Canyon between Rock Canyon and Provo Canyon

Today, i hiked up into a canyon between Rock canyon and Provo canyon and found multiple routes up there. Does anyone know anything about these routes? Topos?

Thanks,
Aaron

The name of the canyon, i just found out, is Little Rock Canyon. Brilliant name. Anyone know topos of any routes there?

I believe both Jason Wiggins and Justin McDonald have bolted routes in that canyon. There is a Jason Wiggins registered on this site; try contacting him that way. I'm sure Darren K. can tell you how to contact both of them.

Strangely enough, the canyon to the south of Slate Canyon is also named Little Rock Canyon.

Aaron Child wrote:Today, i hiked up into a canyon between Rock canyon and Provo canyon and found multiple routes up there. Does anyone know anything about these routes? Topos? Thanks, Aaron

I heard that was private land and the landowner was uncool to climbers? I really hope I'm wrong.

I do know him. I'll see if i can get a hold of either him or Jason Wiggins. Thanks guys. I appreciate it.

I had the same question earlier in the year. Didn't get much of a response, though. That thread is here.

-Tristan

tenesmus wrote:I heard that was private land...

Justin McDonald, Tim Hannig, Shelby Shreve and I have all bolted routes in the canyon. To my knowledge only 2 have been redpointed. Some still need work and some are just damn hard. If y'all could please give me until next season on my projects it would be appreciated. If I cannot redpoint I will turn them over to open projects.

first of all congratulations on making the crappy approach. If you were smart you found the water tower approach which is on public land otherwise you hiked through Tim Hannig's ex-wife's back yard. You also dodged the partiers in the canyon which I have found still hitting the pipe and bottle as early as 4:00a.

The limestone in this canyon is part of the same strata as found in provo canyon so it contains many sedimented layers that have been mixed up by uplifting. Some of the stone is near featureless likely the result of formerly horizontal layers that have been lifted to near vertical and eroded. Bottom line is that every route bolted so far has required a lot of dangerous cleaning. Watch your head in this area especially in the spring.

The routes: The first formation encountered on the north side of the canyon has several routes bolted by Hannig and Justin McDonnald. As far as I know the only route that has been redpointed is the furthest to the left. I got the FA on this a while ago as Hannig didn't care to. It goes at 5.11- and has a bit of runnout. It is pretty fun. The other routes on this wall are projects -I believe there are 3 others. Hannig is detained at the time so I have not been able to determine if this is still true. All other routes are in excess of .12-.

The next wall on the north side at higher elevation has two very hard routes that I bolted and have still not redpointed as key holds have broken. I put red tags on these and hope to finish them up in the spring.

The next wall on the north side is a very long fat thumb of blackish limestone (confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy) has 2 routes. The first on the left was bolted by Shelby Shreve and needs to have a bolt moved at the crux. He plans to finish in the spring. The next on the right is one I bolted and am very near redpoint. It is very long ~160'. I would very much appreciate it if folks would respect the huge amount of work and time that went into cleaning and bolting this by letting me finish it. I am still very psyched about this beefy but beautiful line.

Going up canyon a little further will bring you to a free standing tower. There is a route on the west face that I bolted on lead last year and has been climbed a couple of times. It is pretty fun. The first ascent of the tower is unknown. Another ascent was made by Calder Stratford some years back solo, aid. I contacted Calder and he said that a summit post was already staked when he did it. Anyway, the route I bolted is in the neighborhood of 90' and has some fun moves on it. The rock is pretty good. There are two bolts close together near the top. the first is on very suspect rock. I nearly fell drilling this damn thing so i place a bolt to protect my next move. Anyway, I will remove this next time I do it. The anchor also needs some work. I would say that this is the only good warmup in the canyon. Everything else is stout and or very tricky. Bring some long runners for this if you plan to try it out. Also, if you have some long chain, you could extend the anchor. Otherwise brings some nylon you can leave behind to reinforce what is up there. I plan to fix the anchor in the spring.

With all the great stone nearby I am very surprised anyone is scoping this area. The good rock is hard to find. Calder did a few other solo ascents in the canyon. I could not make out location by his description. On a final note, the people in the neighborhood are a bit pissed about the riff raff in the canyon. Please do all you can to show that climbers are the ones that are helping them by carrying out trash. I found a needle and a pipe left up there a while ago so be careful what you pick up. Don't be surprised if you are questioned by neighbors or cops. Just be polite and offer help cleaning around the trailhead and up the canyon. This will go a long ways - it has for me so far.

Sweet, thanks for the info. Last time I was up there (3-4 months ago) I definitely saw several pipes and other... er... artifacts.

The approach I've done each time must have been the backyard route. What's the water tower one?

-Tristan

Directions to trailhead:
Drive to N. Temple street as if you plan to go to rock canyon. From N.Temple street turn left on Iroquois Dr at the 4 way stop on east side of LDS temple. Drive generally north on Iroquois then turn left on Navajo Ln -second left after the bend. Navajo ends. Steer right onto Cherokee. Cherokee ends. Steer left onto Foothill Dr. Turn right on Windsor just past LDS church. Drive generally east on Windsor then turn right on Imperial way. At the end of Imperial way you will see a fence with a trail marker. You have arrived. The water tower is mostly buried but you can see it on google earth. The trail traverses the base of the mountain for a short distance then heads up canyon. You will not be trespassing by taking this approach. Do not park in front of the gate as service vehicles use it to get to the water tank.

One last bit of helpful info... hike up the creekbed. It is much less strenuous than the steep eroded trail. The Hannig and McDonald area can be seen left of the bolted boulder in the creekbed. The 5.11 route that has been redpointed is the furthest on the left in this weird enclave. The bottom of the route may need to be cleaned a little but that is all. the rest of the route is in good shape. The tower is a ways up canyon. If you hit the campsite without seeing it, then look behind you on the north side. It should be obvious.

Jason Wiggins wrote:...The water tower...

Aaron,

A few years back Tim and I went up there to clean the frist wall you get to. He told me I could FA the route he bolted to the right (12a-ish?). Also gave me a bunch of bolts to finish bolting some routes on the wall.

Ill take you up there sometime and show you around. Tim and I have gone when there was 2 ft of snow. The nature of the cliff and the direction it faces makes it prefect to climb on a warm winter day. The landing and wall stay compeletly dry. I still need to red point that route.

Ill see you around and talk to you about it.

Justin

Curious if there is any more up-to-date info on this area