Approximately four years ago, my in-laws bought an old pioneer home in Spring City, UT. Since that time they have spent time and money restoring it to its pioneer glory. I doubt that when they bought the home they were thinking, "Perhaps Stacy will marry a fine young man that will like to climb and ski. There are great areas around Spring City to do both." Yeah, I don't think they were thinking that, but I do believe they were inspired because we spent all day today clim
bing in Maple Canyon (15 min. from Spring City) and we had a great time. Stacy and I left around 6:30 last night, dropped the dogs off at Kristin's house, and grabbed a bite to eat at Iceberg. Around 7:30 we made it to Provo to pick up Scott and Jamie (Stacy's cousins). They piled in to the Civic and we were finally on our way to Spring City. Upon arrival, we played a game or two then went to bed. I had a hard time sleeping. I felt a li
ttle like a kid on Christmas Eve. I didn't know what to expect the next morning, but I knew I was going to love it. Stacy finally allowed me to get up at 7:30. I tried to be quiet as I prepared muffins for the rest of the crew. They each woke up in their own time not much later than myself. We all had a few muffins then we made our way to the canyon. It only took a short hike from the parking lot to get to the Schoolroom Wall, where we spent the en
tirety of our day. The rock in Maple is just fascinating. It is as if it was a giant riverbed that was then all glued together in cliff formations. It is also quite deceiving - You may look above you and think you are going to get a super bomber hold only to find that it just slopes off and you have to keep searching. We started the day with me leading all the climbs. I would lead a climb, set up the toprope, then the others would follow. I brought two ropes so we could be on two routes at once. This was nice since we could all be involved (either climbing or belaying) at the same time. The Schoolroom is filled with climbs from 5.4 to 5.10b. We climbed just about all of them as the day went on. We didn't climb the 5.10b - Big Kahuna - but we did do another climb that was not in the book that seemed about that hard to me (
but perhaps that was just the case because I am out of shape and just can't sustain strength for an entire day). As the day went on, Scott started to lead a few climbs, then Jamie and Stacy each led one of their own. This was Stacy's first lead and I was happy for her. It really is just a totally different feeling knowing that if you fall you are actually going to fall a little
ways - unlike toproping, where you essentially just hang where you are. I was able to take a few lead falls today building my confidence in gear. I have been wanting to do more of this so I can begin to improve my climbing abilities due to a lower level of fear while doing so. We finished around 3:30, went back and cleaned up the house in Spring City, then had lunch at the Spring City Kitchen. It was wonderful (again). If you are ever in the neighborhood I would highly suggest stopping by and getting the Spring City B
leu with Bacon. It will make your day. Stacy was super nice and offered to drive home. This is always nice for me since I do the majority of the driving and this gives me a chance to relax - I think I even fell asleep for a little while on the drive. I really enjoyed Maple Canyon. I had a great time in Spring City. I can see this as being a regular thing for us. Just call if you want to join us. On Rock.
Approximately four years ago, my in-laws bought an old pioneer home in Spring City, UT. Since that time they have spent time and money restoring it to its pioneer glory. I doubt that when they bought the home they were thinking, "Perhaps Stacy will marry a fine young man that will like to climb and ski. There are great areas around Spring City to do both." Yeah, I don't think they were thinking that, but I do believe they were inspired because we spent all day today clim
bing in Maple Canyon (15 min. from Spring City) and we had a great time. Stacy and I left around 6:30 last night, dropped the dogs off at Kristin's house, and grabbed a bite to eat at Iceberg. Around 7:30 we made it to Provo to pick up Scott and Jamie (Stacy's cousins). They piled in to the Civic and we were finally on our way to Spring City. Upon arrival, we played a game or two then went to bed. I had a hard time sleeping. I felt a li
ttle like a kid on Christmas Eve. I didn't know what to expect the next morning, but I knew I was going to love it. Stacy finally allowed me to get up at 7:30. I tried to be quiet as I prepared muffins for the rest of the crew. They each woke up in their own time not much later than myself. We all had a few muffins then we made our way to the canyon. It only took a short hike from the parking lot to get to the Schoolroom Wall, where we spent the en
tirety of our day. The rock in Maple is just fascinating. It is as if it was a giant riverbed that was then all glued together in cliff formations. It is also quite deceiving - You may look above you and think you are going to get a super bomber hold only to find that it just slopes off and you have to keep searching. We started the day with me leading all the climbs. I would lead a climb, set up the toprope, then the others would follow. I brought two ropes so we could be on two routes at once. This was nice since we could all be involved (either climbing or belaying) at the same time. The Schoolroom is filled with climbs from 5.4 to 5.10b. We climbed just about all of them as the day went on. We didn't climb the 5.10b - Big Kahuna - but we did do another climb that was not in the book that seemed about that hard to me (
but perhaps that was just the case because I am out of shape and just can't sustain strength for an entire day). As the day went on, Scott started to lead a few climbs, then Jamie and Stacy each led one of their own. This was Stacy's first lead and I was happy for her. It really is just a totally different feeling knowing that if you fall you are actually going to fall a little
ways - unlike toproping, where you essentially just hang where you are. I was able to take a few lead falls today building my confidence in gear. I have been wanting to do more of this so I can begin to improve my climbing abilities due to a lower level of fear while doing so. We finished around 3:30, went back and cleaned up the house in Spring City, then had lunch at the Spring City Kitchen. It was wonderful (again). If you are ever in the neighborhood I would highly suggest stopping by and getting the Spring City B
leu with Bacon. It will make your day. Stacy was super nice and offered to drive home. This is always nice for me since I do the majority of the driving and this gives me a chance to relax - I think I even fell asleep for a little while on the drive. I really enjoyed Maple Canyon. I had a great time in Spring City. I can see this as being a regular thing for us. Just call if you want to join us. On Rock.
I have to admit, I lived in Utah for 20 years, yet I didn't even know where spring city was and had to look it up on Google maps. Where's the skiing in that neck of the woods? My wife and I were married in Manti, so we have particular fondness for that part of the state.
ReplyDeleteMark,
ReplyDeleteIf you are ever in the area, just look around. You will see ski lines jump out at you. I am yet to ski any of them, but the nice folks at the Spring City Kitchen will certainly get to know my name come winter. Check this out for example - http://dustinbutcher.blogspot.com/2008/05/psa-spring-city.html
Peace.
Dust
I love that place. It would be nice to stay in a restored home rather than a tent with Techno-blasting climbers and boy sprouts around.
ReplyDeleteNice headband!