For some of us, it was a fabulous day. For one of us, it was the worst day.
Benson Creek is about 3.5 hours away, but since it's a short canyon, we decided to do it as a day trip.
Katie worked at a Jazz game the night before, so she was up till 1:30 a.m. Chase and Amy and I picked her up at 7 a.m. Not ideal, but Katie was excited to do the canyon, so it was worth it to sacrifice some sleep. She had also taken that night off work so she wouldn't have to worry about making it back to SLC by a certain time.
We were not expecting so much snow on the approach. We knew the canyon would be icy. (In fact, that's what we were hoping for.) But we hadn't anticipated snow so deep that we were sinking down up to our knees with every step. Chase, Amy and I were all wearing snow boots. Katie, in her rush to get out the door that morning, had just grabbed her canyoneering shoes, which have mesh sides. Within a half hour of hiking, her feet were numb. We stopped to confer and Katie had to make the difficult decision to go back to the car and skip the canyon.
It was for the best; we were in deep snow for the whole approach. At one point, I was literally crawling up the hill through the deep snow with the 200 foot rope in my pack because I kept falling down. It would have been dangerous for Katie to continue hiking in those conditions. But what a terrible day for Katie!
She did hike up to the last waterfall and took some pictures, so at least she got to see something. But she got up early and spent almost 8 hours in the car and took off work all so she could just sit in the car and read for four hours while we did a canyon. Poor Katie! She said she felt so stupid, but we all tried to assure her it could have happened to any of us. None of us anticipated that much snow, and we've all had to turn around and skip a canyon. But I'm not sure that made her feel much better.
Chase, Amy, and I arrived at the first rappel, and it was intimidating! There was so much ice, and you couldn't see the bottom... you're just rappelling into this dark pit.
But after I got a few feet down, I could see the whole waterfall and it was gorgeous!! I kept yelling, "Oh my gosh, this is SO cool!!"
There wasn't actually much to the canyon; just four rappels all in a row. The first was definitely the most spectacular.
(2nd rappel)
(Third rappel- The ice formations reminded me of cave formations!)
(Final rappel- Hiking up to this waterfall is an easy trail that is popular with locals.)
After the final rappel, it's just an easy hike back to the car. It was easier to enjoy the scenery at this point since I wasn't crawling up a ridge. Even though I was wearing my warm Sorel boots, my feet were so cold. We all ordered hot chocolate at the restaurant afterwards!
Benson Creek is about 3.5 hours away, but since it's a short canyon, we decided to do it as a day trip.
Katie worked at a Jazz game the night before, so she was up till 1:30 a.m. Chase and Amy and I picked her up at 7 a.m. Not ideal, but Katie was excited to do the canyon, so it was worth it to sacrifice some sleep. She had also taken that night off work so she wouldn't have to worry about making it back to SLC by a certain time.
We were not expecting so much snow on the approach. We knew the canyon would be icy. (In fact, that's what we were hoping for.) But we hadn't anticipated snow so deep that we were sinking down up to our knees with every step. Chase, Amy and I were all wearing snow boots. Katie, in her rush to get out the door that morning, had just grabbed her canyoneering shoes, which have mesh sides. Within a half hour of hiking, her feet were numb. We stopped to confer and Katie had to make the difficult decision to go back to the car and skip the canyon.
It was for the best; we were in deep snow for the whole approach. At one point, I was literally crawling up the hill through the deep snow with the 200 foot rope in my pack because I kept falling down. It would have been dangerous for Katie to continue hiking in those conditions. But what a terrible day for Katie!
She did hike up to the last waterfall and took some pictures, so at least she got to see something. But she got up early and spent almost 8 hours in the car and took off work all so she could just sit in the car and read for four hours while we did a canyon. Poor Katie! She said she felt so stupid, but we all tried to assure her it could have happened to any of us. None of us anticipated that much snow, and we've all had to turn around and skip a canyon. But I'm not sure that made her feel much better.
Chase, Amy, and I arrived at the first rappel, and it was intimidating! There was so much ice, and you couldn't see the bottom... you're just rappelling into this dark pit.
But after I got a few feet down, I could see the whole waterfall and it was gorgeous!! I kept yelling, "Oh my gosh, this is SO cool!!"
There wasn't actually much to the canyon; just four rappels all in a row. The first was definitely the most spectacular.
(2nd rappel)
(Third rappel- The ice formations reminded me of cave formations!)
(Final rappel- Hiking up to this waterfall is an easy trail that is popular with locals.)
After the final rappel, it's just an easy hike back to the car. It was easier to enjoy the scenery at this point since I wasn't crawling up a ridge. Even though I was wearing my warm Sorel boots, my feet were so cold. We all ordered hot chocolate at the restaurant afterwards!
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