Seasons with Calvin and Hobbes.

My how times flies...

Life is a balance for sure.

I always find the transitional times between seasons to be motivating.   The clock is ticking on whatever you're currently interested in, and if the season is about to change with you lagging behind, it is easy to feel pressure since you are running out of time before having to wait until conditions turn back around.

Usually these periods can go one of two ways for myself.  Specifically with autumn, either I just cannot accept that it is time to move on from rock climbing and am left running around underneath my project trying to stay warm and in denial about sending; or I am anticipating winter so much that I am wandering around the higher altitudes dreaming about fleeting ice.  This fall I have managed to juggle both impulses quite well.  I wrote previously about chasing winter, this is about completing some last projects.



Last year I was driving up American Fork Canyon looking to escape the heat and I spotted this wall.  Behind trees, brush, a river and yet close to the road, this wall was hidden in plain sight.  Really good looking, I had to look at it closer.  It turned out to be undeveloped, have excellent rock, and so I bolted a few routes. Despite being shorter than desired, the wall still provides outstanding movement.

Yum, fresh limestone!

Directions should you be interested: Drive up American Fork Canyon to Tibble Fork Reservoir. At the dirt road west of the lake, set your odometer to 0. Drive up canyon on the dirt road just over .75 of 1 mile and park at the pullout next to a large tree on the left side of the road.  You will see the canyon river on your left and just across it, a wall and a small cave to the right of the wall. Go down, cross the stream on the log, and go to the wall.  It is a 30 second approach(in all honesty, it is not even that long!).  There are two routes both being 8-ish bolts to fixe ring bolt chains at the top.
The one on the left is called Sawyer 5.12A. Others have sent it and thought it was one of the best in the canyon, 3 out of 3 stars. Thin, techie and immaculate rock.  The one on the right is called Calvin 5.12C. Due to the movement at the bottom, I bolted this with a stick clip in mind as putting a bolt high enough to catch a fall would be in the way and a bolt low enough out of the way would be useless.

How often are you lucky enough to find a route with a foot move being the crux? 

I decided to call the wall Hobbes Wall.  My inspiration came from the comic Calvin and Hobbes.  I called the right one Calvin since that is how he is often portrayed in the comics, sometimes an ideal boy and often a troublemaker.  Calvin 5.12C has good moves then a stopper move, then good moves then a stopper move.  I put my name in there since as a child they were (and still are!) incredibly alive in my imagination.  Sawyer, Calvin, and Hobbes.

Just in time too!  

The Wasatch got it's first dusting today.

Life did not "rip me off" this time!