I’m currently at Rose’s Laundry, your typical college-town laundromat nestled at the foot of the university campus. This is our second rest day in Salt Lake City, and it is decidedly nicer than the first. Last week, we came to town with a cold front that ended up dumping snow in the mountains and kept the day time temperatures in the 50s. The kids and I spent laundry day in the van, and we skittered from one errand to another, woefully under-dressed. Today is different. The sun is out, and it’s actually warm. The kids and Jen are at Liberty Park, and I’m enjoying the breeze coming in the window. We grabbed coffee and pastries at Tulle’s, and will seek out some Mexican for lunch before returning to the canyon for three more days of climbing.

SLC is an interesting town. The area around Liberty Park is quite nice–quaint neighborhoods with little shopping districts full of bakeries and coffeehouses and cafes. Cute houses sit on tree-lined streets. I must give the Mormons credit–they have good architectural sense when it comes to their homes–even in little towns like Ephraim and Fountain Green, the houses are cozy and solid. Of course, there are developments in the suburbs of SLC, but at least where we are now, the homes are unique. At the moment, I’m seconding-guessing my decision to pass on a job at Black Diamond–I can’t help but wonder what it might be like living here, nestled in the shadow of the Wasatch range, a mere 90 minute drive from Maple Canyon (and less than 20 from the granite boulders of Little Cottonwood Canyon). It would be nice, I’m sure, but what about in five years? Old age and parenthood forces you to take the long view.

As for Maple, what to do in the closing days? I could polish off the right side of Minimum Wall–two 5.12s plus the four-star classic 5.11 Zoaster Toaster remain. Jen may want to trudge back up to the Pipedream cave to clean up Deliverance. I could put in a concerted onsight effort into Orgasmo (5.12c), which several others did last week. I’m glad I’ve focuses on quickly dispatching 5.12s rather than flailing on 5.13 projects–I’ve been able to sample many routes, something projecting doesn’t necessarily afford. I will say, however, that I prefer bouldering road trips–while Maple has been fun, it’s easier to simply throw your pads down under a project and not deal with ropes and taking long turns. I’m not complaining, though–the climbing has been wonderful, and we’ve all had a good time (both Seb and Oren have climbed a bunch, and Seb has even fought his way up a 5.10).

Posted on 11 June 2012