My First Trip: Days 3 and 4

If you haven’t read my previous post I would suggest taking a look…

Cecret Lake, Alta

    After climbing in Maple, my cousin planned a rest day, to recover and show me around the Provo area. After checking out Cecret Lake and waiting an hour in a Jiffy Lube to relieve his car, we went to bed early for another early start… 

    Today’s destination was The Membrane Wall. Right off the road, hosting amazing (polished) sharp limestone with fantastic crimpy/pockety climbing. We started our day with the crag warmup, Butterfingers. My cousin told me it would be easy, but after placing my feet on the well-traveled footholds I began to doubt his confidence in me and my footwork. After learning the style I went straight to the classic License To Thrill. 

    To sum up this route in a single sentence I would say “The biggest holds you’d ever fall off…” Every hold is fantastic, spaced just far enough on a wall just steep enough to keep some lactic acid in your forearms. I hung up nearly every bolt, learning the moves and using the new tactics I learned from Maple Canyon (see previous post). The crux proved scary nevertheless, not from danger, but because hangdogging will make you more likely to say “Take!”…

    I lowered, rested, and visualized the moves, committing as much as I could to memory. After noticing how odd it was that a neighboring group had the exact same two brands of draws as we did (and spending 10 minutes sorting out mixed up gear), I began my 2nd try. My arms slowly burned as I gained the final stab for a pocket. I nabbed it with the tips of just a few fingers, and I desperately readjusted before the pump clock ran out, finishing the last moves. I finally clipped the chains of one the best routes I did on the entire trip. Seriously, if you go to American Fork I highly suggest you give License To Thrill a shot. 

    Now over confident, I botched the sequence as I flashed Steel Monkey, but my psych remained high nevertheless, especially after gaining some new friends from the gear mix up. They suggested I try Route 66, kindly offering advice and beta. So began the trip’s second project. I enjoyed the pumpy climbing, bouncing between pockets and jugs. By the time I had learned the moves, we were ready to leave. An early finish to rest up for redpoint burns the next day and spend the afternoon enjoying Reel Rock…