Cragmama "Not all who wander are lost…" JRR Tolkien

Yearly Archives: 2009

Gourmet Camping (aka Ode to Jetboil)

Gourmet Camping (aka Ode to Jetboil)

If you have ever been camping with me, you have heard me sing high praise  for the Jetboil system.  For those of you unfamiliar with the term, the Jetboil is NOT a communicable skin disease transmitted on airplanes, but rather, a portable, personal cooking system.  According to their website, the Jetboil is a “complete food and beverage multitool.” Steve and I received our Jetboils for Christmas in 2006 in anticipation of a backcountry canoe/hiking trip to the Everglades for New Year’s 07.  Since then, we have never been camping without it or without these sleeping bags!  For a long time…Read the rest of this entry →

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Risks and Consequences.

Risks and Consequences.

It has been a sad week in the world of climbing.  The climbing community suffered a loss of a legend this past weekend.  On Sunday, July 5th, John Bachar fell to his death while free soloing in Mammoth, California.  If you don’t know who he is, you can click on the link to find a quick bio, but this guy was one of the greatest climbers of all time, some might argue THE greatest.  This tragic event combined with my injury a couple of weeks ago in Utah brings to the forefront an issue that most climbers don’t like to…Read the rest of this entry →

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Maple Canyon and Closing Thoughts

Maple Canyon and Closing Thoughts

The climbing at Maple Canyon is probably the most unique climbing area I’ve ever been to.  The rock is a conglomerate embedded with pebbles and rocks of various sizes.  The routes are difficult to read from the ground, and require a lot of endurance to onsight, since you never know what kind of hold a cobble is going to be until you grab it, so you end up spending a lot of energy trying to find the right cobbles to use.  However, b/c of all the  cobbles, we discovered that Maple is also a place that rewards good footwork.  No matter…Read the rest of this entry →

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Big Cottonwood Canyon

Big Cottonwood Canyon

Day 1 ~ Outside Corner, w/North Face variation, 5.7 Pitch 1 – Steve led the first pitch, a fun wandering crack system that wandered up and out to an arete, and up to a ledge.  We saw Norbert and Manuela driving up as we were just getting started.  They spent the day at the Salt Lake Slips, where our line was in clear view all day.  They were thoughtful enough to check on us throughout the day, and document our progress via photos 🙂 Pitch 2 – Short, but sweet.  I scrambled up a series of broken crack systems til…Read the rest of this entry →

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Logan Canyon

Logan Canyon

We left the Idaho Falls airport on Saturday around lunchtime, and drove 2 hours thru southern Idaho to the city of Logan, just over the border in Utah.  Our original plan was to drive east to the High Uinta Wilderness outside of Kamas, but apparently there was a lot of snow this year, and the melt off wasn’t quite as far along as it usually is this time of year, so most of the routes were running with water, with 10 foot snow drifts at the base.  So, one  could say that our Logan Canyon plans were sloppy seconds, but…Read the rest of this entry →

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“Not all who wander are lost.” —JRR TOLKIEN