Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The Illusive Line...


When 4:10 a.m. rolled around and I was dragging my groggy butt out of bed I was really regretting turning down an invitation to hike from the tram at Snowbird to the American Fork Twins. I could have stayed in bed for another three hours and started 3,000 vertical feet higher than I would with the Southern Wasatch Crew.

I picked up Jeremy Jolley and we drove up Provo Canyon to meet a crew of some really awesome guys. It was me, Chase McMillan (hiking machine), Jeremy (a legit hobbit), Rick Black (The guy built a plane in his garage and hangs out of helicopters for a living), Skyler Holman (a Sundance Ski Patroler), and Jim Knight (A climbing legend who pioneered climbing in Utah). We started our way up. We hit the snow and it was solid, the axes and crampons came out.

As we made our way up the drainage the surroundings seemed to grow more unique and grand the higher we climbed. I will never cease to be amazed at the sheer grandeur of Timpanogos. It is such an impressive place with so much depth.

We reached a waterfall that we could have climbed around, but no one felt good about down climbing it later without climbing gear. As we stood and debated our options it grew warm adding another complication to our predicament. With all the experience that was in the group I sat back and waited for their decision. We turned back with the knowledge that another approach would be much more ideal for that particular line.





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