Independence Day Weekend

Well we're almost at the end of our three day weekend. We made the most of it and got out quite a bit, but I've almost forgotten to catch everyone up on our previous weekends excursion as well.

Last weekend we headed out to Strawberry Reservoir (saw no strawberries) to a Division of Wildlife cabin (read House). A cabin doesn't have 3 bedrooms, a living room, and a full kitchen. Strawberry is a reservoir about 30 minutes east of Heber City and is at about 7-8000 feet. It's a nice cool place to get away from the heat of the valley. It was quite the party when everyone finally showed up. Much meat was thrown on the grill and copious amounts of alcohol were quickly consumed (including some boones and a 40, but not by those who know better than to drink that type of spirit). The amount of food was quite outstanding and the setting was beautiful. Cards came out around 9pm and two groups began competing for the mandatory $5 buy in. Cassie and I played well, but had terrible cards for most of the night until Cassie was dealt (by me) the best hand ever (a Royal Straight Flush). Unfortunately that wasn't enough to make up for the rest of her cards. By the end of 3 hours everyone in our game was pretty much even so we called it a night. The other table however was in for a much longer game. I stayed up and watched them play till about 2 am and finally went to bed. Somehow those crazy kids managed to keep playing and drinking till the sun came up and their desire for sleep finally outweighed their drunken fun. We all awoke around 10am made some breakfast to ward off the evil hangovers we were all sporting and headed to Strawberry to do some fishing. Well, our luck with the fishies was about as good as our luck with the cards and we caught basically nothing, (I caught a few crawdads). Mojo did enjoy swimming after some birds for an hour or two though. We called it a day, headed back to town, had some greasy local ice cream shop food and crashed at the house.
The next day we went with our new friends (whom we had met at Strawberry) Paul and Katherine (and Chad) to Maple to do some climbing. Each of them had some experience with climbing and we put them on some 5.6-5-10b routes until everyone's forearms were shot. A good weekend was had by all.



This weekend (Independence Day) we went to Maple on Friday with Paul and Katherine again. Paul led his first route ever (a 5.6) and Katherine was improving as well. We started off on a two 5.8s, did a 5.9, a super long juggy overhanging 5.10a (a fun flash) and ended on a 5.9 which was sparsely bolted. I swung over to a 5.7 and put myself on rappel to try and get some cool pics. I think they turned out quite well. (Hank and Marla how do you always get such cool climbing shots?) The weather was perfect with temps in the high 70s or so (the valley was in the 90s) and we felt lucky to have escaped the heat.
The following day I organized a float trip down the Provo river on tubes (leaky tubes). Chad, Jackie, Paul, and Katherine joined us for one of the coldest floats I've ever done. Imagine having your feet and hands go numb in a few seconds while the air is a scorching 95 degrees. Some opted to walk the last half of the float while other (possibly less intelligent people) decided to give it one more go. I won't say that those of us who continued floating made the right decision as that water was still ice cold. We think maybe the extra snow in the mountains and the late summer may have contributed because we did the same float last year and it was a good bit warmer (still freezing, but not quite as bad). The desired outcome was achieved however as everyone forgot how hot it was outside. Afterwards we had everyone up to our cabin for another summer bbq. I baked an apple pie and we all stuffed ourselves to the brim and maybe a bit beyond.

This morning Cassie and I groggily awoke and headed to American Fork to do some more climbing. Strangely enough there was no one else at a fairly popular crag called Hard Rock (see previous posts) We did a 5.9 and I sent this fun 5.10b called Treehugger which I had not gotten on our previous trip to AF. We decided to call it a day after that and headed back to the cabin. Now we are going to just chill for the rest of the weekend.

We hope everyone out there is enjoying their fourth of july weekend!!!
To see more pics from Maple Canyon Climbing click here

Timpooneke Hike and Ferguson canyon

We had a terrific weekend climbing and hiking and hanging out with friends. First Cassie's aunt and uncle came to visit on Friday on their way to Ogden to visit family. We really enjoyed spending time with them and swapping stories. They live in a beautiful part of Arizona and are very cool people. I made some homemade sweet biscuits and Cassie made some whipped cream and we topped it all off with raspberries and strawberries. Yum!

On Saturday we went with the club to Ferguson canyon.
http://www.mountainproject.com/v/utah/wasatch_range/ferguson_canyon/
It's a nice canyon tucked away between little and big cottonwood. Considering the close proximity of such great climbing on either side one might expect Ferguson to have become a 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.

summertime and climbing

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.