The Upper Blair area of Vedauwoo offers many nice lines on a small band of tightly knit rock formations. A lot of the routes here face north, offering shade all, or part of the day. The lines are easy to find, and most are quite descript. The area is easy to navigate thanks to excellent topos, pictures, and descriptions in the "Heel and Toe: The Climbs of Greater Vedauwoo" guide. Another nice quality of this area is the lack of boulder fields at the base of the rocks, making canine access a breeze. Don't forget to check out Spectreman, the area classic.
Getting There
From the I-80 exit drive west on the FR 705. This dirt road parallels the big skid on it's south side for 1.5 miles eventually going north underneath. Follow this road into the national forest and past the Lower Blair parking. The road curves and rises. Turn right onto FR 705A, and again onto FR705AF. Note the 8ball as you approach. Park at the end. Alternatively one can approach from the Lower Blair parking, or at a cattleguard uphill from Lower Blair with a trail on the south side of the barbed wire fence.
Unusual route for Vedauwoo. Very thin liebacking with smears for the feet. Very insecure! The gear is adequete but the route is a little spicy....[more]
A note on your personal safety. Last time I was in the Blair area and pulled into the Upper parking are on FR 705AF I was welcomed by a small band of confederate army supporters. Luckly they were still passed out, but they made their presence noticable by the collection of empty bottles creativly placed everywhere, a wide selection of shotgun shells decorating the parking lot, and a conspicuous confederate flag hung between trees. We decided to park somewhere else and avoid and accidental shooting, travel at your own risk.
On hot days dogs seem to like the hang at the base of Spectreman, so if you are a climber that brings dogs to the crags, please be considerate and keep your dog away from there if climbers are attempting this route. Thanks.
After about a half an hour of driving around aimlessly this weekend, I thought I'd submit "alternate" directions.
From the Vedauwoo road exit, turn left and you will come to a paved frontage road. Turn right, drive for about two miles and turn right on blair road. This is 705. Continue for several miles. You will see a sign saying that you are entering Medicine Bow. You are looking for the 707 right turn off. There is a patch of grass and trees in the middle of the intersection. The signs are set back from the road, so keep your eyes open. You will soon take another right on 707AF.
This road dead ends in a wooded camping area. There is another parking area about fifty yards before this one, but it tends to have a lot more traffic.
There is a trail that continues in roughly the same direction as the road after it ends, rather than going uphill immediately. Follow this trail until you see a barbed wire fence uphill to your right and a large, low angle slab. Crossing the fence and heading up the slab will lead you to the base of Spectraman.
If you instead, want to get to the area around Big House crack (the obvious splitter on the large formation), take the faint trail leading uphill from the campground. You should end up on top of a hill, with the eight ball rock on your right. Hiking down from here will take you to a more distinct path leading along the base of the cliff. Turn left and look for an easy scramble to get to the base of the routes.
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