High Spur Canyoneering

High Spur slot canyon contains the most beautiful sections of slot I've ever seen. The canyon slots up nicely right off the bat, alternates between open and slot, and finishes with a breathtaking finale.  It is a perfect canyon for beginners with relatively easy obstacles to overcome.

It is located deep within Robbers' Roost (60 miles on dirt roads and about 2 hours off the highway deep). We left Provo at 7:30 Saturday morning and got back at 11:30 at night. Total hiking time from when we left the car to when we got back to the car was six hours. We explored a few side canyons and took a few breaks including an hour break at the last rappel. If you were to hurry and just go straight through, it could possibly be done in as little as four hours.

 As far as obstacles go, there was a 15 foot drop halfway through with water at the bottom where you could rappel or just use a hand line to let yourself down. There were anchors already set up, but the webbing was in pretty bad condition. There were a few five foot downclimbs throughout, and one dry pothole in the "Corkscrew" section that was possible to escape on your own and would be a piece of cake with someone helping. Immediately preceding the final rappel was a 20 foot dryfall that we downclimbed. There were anchors in good condition that could be used to set up a quick rappel. The last rappel was over an 80 foot waterfall with two hundred foot cliffs rising around on almost all sides like an enormous silo (first picture).

High Spur is rated 3A III using the canyon rating system which means it is mostly dry in normal conditions. It hadn't rained recently, but we had to wade in ice cold water up to our chests.

Directions: (For GPS waypoints, join the circle of friends at climb-utah.com)

Take I-70 west from Green River 11 miles. Take Hwy 24 toward Goblin Valley/Lake Powell/Capitol Reef. Half a mile past the turnoff to Goblin Valley, turn left on the road signed Rooster Flats and Hans Flat Ranger Station. Go 24.3 miles to an information kiosk and turn right (south) toward Hans Flat Ranger Station. After 6.9 miles, stay left at the fork. Continue 14.2 miles to the Hans Flat Ranger Station. This last section may be passable in a passenger car but would not be easy. Once at the Ranger Station, turn left (north) toward Horseshoe Canyon. Go 12.8 miles to the signed Deadman's Trail on the left side of the road. Park here just off the road and follow the small unmarked footpath south for half a mile to the entrance to the canyon.

The exit is quite a hike. Half a mile after the last rappel, take the 4th class exit on the right side of the canyon. Once you've reached the top, work your way east cross country. You'll eventually need to climb the hills to the northeast and keep working your way northeast until you reach a 4x4 road (Deadman's Trail). Follow this road two and a half miles east back to your car.

Video courtesy of YouTube user calebsl1. 
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Joe's Valley Bouldering

I've only been to the West Fork boulders in Joe's Valley but there are plenty of boulders there to keep anyone entertained for years, with hundreds of problems. This is a very cool area with scenic canyon walls towering over either side of a beautiful river. 

There are many good places to camp in the west fork. The Riverside boulders and A Wrinkle in Time boulder both have great places to camp right next to them. The Riverside boulders are a few minutes past the Mine Cart boulder going west.  There are two big turnouts on the left side of the road and the boulders are just down the hill from there next to the river. A Wrinkle in Time boulder is a few minutes after the crack boulder on the left. There is also camping around the reservoir.

Camping next to the riverside boulders.

Traversing the backside of the Riverside boulder.

A Wrinkle in Time boulder.

My favorite project of the day was Killing By Numbers. It's a V5 problem on the other side of the road from the Mine Cart boulder and a hundred feet or so west. The Mine Cart boulder is the one just off the road with a mine cart monument right next to it.

V3 on the backside of the Mine Cart boulder.

 Killing By Numbers V5

  

Directions: It's only about 2 hours from Provo. Take Hwy 6 south to Price. Take the Hwy 10 exit and turn right (south). After 26.6 miles, merge onto Hwy 29 west. Go 3.8 miles and turn right at the "T" signed Joe's Valley. After turning right, follow the road 7.7 miles to the Joe's Valley fork. Turn right for the north fork and continue straight for the west fork. In the west fork, all of the boulders are before you reach the reservoir. 

Tough Mudder Utah 2012

If you like exercising, pushing yourself to the limits, and a good adrenaline rush, the Tough Mudder is for you. It's a great mix of endurance running, upper body strength, and a test of pain tolerance. The Tough Mudder seems to be the most popular obstable race out there and their slogan is "Probably the toughest event on the planet." A statement like that is bound to catch my attention so I had to put it to the test. The course consisted of 12 miles and 21 obstacles. On top of that, it was 45 degrees outside when the 8am heat started. Here's a list of the obstacles (disclaimer: I didn't name them):

1. Kiss of Mud: army crawling 50 feet through mud underneath barbed wire that is about 12 inches off the ground.
2. Arctic Enema: jumping into a pool of ice water (about 30 feet long with more ice than water) swimming underneath a barrier in the middle and wading across to the other side.
3. Berlin Walls: scaling two sheer eight foot walls back to back.
4. Bale Bonds: climbing up and over a 10 foot stack of hay bales.
5. Hold Your Wood: carrying a 40 pound log around a quarter mile loop.
6. Kiss of Mud #2: army crawling 50 feet through mud underneath barbed wire that is about 12 inches off the ground.
7. King of the Mountain: climbing up and over a 20 foot pyramid of hay bales.
8. Trench Warfare: army crawling 50 feet in pitch black through an uncomfortably tight, enclosed trench.
9. Dirty Ballerina: going through a series of 10 mud pits that are about 8 feet across and 3 to 4 feet deep.
10. Lumber Jacked: jumping over two logs that are 4 feet off the ground and a log that is 5 feet off the ground.
11. Electric Eel: army crawling through ice water under barbed wire with live wires hanging down shocking you. The shock here is minimal and feels like a pinch.
12. Balls to the Wall: scaling a 15 foot wall with the assistance of a knotted rope.
13. Mud Mile: a series of mud pits with a big pile of dirt between each.
14. Boa Constrictor: army crawling through a small pipe angled down into a mud pit, and up another pipe out of the mud pit. Breathing here is difficult if you are crawling face down.
15. Berlin Walls #2: Scaling two 10 foot walls back to back. There is a 2x4 secured to the wall about 2 feet off the ground to run and push off of to jump and reach the top.
16. Cliff Hanger: jumping into a mud pit, then climbing out and clawing your way up a steep muddy incline.
17. Funky Monkey: going across ascending, then descending monkey bars. Careful, the bars spin. If you fall, there is a pool of water below.
18. Just the Tip: traversing across a wall with a 2x4 to stand on and a 2x4 for your hands. The middle section gets skinnier with one inch boards to stand on and hold onto. If you fall, there is a pool below. If you rock climb, this shouldn't be a challenge.
19. Walk the Plank: Climbing up a 15 foot wall with 2x4 cross sections and jumping off into a 15 foot deep pool of water. That's just asking for a backflip.
20. Everest: a 12 foot tall slippery quarter pipe. Run as fast as you can, push off, and jump for the top. Then pull yourself up and over.
21. Electroshock Therapy: Running through a 40 foot long by 15 foot wide canopy of live wires hanging down shocking you as you go. Don't underestimate the power of the current. It's not going to kill you so man up and run through.

Rolling is the fastest way through this obstacle, 

but you get very dizzy. 

 Climbing out of Arctic Enema. I was in and out 

so fast that the cold didn't affect me much.

 They didn't get any pictures of me going through Electroshock Therapy, 

but here's a guy who got knocked off his feet going through getting shocked.

A couple of the obstacles actually scared me. The first was the Boa Constrictor. I couldn't breathe when crawling out of the escape pipe because the water was so high in the pipe. I barely had room in the tight space to turn around on my back so my face could reach the air. Second was the Electroshock Therapy obstacle. I grossly underestimated the power of the current. I didn't think it would be bad because of the weak current in the Electric Eel obstacle. I ran through all cocky with my arms out and next thing I knew I was face down in the mud. The shock literally knocked me unconscious.

Mud Mile

The hardest obstacle for me was the mud mile (above). It was absolutely exhausting getting through the mud pits, and up and over the piles of loose dirt. By the end I was crawling on my hands and knees up the dirt piles and rolling down into the next mud pit because all my strength was gone.

Walk the Plank

They didn't get any pictures of my backflip off of 

this obstacle, but this picture is even better.

The most fun was the Walk the Plank obstacle (above). Cliff jumping is one of my favorite things to do. My only complaint is that it wasn't higher.

I got some mud on my face from when I got knocked 

out by Electroshock Therapy moments before this.

Every Tough Mudder race is a qualifier for World's Toughest Mudder. The top 5% of finishers in each Tough Mudder qualify to run in this 24 hour obstacle race on steroids. I finished with the fastest time on Utah's course so I will be going to New Jersey next month for the ultimate test of physical and mental endurance.

Official Tough Mudder Utah Event Video

The Dirty Dash 2012

I previously mentioned my obsession with obstacle racing which is what led me to sign up for The Dirty Dash in Utah this fall. It's another one of these "non-competitive races." I'm ultimately trying to qualify for the World's Toughest Mudder and this was a good practice race leading up to the Tough Mudder. None of the obstacles were particularly challenging, but man it was cold. I ran in the 8am heat and it was about 50 degrees. That's not bad running weather, but when you're jumping into snow runoff water every five minutes or so, it makes the running a lot more challenging. Obstacles included jumping over walls, hay bales, creeks, pipes, etc, as well as mud pits, wading through the marshes down by Deer Creek Reservoir, climbing rope nets, going across monkey bars, and an enormous slip n slide. The monkey bars were not possible. I'd be surprised if anyone made it across. Volunteers were spraying them with a hose making it impossible to hang on. Other than that, the hardest part was the cold. It was like trying to run after taking an ice bath. Your legs simply didn't want to work. 

Freezing to death before the race.

 Over under mud pit.

Slip n slide. 

 Coming through the finish line with style.

Justin and me after the race.

Even though this race was non-competitive, I ran all out. You could either run the full 10k course or take a shortcut to the finish after 5k. In the beginning of the race, there were quite a few people close behind me, but after the 5k turnoff, I looked back and there was no one even close. I guess all the people running at my pace only ran the 5k. I finished the 10k course in 52 minutes, nine minutes before the next finisher which was a little embarrassing, but what was I supposed to do? Not run my fastest? These races should really have an individual competitive heat. If the first heat of the day were competitive, it wouldn't affect any of the later runners who aren't going for time and it would attract more runners. Overall The Dirty Dash was a blast and I'd recommend it to anyone.