Our three week trip to Utah was cut down to one week by weather. A huge low pressure system parked itself over notheastern Utah, blowing over semis on the freeway and bringing us bad weather almost every day. American Fork canyon, south of Salt Lake City was very wet, windy, cold and snowy in late April. The two good days were fun; climbing on steep, ugly limestone. I couldn't get the feel for the style very quick and was only able to onsight .11b. This is another of the many places I want to return to as soon as possible. Walking around the area, we spotted so many sweet looking routes that cried out to climbed, but the weather just wouldn't cooperate. Next time I'll try a little later spring or early summer.
One of the nice things about American Fork is that the camping is right in the middle of the climbing. Some of the campsites even have a small crag included. Short approaches, running water and fire pits have a price, although the park doesn't charge before May. With the bad weather not going anywhere, we spent soggy evenings huddled around a smokey fire and found what bouldering we could in some of the large caves nearby. Rockfall from melting snow above the canyon kept things interesting day and night, reminding us even more that we were a little early in arriving. The local movie theater and bowling alley helped kill some time, but the rest days outnumbered the climbing days 2:1 so we bailed out and headed for City of Rocks, Idaho.
