinks Canyon and Wild Iris: Thanksgiving 2022: 2 days of climbing, 20 pitches
Dates: November 24&25, 2022 (Thu&Fri) Partner: Nate Arganbright Climbed at: Sinks Canyon: Sandstone Buttress, Main Wall; Wild Iris: Main WallIntro
For Thanksgiving 2022 weekend, it can be a challenge to find a climbing area that is comfortable, has great climbing, and is not crowded. Nate and I pondered our options and decided that Sinks Canyon near Lander, Wyoming sounded like a good plan. Neither one of us had been there, so we were excited to check it out. When Nate found an affordable airbnb located just a couple of miles outside of Lander and about 7 minutes from Sinks Canyon State Park, it sealed the deal.
We left Boulder/Estes Park on Wednesday after work to drive to Lander (5.5 hours from Boulder). We had booked the airbnb for four nights (Wed-Thu-Fri-Sat) and planned to climb for three days (Thu-Fri-Sat) before driving home on Sunday. The weather looked great for the first two days of our trip but looked pretty darn cold and cloudy for the weekend. So we decided the best plan was to get in as many pitches as we could on Thursday and Friday, and hope for the best for Saturday.
On Thanksgiving Day, we climbed 12 pitches in Sinks Canyon, climbing both on sandstone (at Sandstone Buttress) and limestone (at Main Wall). The high was in the low 40's but we were comfortable in t-shirts. We quite enjoyed the climbing and ambiance. On Friday we checked out Wild Iris, where we climbed 8 pitches of excellent limestone at the Main Wall. Again, thought that the climbing and ambiance was superb, and we relished having the place to ourselves on a perfect t-shirt day. On Saturday, we woke up to forecasted cold and cloudy skies (28°F, 74% humidity, cloudy, and a tad breezy...brr...) with a threat of snow in the air. Upon checking the forecast and seeing it would be sunny on Sunday in Estes Park, we decided to drive back home and get in a day of climbing locally. It was disappointing to cut our trip to Sinks/Wild Iris short, but it was still a great couple of days of climbing and hanging out at the cozy airbnb.
Below are some photos from our Thanksgiving 2022 climbing trip to Sinks Canyon and Wild Iris. Enjoy!
Climbs / Photos
Day 0: Drive from Estes Park / Boulder to Airbnb just outside Lander (5.5 hours)
Date: November 23, 2022 (Wed)
Day 1: Two different rock types at Sinks Canyon (5.8-5.12a, 12 pitches)
Date: November 24, 2022 (Thu) Climbed at: Sinks Canyon: Sandstone Buttress, Main Wall Rock Type: Sandstone, Limestone
A great day of climbing in the sun. After 12 challenging pitches (11 of the led by Nate-the-climbing-machine), we felt we earned our Thanksgiving dinner!
Day 2: Climbing at Wild Iris and having the whole place to ourselves on a perfect wintery day (5.10b-5.11b, 8 pitches)
Date: November 25, 2022 (Fri) Climbed at: Wild Iris: Main Wall Rock Type: Limestone
Another great day of climbing in the sun. The temperatures were a tad bit warmer so we snatched the opportunity to check out Wild Iris. Despite the perfect t-shirt conditions, we had the entire place to ourselves. Eight pitches of excellent limestone cragging, all led by Nate-the-climbing-machine. We found the rock a bit sharper here than at Sinks, so our fingertips were feeling a bit raw by the end of the day.
Day 3: Drive from Airbnb just outside Lander to Boulder / Estes Park (5.5 hours)
Date: November 26, 2022 (Sat)