It's finally summer here in Utah. Temps in the high 80's to low 90's and not a cloud in the sky. We've been doing a lot of climbing outside lately and haven't been in the gym in probably about a month. Two weekends ago we went to Maple canyon for the second time this year. It was a super cold day and we both froze for the first climb. Luckily it warmed up a bit and was just cool enough to be perfect sending weather. I'm feeling a bit more confident leading and was able to redpoint two routes that I struggled on last year.
One was a tricky 10c that just needed some style to get through a techy and pumpy section, the other was my first 11 and was an 11b. I was really excited about it as you can see.
Last Saturday night we went for a hike to the falls behind the cabin. It was beautiful
weather that evening and a raging waterfall greeted us. It's a perfect hike to take when you're out of time to drive somewhere and it's great that it's within walking distance of the cabin. Mojo enjoys drinking and laying down in the ice cold water and generally running amuck.
On Sunday we woke up as early as we could for a Sunday (about 8am) and headed to American Fork. It's getting hot enough that we either need to climb at elevation, in the shade, wake up early or some combination of those options because otherwise it's just miserable getting baked by the sun. We went to a wall in the shade called Hard Rock that we had climbed a route on last year. There are three routes on the face we climbed, a 10b,9,8. We climbed "Treehugger" a 10b (thinking it was the 9) to warm up and found it to be quite tricky at the crux. It's weird going from one climbing area to another. We get used to the particular style needed on one type of rock and then have to adjust to something else. For example, Maple is cobblestone jugs, slopers and big feet. American Fork is limestone with pockets and polished edges. It feels completely different to climb on and takes a bit to get used to (not to mention the bolting in AF is more old school 80s style so the spaces between the bolts are always a bit farther than you would like) The 5.9 that I climbed was super jug pockets, was steep for the beginning, and also had a mini-roof on it. Really fun route and one I recommend trying if you're in the area. My first try I got pumped going over the roof. Second try it was pretty easy. Here's a pic from the top. Yeah, it's pretty runout on 5.5 terrain to the anchors. You probably wouldn't deck but you would take one wild whipper. It's the kind of climb where you keep repeating the "don't fall here" mantra as you head to the anchors.
After climbing in AF we got in the car and drove to the Uintas with our cross-country skis hoping to find some snow. The Uintas are the highest mountain range in Utah and one of the few in the US (maybe the only) that run E-W instead of N-S. They are a great place to go when it's hot in the valley (which it was this weekend). Sorry, no pics because I forgot the camera on my climbing harness. It was a beautiful hike though. We stopped at a ridge and hiked down to a mountain lake that was being fed by snowmelt. There was snow all around, but not enough to ski on. We hiked, watched mojo swim, and then I decided to take a dip in the water. It was freakin cold, but not as cold as you would expect from a lake being fed by snowmelt. I suspect the shallowness of it allows it to warm more quickly. Kinda strange to be swimming in a lake surrounded by snow. Speaking of the Uintas; this September Cassie's parents and I are planning on doing a backpack in the Uintas. It'll be super sweet since the hiking will be nice and cool, and by then the bugs should be gone. It's high enough (above 10,000ft) that you get an alpine feel and it really reminds me of Alaska which we both miss a lot. Hope all of you northerners are getting your Copper River reds!
This weekend we head to Ferguson canyon to climb with the club. Sounds like there's trad, sport, and shade so it should be a lot fun.
forgotten canyon, but its shady walls and cool creek make it a great way to escape the hot weather on a summer day. We found the granite climbing there to be lots of fun, but rather uncondusive to leading as the area we were at was very very stout for the grades and protection was few and far between (i think i understand where that saying came from now). It had some super fun routes on the granite with a great climb called Extreme Unction and a fun5.7 called Inner Light which contained two variations but was unfortunately devoid of gear for the first bit (unless you trust extremely shallow C4s). So, we did a bunch of topropes, got some good burns on a 10d that was tough, and a 10c that was the hardest 10c I think I've ever attempted. It felt to me like a desperately crimpy 11d. Granite is tons of fun and a style of climbing that we aren't all that used to yet.
Sunday we decided to go hike the Timpooneke Trail toward the summit of Timpanogos. We found out that there was snow only 3miles up the trail, but that was kinda like icing on the cake since it was pretty hot out. The hike was a lot of fun, but I'd rather let the pictures do the talking on this one. Click on any of the pictures to see more pics from the hike.
