Tom Grundy's Maple Canyon 2009 Travels Page (June 2009)
We had had enough of runout climbs on tiny holds on vertical cliffs at Smith Rocks. It was time for close bolts, steep climbs, and big holds, so we headed back to the cobble conglomerate of Maple Canyon, Utah.
Matt climbs "Lunchables" for
team group send
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Even the sheep send 5.13 at Maple Canyon
and block the road
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It seemed like there were a lot less turkeys around this year, and more sheep and lambs. They were even herding a flock of sheep up into the lower canyon many days. There were still plenty of flies and atv's though. It also rained many days, although this didn't really stop our climbing much because of the steep nature of the routes. As usual for a trip to Maple Canyon, we saw lots of people I have met along my journey, which is always nice.
on a rest day we went up to Timpanogos Cave. It is a fairly small cave, but has some nice helictites and other formations. Also the entrance is way up the side of the canyon, which required a hike. The trail went across some pretty active rockfall zones, with signs warning you not to stop where the red lines were painted. It was good advice, as we saw some rockfall. The cave itself was actually 3 different caves that they had connected with tunnels to allow a linear guided tour.
longer exposure of American Fork River
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Timpanogos Cave helictites
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stalactites
(and other speleothems)
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Billy sends for a crowd
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Billy falls at pipeline
Matt braces for impact
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Fiona at the pipedream
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I mostly just reworked climbs I've done before and rebuilt my strength and endurance, however the last few days I managed to send some new climbs down in Box Canyon. The last one was a pleasant surprise, as I didn't expect to climb it successfully, after barely managing to pull the moves with the aid of some stick clipping while hanging the draws.
Box Canyon
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horned lizard
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The plan to explore some slot canyons on the way to Flagstaff was hampered by running out of time as well as some forecast thunderstorm activity.