Wasatch Tales: Sawyer Wylie's blog: The bookends of combat.

It's definitely correct to say that the Civil War started with the battle of Fort Sumpter, but my history buffs out there know something that you might not. The First Battle of Bull Run marked a special point in the war. It's really where the Civil War as we know it began since that's where the fighting started in earnest.

A guy by the name of Wilmer McLean had both the fortune and misfortune of being followed around by the Civil War. In 1861, when the war started, he lived in Bull Run, Virginia. During the fighting he actually had cannon balls falling into his house! Soon afterwards the Second Battle of Bull Run occurred and he'd had enough. Tired of the fighting and worried about his family, he decided to move to a quieter neighborhood in Appomattox, Virginia. Strangely enough though, the war found him there in 1865. One of the final battles of the war took place in Appomattox and the Confederates actually surrendered to the Union in his living room. Wilmer McLean later said that "the war began in my front yard and ended in my parlor."

Comparing ice climbing to war is definitly hyperbolic. But just like Wilmer McLean managed to bookend the Civil War, usually my ice climbing seasons are bookended by scrappy mixed climbs. This time I spotted a few drips forming up American Fork Canyon. I called Paul Robertson, told him I had a construction project in mind, and he was game. I've seen it form in the past, but never this thick. Still....it was pretty thin!

Thin Pick-ings M6

FA: Sawyer Wylie and Paul Robertson

Thin Pick-ings is found just to the right of the summer sport climbing area, the Watchtower, in American Fork Canyon. Since it is on the same rock band as the Watchtower, follow the same approach beta.

5 bolts plus chains