Crusher In The Tushar

This is about mountain climbing, but not in the usual sense. I'm signed up for an 80 mile bike race through the Tushar mountains of southern Utah. When you think of Utah mountains you usually think of the prominent Wasatch mountains that dominate the eastern view for most of the residents of Utah. However, down south near Beaver Utah you have the Tusher Mountains and Utah's highest road, Big John Flats, that tops out at 11,500 ft. I'm confused a bit by the "Flat" part of the name, but there are a lot of names around here that don't make sense. Normally I wouldn't post "cycling" things on this blog, but would post on my other blog www.crossthemountains.blogspot.com, which covers my infamous results and other details during the cyclocross season.

However, since I've been training hard and heavy for this race I've been spending a lot of time in the mountains. And staring at all the alpine views made this post seem more applicable to this blog. Most recently I put together a 74 mile training ride with about 6,000 ft. of climbing. The mileage was close, but the climbing is nowhere near the 12,000 ft. of climbing that "The Crusher" course will include. I took off work a little early on a Friday afternoon so I could get in the ride before we left for vacation the next day. I rushed home, got ready and then found I had a few things to get done first. Finally I left the house about an hour fifteen min. late. I've been riding the Alpine Loop quite a bit, which goes up American Fork Canyon and drops to Provo Canyon near Sundance, for training so I stuck with the usual first part of my ride which took me to the AF canyon entrance, then headed west to ride around the frontage road to Draper and the first big climb of the day, Traverse Ridge Road. It's not super tall, about 1800 ft. but it is unrelenting and in the hot afternoon sun it was pretty demoralizing. I finally made it to the top and loved the wide sweeping curves of the downhill. I had run out of water and my head felt like I had a major fever so I stopped at a gas station for a Slurpee. I started to suck it down and got the worst brain freeze of my life so I had to slow down. The Slurpee was pretty sweet so I filled up my water bottle with cold water too. I ended up sitting there for 20 min. sucking down blue Slurpee and 2 bottles of water.


I felt a lot better now and hit the road. I headed up the American Fork Hwy, with my legs feeling every bit of the 35 miles I'd already done. I got in a good groove and worked my way to the summit. This ride was much cooler than previous rides because most of it was done in the shade of the late afternoon and evening. In fact it started to get cool enough that I realized I was going to be in trouble once I hit the summit. Normally it's quite a relief to make it to the 8,026 ft. summit sign, but this time I knew I would be utterly frozen on the way down. I was cold to begin with, covered in sweat and cool temps, then the wind started. Despite adding to the cooling effect with speeding wind I tried my best to get down the road as fast as I could. I knew I could pop into Sundance for a minute once I got there. It seemed to take twice as long as usual to get there. Finally I rounded the last corner and got inside to the hotel registration lobby. They set me up with some hot cocoa and I warmed up as much as I could. It was then that I realized my next big quandary. I only had my prescription sunglasses with me and it was past dusk now and starting to get pretty dark. If I waited around much longer I'd be in big trouble riding blind. I got back on my bike, still cold, and started riding. Since it had gotten pretty dark I took my sunglasses off and rode half blind down the road. I was doing pretty well until I got a bug right in the eye. Then I started hitting swarms. I had to put my sunglasses back on and do my best to make out the pits and cracks in the road. I knew from previous rides that the coldest part of that canyon is about 1.5 miles below Sundance. I think it must be the raging creek right next to the road, but even on a hot day it gets pretty chilly right there. Soon enough I was shivering and slowly working my way down the canyon hoping that Provo Canyon would be warmer. After an eternity I made it to the highway.

Now, I was no longer really cold, but it was now pitch black and I had cars going 65 mph to deal with. The first part of the ride has a decent shoulder so it wasn't too bad. People often like to honk in the tunnel that you hit part way down and this night was no different. I could have killed them when they laid on the horn as I pedaled through that dark canyon. I was starting to get pretty darn nervous but I kept on. Now the shoulder got smaller and would be ok, except those rumble strips are placed right down the middle of it so you have a choice of riding in the 1 ft. space between the rumble strips and the car lane, or in the 1ft. space between the rumble strip and the road barrier. Obviously you want to get away from the cars that are speeding toward you in the dark. The only problem is that the far right side of the shoulder always has loads of debris on it. I was cruising down and saw the usual gravel, then bits of glass then I came across what looked like a overturned bucket of blood. Really, what are these people doing?! I was totally freaked out by now and had decided to just ride over the rumble strips because I was scared to go too fast anyway. I could barely make out any obstacles before I ran into them so speed was not my friend. Tires, 2 x 4's, junk and what was up with that bucket of blood. I'd also like to ask what the deal is with the huge pile of giant carp along the side of the road. I couldn't see them this time, but I sure could smell them. I had spotted this big pile of rotting fish on previous rides, truly bizzare. And why is this canyon taking so long to get down. By now I had pushed my sunglasses down my nose so that I could peer through them if I needed detail but they weren't blocking my view and making things even more black than they already were. Not a great way to ride, but it was better than choosing one over the other. Suddenly screeching tires right behind me, uncontrolled urination...almost. Did I mention that today was a bad day to put on the black cycling jersey? I'm not sure what the deal was with the car that apparently almost hit me I was afraid to stop or do anything other than continue in a forward motion.  Finally I got to the bottom and a street light. It was glorious! Then the lights ended. I'd like to ask Provo and Orem, what they have against street lights because the entrance to a canyon seems like a good place to have a few lights. I pedaled home grateful that I wasn't dead and pretty sure that I'd be able to make it there now.

Rock Climbing

Haven't posted anything in a bit, mostly due to the fact that I've slacked on gathering any photographic evidence of my adventures lately. I've been doing a fair amount of rock climbing in Provo's Rock Canyon, along with a trip to Draper Red Rock, a small crag developed by a local dentist. Red Rock was fun, though a bit crowded, especially with boy scouts kicking small rocks and pebbles onto us from the rappel they were doing near us. I'm always amused by the names that routes are given and since these routes were put up by a dentist the route names are fairly cringe inducing: Face Plant, Dry Socket and Bloody Impaction, just a name a few.

I've spent most of my time in Rock Canyon, a canyon made up of quartzite and limestone. I believe most of the routes were put up in the mid-90's, but a ton of work has been done in the last couple of years by Darren from the Mountainworks climbing shop. From what I hear he's just about doubled the number of routes in Rock Canyon, that's a lot of time and money. Thanks Darren. This also means there are a bunch of undocumented routes that you have to learn about from word of mouth or websites like mountainproject.com.

When the river was a bit lower we worked on The Appendage, a quartzite cliff.

I believe the route in the photo is a 5.7, but I don't remember the name. It was fun and seemed to have at least one or two broken holds as it blanked out once or twice. There was a lot of hold checking since some of the obvious holds were rather dubious and pretty loose. I also saw my first big horn sheep (minus the big horns - female or young male?) True to form it was up on some tiny ledge eating nubs of grass.

A bit further up the canyon is an area known as The Wild. It's a cool limestone wall with lots of small pockets. The pockets are fun to grab and use as holds. Though you have to be wary of the mud puddles that might be there after a rain, as well as the very sharp edges that start to cause a lot of pain if you find yourself hanging for more than a few seconds.

We headed up to The Wild with my brand new Blue Water Lightning Pro 9.7 rope, which by the way was fantastic. Very supple, nice to handle and worked very well in the Grigri. Go over to Mountainworks and buy one.

This is a 5.6 that we used to warm up on and set the top rope.

We played around a bit on this 5.6 and the 5.7? crack to the right then moved to a 5.9 that proved a bit of a challenge. The start is slightly overhanging and has poor feet. This is one area that the sharp pocket edges cutting into your fingers start to weaken your resolve to hang on for just a little longer.  This particular night was fantastic. We climbed until we were just plain tired then packed it up. I'm sure there will be more Rock Canyon to come in the months ahead. In the immortal words of The Carpenters - "We've only just begun"

Thanks to Rick Miske for showing me the ropes (pun intended) at Red Rock and Rock Canyon.

Snowshoeing

Whenever I heard of someone going snowshoeing I always pictured Jeremiah Johnson with giant beard and matching giant woven snowshoes. Most likely made from supple willow branches and buffalo intestines. A couple of years ago my wife asked for a pair of snowshoes as an unlikely Valentines gift. My wife goes for romantic type stuff too, but I was quite happy to shell out for some outdoor gear, especially when I found out I wouldn't have to string up the snowshoes with some fresh buffalo guts. We found a good deal on some Atlas snowshoes made for Cabelas. They had nice features and weren't extremely pricey. She started going out snowshoeing on Saturdays with the Utah Velo club and had a lot of fun, but I was still sceptical of her inner Jeremiah Johnson.

After another winter of watching her come back from having a great time out in the snow filled canyons near our home I decided I'd like to give it a try. We headed back to Cabelas and bought a set of snowshoes for me, the same model, only bigger. Now we have a pile, really, literally a pile of snowshoes from which to choose on any given day that we go out. I only have two pair, sounds silly just typing that; only two pair, ha. My wife has 4 pair with another set on the way. Granted, most of these she has acquired as a product tester for Triedge.com, so it's not as if our children's college education has been reduced to the pile of snowshoes in the gear area of our basement. It's amazing how different snowshoes perform in different conditions. My Atlas are great for deep fresh snow, the kind I like to hit after a new snowstorm.

My other set, with their beautiful shining crampons covering the length of the platform, and which I have named "The Snowshoes of Justice" are from the Tubbs flex series. These don't perform as well in deep snow, but really shine when going up or down steep hills, and over technical terrain. I really like how they grip logs and other oddities that I encounter as I march around wherever I want. They're light and don't make a lot of noise. They also don't shoot show all over the back of your legs and back like my Atlas.

What I really enjoy about snowshoeing is that I can walk wherever I want. I enjoy hiking, but you're more of less confined to actual hiking trails. This is due to a combination of thick vegetation and a moral obligation to not trample small animals, insects, plants and other forest dwelling things. I also try to keep trails from getting wider and wider by staying on the existing path. In winter all bets are off. Snow covers everything. Vegetation is safely under a crust of snow and I can walk anywhere, including up very steep hills because of the crampons of justice that adorn my snowshoes. If regular hiking is freedom than snowshoeing is the William Wallace of hiking. Taking freedom to a whole new level. Want to get closer to that stream, walk on over. Want to see where those deer tracks to, head on out.

My favorite place to go snowshoeing is Big Springs up the South Fork in Provo Canyon. Sadly it's also popular with a lot of people. It's not uncommon to go up on a Saturday and mind hoards of BYU students with rented snowshoes packing down the trail. Because of this I usually try to get out first thing on a Saturday morning to beat the crowds. Even then sometimes I find I really have to head off trail to find some snow that isn't packed down so much that a pair of hiking boots would suffice. I can usually find something. Even when the trail gets somewhat packed down it can still be a lot of fun, especially when you're willing to head out really far. Just like hiking most people don't go out further than one hour will allow so if you just push on you'll find some great snow eventually. It's also a great cross training activity for cycling. I don't manage to get on my trainer much during the winter so I have to do something to keep my cycling muscles from disappearing.

Snowshoeing is eons away from the burly mountain man activity that I always envisioned. Go rent or buy some snowshoes, or if I really like you I might have a spare set somewhere to lend to you. Just stay out of the Big Springs area because someone keeps packing down all the new snow.

Ice Climbing - Provo Canyon

Years ago, after stopping to look at a photo of someone climbing a waterfall, my wife asked me if I would ever go ice climbing. I think she was hoping that I'd say no, and that's exactly what I said. But it was more like, "Are you kidding me? Those guys are nuts. They're just waiting for a crampon point to slip or a giant icicle to take their head off."

Fast forward a few years and I'm totally hooked on climbing ice. I'm not sure what it is, but it probably has something do with the fact that you don't need a hold to move up the vertical face of the ice, you make your own. It's almost like being Spider-Man, only Spider-Man is covered in spikes that could sever an artery or tendon if he takes a fall. I'm not sure how I made the move from being scared to death of climbing ice to staring out of my cubicle window at the frozen mountains and wishing I were up there kicking and stabbing the ice.

I'm fortunate to live in a really great area for outdoor recreation. I'm just 10 minutes from Provo Canyon and 15 minutes from Rock Canyon and American Fork Canyon. Three playgrounds full of rock climbing, mountain biking, skiing, cycling, mountaineering and snowshoeing. Provo Canyon is probably my favorite, it's not only close, but it seems to have the widest variety of things to do. This is also where you can find a lot of great ice to climb. We have an excellent ice formation that comes in each year called Stairway to Heaven. The bottom pitch is a large thick apron with bolts above for top roping love. It's a great place to hone your skills and get into early season condition for tougher and sketchier ice. Depending on the year and the height at which the ice forms, Stairway to Heaven has the potential to be the longest ice climb in the US, 800 ft.

Along with Stairway to Heaven, there are at least 4 other decent pitches of ice to climb in Provo Canyon. On cold Saturday mornings every inch of ice is covered in climbers, too many for my taste. I usually go climbing after work, which means by the time I hike to the base of the climb daylight is pretty much gone. This means solitude and and no one knocking ice on you from above. A good headlamp is all that is needed, you're only working in an 8 ft. space of ice anyway. Everything above and below is extraneous and not to be thought about anyway. Many times I've been up on the ice and heard cars honking as they drive by on the highway several hundred feet below. It must look like quite a site from below to see an illuminated sheet of ice with some crazy person on the wall like some deranged fly on a wall. I wonder what they think when I take a fall?

I've been lucky to have discovered the joys of ice climbing in the modern times. Ice climbing gear has seen a lot of advances over the last few years. I've recently acquired some new crampons and ice tools(ice axes for technical ice climbing). If you're not in the ice climbing circles then you probably have no idea of the current debate of whether crampons with mono or dual points are better. I went back and forth between the two when trying to decide which to buy for my new set of crampons. I found the solution, local gear innovators Black Diamond have created the Cyborg crampons which can switch from dual to mono with the twist of an hex wrench and a spacer. I haven't switched to the mono yet as we've had warm spells and the ice has been mushy in parts and I've wanted the security of dual points. If we don't get a good cold snap I may just switch to the mono-point when I do some dry tooling or mixed climbing in spring.

I really love these new Black Diamond Cyborg
crampons, especially for the variety of conditions in which I've climbed recently. They come complete with anti-balling plates for glacier use as well as just keeping the snow from collecting underfoot on the trek from the car to the base of the climb. All this gear costs a lot of money it's nice when you get the product and use it and don't wish you had your money back.

Adventure in the Mountains

All of my favorite adventures seem to be in the mountains. My earliest memories of exploring and really feeling alive are from my time in the mountains. From my 8th birthday trip to Yellowstone to the trips to the summit of Willard Peak. I loved the variety of things the mountains had to offer, raging waterfalls, animals big and small. My favorite thing has always been the high overlooks and cliffs where you could see for miles and miles out over river basins and farmland. I recall being amazed that the mountains I could see from my home were not the end but just the start of of the great Wasatch Range. I wanted to see was behind each wave like ridge, what sort of things would I find in the valleys.

I've always loved climbing rocks and boulders. Even as a non-rock climbing adult I often felt like a kid as my family and I ventured out in the area canyons and I soon found myself scrambling up easy 5.3 and 5.4 type walls. Working out moves and holds just always seemed like so much fun.

As I've become more adept at the various types of climbing I've found even more joy in realizing the opportunities that open up because of my new found talent. Mountaineering and heading off into the wooded hills and snow clogged chutes is a lot more fun now that I have some knowledge and experience to back it up. Learning the technical nature of ice and rock climbing keeps my mind working as well as my fatigued limbs.

I hope to be able to chronicle my various adventures and do a better job of getting photographic evidence to share the beauty that is to be had in the Utah mountains and the mountains all over the world.