The central, money section of the Cowboy Poetry cl...
Description
One of the best sections of climbing at Wild Iris.
This crag is taller than many of the Wild Iris walls, and generally splits into two tiers. The lower tier is vertical to slightly overhanging, and is roughly 60 to 70 feet tall. Then the second tier is a big steep bulge that extends another 20 feet or so above.
Routes have been put in here in a generally smart way, with anchors at the top of the first tier, and then route extensions to the top of the second tier. So there are plenty of easier options that go 5.10 or 5.11 up to the first anchors and then offer 5.12 and 5.13 extensions to the top.
A few classics include Cowboy Poetry (11b to the first anchor or 12b to the second), Take your Hat Off (10b), and its hard extension Boy (13a).
Gets lots and lots of sun, pretty much all day.
Getting There
From the parking lot, take the first rightward trending trail down the hill (well marked with a sign). Total walk is about a half mile. This trail deposits you at the base of Cowboy Poetry.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Cowboy Poetry:
Super fun with huge juggy pockets on vertical to slightly overhanging stone. The stone is completely bulletproof white limestone, and the setting is as pretty as you could hope for. Lots of Sun! Bring the sunscreen.Pretty easy for the grade. There is some trickiness down near the bottom but after that it is one jug after the other. A genuinely classic 10- sport outing. ...[more]Browse More Classics in WY
By Monomaniac Administrator From: Morrison, CO Sep 12, 2009
Unfortunately some coward chopped "Cowboys Don't Shoot Straight", which used to be the 2nd route right of "Take Your Hat Off". It can still be TR'd. See route description for details.
Does anyone know what happened with the chopping? This is an OLD route, early 90's, by an original developer for the area, thus it is hard to imagine a justification for this.
I know a guy who is doing some retro-bolt work at the Iris, but he is a long time local with generous consensus amongst the community. I guess it might be possible that this was a retrobolted route that someone else took issue with and then chopped.
Cowardly indeed.
By Monomaniac Administrator From: Morrison, CO Oct 25, 2009
I was told by a prominent local friend of mine that the infamous Alf has been known to chop routes at the Iris. My source didn't know if Alf did the job on this route specifically. I think the community would support replacing the bolts, but its not a high priority for locals.
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