August found Oliver Deshler and I once again back in the Winds with dreams much bigger than our abilities. Hiking beneath lumpen packs, we came in from the north, forded the Green River twice, and then bashed our way through steep, trailless deadfall into the Marten Lake drainage. We established camp three-quarters of a mile northwest of Marten Lake, squeezed between the west face of Squaretop and a looming, unnamed rock tower due west.

The next morning, despite trepidation, we managed a new nine-pitch 5.9 up the prow of the unnamed tower. The rock was dubious and a second ascent unwarranted. We named the tower and the route Trepidation. The following day we put up a new eight-pitch 5.9 on the north face of the Bottle, following a clean cleavage directly up the left side of the wall. Early afternoon lightning storms almost blew us off the mountain. On the morning of our fourth day, we ascended a 10-pitch 5.10+ crack line up a prominent left-facing corner system on the northwest face of Squaretop. The hardest climbing consisted of several pitches of perfect eight-inch offwidth, inside of which we discovered a single ancient carabiner, proving once again Joe Kelsey’s wry dictum that, “In the Winds it’s common for climbers to find evidence of previous ascents on the first ascent.”

Out of food, our stove broken, but our spirits soaring, we hiked out the next day.