Granite Creek Towers  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Page Views:  1,302. Good page?    Administrators:  Mike Snyder, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Trevor Bowman on Jun 23, 2008 Make this area a Favorite What's New  Printer View Add Area  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event

The Whistlepig is the obvious triangular tower on ...

Description 

A compact cluster of dolomite towers above Granite Creek in the uppermost reaches of Shell Canyon. They lie a good ways above highway 14, but can be seen from the road. There are four towers in the group, although two are pretty short and remain unclimbed. The centerpiece tower, the Whistlepig, is readily visible from the highway on the sharp curve above the turnoff for Ranger Creek. These towers will probably only be attractive to desert tower fiends and the like, as their most redeeming qualities are aesthetic profiles and the scenic setting; the quality of the climbing and rock isn't the greatest.

Getting There 

If you're coming downhill from the top of Granite Pass, continue a few miles past Antelope Butte ski area and turn right on FS road 252, a dirt two-track that drops down into the small gorge of Granite Creek. Continue down this road for a short distance until it ends at some corrals and cabins; park off of the road entirely. It may be best to continue down Highway 14 a mile or so past FS 252, to the curve from which the towers are visible on the ridge line above. Refer to the overview photo.
From where you parked, drop down and bushwhack to the creek and locate a solid log-jam to cross, or wade late in the season. Scramble up the short steep hill and across some granite slabs into the expansive open sage and grass hillside above. Contour uphill, continually working toward the towers (which can't be seen on most of the hike). This will all be pretty obvious if you get your bearings from the highway prior to starting the hike. It's pretty much all gradual uphill, with minimal bushwhacking, and pleasantly scenic. The hike takes about an hour.

The Classics

Featured Route For Granite Creek Towers

Yellow Belly 5.9+ PG13  WY : Shell Canyon : ... : The Whistlepig

The climbing on this route isn't very appealing, but it sure is one hell of a tower! This route is the only one on the tower currently, and is the only really viable weakness offering a free line. It surmounts the steep downhill face via a stair-step flake/crack. The flake starts trending left, then it diagonals back right up to a large ledge about 12' below the summit and up a final crack groove. Much of the climbing involves hand and finger cracks, some of which are quite sharp (tape recommend...[more]   Browse More Classics in WY