Trip Report: Maple Canyon (near Moroni, UT)

View from our campsite

About four months ago my good friend Geoff Brown started e-mailing me to see if I would be able to get away from my grad program for long enough to do a winter trip. At the time it seemed impossible, but we began brainstorming anyway. As I was preoccupied with much more than my brain could already handle, I let Geoff look for places he would be interested in visiting, and he found Maple Canyon. Although very busy during the Summer months, we felt that it would be far enough away from civilization to thoroughly enjoy ourselves. Maple Canyon is known for its limitless rock climbing pitches, but we soon discovered that ice climbing is quite popular there as well. The climbers we passed were pretty impressed that we were camping up there for some reason...kind of made Geoff and I chuckle to ourselves.

We didn't know while planning whether we would be able to drive all the way up to our campsite, or if we would need to hike in. We knew that it was only a mile in though, and felt that we could carry anything we would need for a comfortable winter outing. I wanted to bring dry wood to get the most from the experience, and Geoff was smart enough to realize that if we did need to carry any wood further than 100 yards, than we would need sleds to pull it.

When we arrived we discovered that the road at the mouth of the canyon does not get plowed during the winter months. We strapped on our snowshoes (for the first time, finally), put our backpacks on, and began dragging one sled full of wood, along with a large rubbermade tote also full of wood. I was surprised how good I felt for the first hundred yards, but soon discovered that it would take FOREVER to walk the "short" mile to the campsites. We chose to abandon the wood so that we could get to the campsites before dark, and then walk back down to pull the wood by itself for a second trip. Although we were able to get to the top of the canyon without having to stop every hundred feet to adjust the wood load, the second trip was just as long and tiring as the first couple hundred yards when we were weighed down with our packs.

View of the start of Maple Canyon

Below is a picture of Geoff working his way up the canyon. He was, and usually is, much faster than I am, but he even had to stop pretty often to catch his breath. In hindsight we both saw how unrealistic it was to carry in so much wood, but we both felt that it was worth it that night when cooking our brauts, and the next morning while waiting for the sun to peak over the canyon walls. When we got back to the truck after our trip, we realized that we didn't even take all of the wood! Guess it's better to take more wood than you need??? No idea why I thought we would need so much. Truth is, we didn't have to have a fire, but just wanted to enjoy the luxury of one in the wintertime.

I intended to try a few ideas I saw on Backpacker Magazine's weekly e-mail since we were planning on having a fire. The first recipe (video posted at the bottom) was simple enough, after you dig the fruit out from an orange, fill the remaining peel with cake batter, place the top back on, wrap it in aluminum foil, and let it roast on the coals. The second recipe (if you want to even call it that) suggested roasting apples over a fire, stripping off the peel, and then rolling the warm juicy apple in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. The second idea was awesome! It was so easy to do, and was worth the little effort it took. Unfortunately, I couldn't do the first recipe because I forgot the aluminum foil at home - which reminded me to put out all of my food next time so that I can make sure I have everything I need.

Snowshoes+backpacks+heavy loads of wood = much too heavy

The weather was perfect, and the two feet of snow consisted of the driest powder I have ever seen. It had the consistency of sand, but was much lighter. Although the road up the canyon was packed from snowmobiles, we were glad to have crampons on the bottoms of our feet for traction. This was the first time I have ever tested out my snowshoes, and was very impressed with how simple, yet effective, they were.

Frost hanging over the stream where we collected water

I don't know what it was about this trip, but I felt a renewed sense of appreciation and love for getting outside and enjoying all that nature has to offer. I have realized that the more trips I go on, the more effective my planning becomes, and the more enjoyable each trip turns out to be. I also realized, once again, that having the right companion on a trip such as this makes all the difference. It's not just anyone who would want to go camping during the winter months - not to mention snowshoeing in while carrying/pulling 50+ lbs of equipment and wood. Check out Geoff's blog, Out and Back Again, to read his review of the trip.