The Great Wall

We had a fun trip to Utah this weekend. Well, except for the part where our car broke down! Yep, we sprung some kind of coolant leak which led to the water pump burning up which led to the belts burning up which led to the alternator/battery cutting out (the water pump and the alternator are run by the same belt) which led to us hanging out by those Deseret Farms grain silos just north of Lagoon in Farmington. All I kept thinking to myself was "Thank heavens we didn't break down during the two hours of empty desert between Burley, ID and the Wasatch front." So my dad and mom came to the rescue and towed us from Farmington to Holladay (about 40 minutes of white knuckle towing fun at 60 mph). Fortunatley, this chapter in my book of towing experiences was about as optimal as could be, in terms of teeth-rattling whiplashes, snaping tow ropes, and unpowered, split-second evasive maneuvers, which were all at an absolute minimum.

We made it home alright, the car got fixed, and we made it back to Boise a few days later without incident. One of the highlights of the trip for me was a highly anticipated Utah hike! I've found that I really miss the fantastically beautiful mountains of the Salt Lake Valley being here in Boise, land of brown hills (and some trees). I had initially planned on climbing the north face of Mt. Olympus, but Mitzi told me I couldn't unless I had someone go with me. I called my dear buddy Richard and he told me that Mt. Olympus wouldn't work for this time around, but we settled on an early Saturday adventure on "The Great Wall." Now, as far as I know, I'm the only one who refers to the rocky spine sticking out of the mountain south of Parley's Canyon as "The Great Wall," but once I explain where it is, people seem to connect to what I'm talking about. Here's a visual for you people who may still be lost:

Because of the shadows it's hard to see it, but I've outlined the areas that I refer to as "The Great Wall"

This is what the great wall looks like from the Cannon homestead in Holladay. The section near the peak is what inspired the name (although, that's also the section that I have never climbed).

Richard and I met up at the Barbacoa on Wasatch Blvd at a little before 7:00am on Saturday morning. I was disappointed to find that it was a gloomy, rainy day. Fortunately, by the time we actually set out, it was only drizzling very lightly and actually made for great climbing weather, in spite of the wet (though not overly muddy) terrain. It took us about a half hour to make it to the lower portion of the E/W section of the Great Wall, which is not quite as impressive as the upper portion. Unfortunately, we only made it to the upper portion with enough time for one or two little climbs before we had to head back down so I could return my mom's car by 9:00am. We did get some fun (although poorly lit) pictures as well as sharing an enjoyable, manly mountaineering experience. Here are a couple of fun pictures:

Just starting out - You can still see the road where we parked in the upper-right corner of the picture

The lower portion of the E/W section - The upper, more prominent portion is seen higher up

The upper portion of the E/W section as we get closer

Standing below the upper portion of the E/W section - It ranges between 30 and 60+ feet up and makes for a challenging (for people like me) climb, although the rock is so coarse and provides such a fantastic grip surface that it makes me feel like a gecko climbing around on it

Pleasant flowers growing on the vertical surface of the wall

The view to the south from the E/W section of the wall