Magical Maple Canyon - Rock Climbing and Hiking Paradise

How in the bloody hell did I end up in Wales? Hey! Hey! Hey! Rockhopper here and I'll tell you how I ended up in Wales in just a minute. So I was out roaming around looking for this place here. And what this place is, it's a part of Maple Canyon. And this particular canyon is called Box Canyon. Now we're going to check this one out because this one supposedly is the really cool magical one with the crazy rock formations, tall walls, and all that good stuff. The canyons in this region are composed of Cretaceous conglomerate rock. And what happened is geologic processes moved a whole lot of sediment. And that sediment, through pressure and time, hardened, solidified all of this into rocks, some of which goes down below me 15,000 feet. And then it uplifted and erosion created the canyons that we have now. So what you're seeing here is actually just the tip of the iceberg. So now that you've got that information, let's come on and go hiking. Conglomerate rock consists of mainly round rocks that have been glued together by sediment. And the difference between this and breccia is that breccia, although very similar, generally is composed of triangular or other shaped rocks. I'm here in central Utah. So we're going to go explore up this thing. And apparently there's like a waterfall up there somewhere. These cicadas are everywhere. They're up in the trees and they're flitting around every now and then. This will give you an idea of kind of how big these things are. You can see my finger there for relative size. These ones aren't the biggest I've ever seen. I've seen some pretty big ones before. People come from all around to climb these walls. And it is a little bit different. You are climbing that conglomerate rock as opposed to granite or other rock formations. This route is called Jesus Freak and it's a 512D pitch. That last route with the climbers was called Loser. And one guy was saying there are a lot of interesting names for these climbing routes, such as Retroactive, Abortion, Black Chicks in Heat, and a whole lot of other names. You can't say that climbers don't have a sense of humor. Here's some other funny climbing route names. Seems an unlikely place to have a maple tree growing. Just down below all these big cliffs in the wash. There are a few plants growing down in here and these ones are columbines which aren't quite blooming just yet. Here's a quick look back of what we've come through. That woman will give you an idea of the relative size of this place. On a hot day this is a good place to come and hike because you're in the shade. The tall walls block the sun for the most part, except for a few little areas. So yeah, when it's a hundred out, shade is here. And you do get into those little sunny spots, but it doesn't last too long. So as I was looking for this place, I went through the little town of Wales on the way here. So that's how I ended up there. And that's Wales, Utah. Not to be confused with the other Wales. Listen for the sound of the canyon wren while you're in here. The sweet trill. There it is. This is looking pretty good, huh? Because of the constant shade and coolness here, you get things growing like these ferns and these delicate little flowers. I'm not sure what type they are. But they're pretty. Hey, nice. Here's some columbine flowers that are in bloom. I didn't expect to find raspberry bushes, but here they are. We've got our first sign of water here in an otherwise dry canyon bed. These plants are stinging nettles. Be sure not to touch them because they do have a nasty burning sting. But interestingly enough, you can actually eat them as long as you cook them. And they have a lot of nutrition and they are very good for you. Well, this is interesting. Looks like we're going to have to do a little bit of scrambling underneath these rocks here. Well, maybe not. I found another what looks to be a little route around the rock. So let's take that instead. Yeah, we'll just go up. Up and around. No problem at all. Yeah, but there might be some harder places ahead. Hey, look at that. Looks like we've got a little stream going on here now. That's pretty cool. Here's a look behind us for just a sec. Did you hear that crow? Continuing on, we've got to go up and around this rock. And this might be a little tricky for some of you. So just keep that in mind what your hiking level is. I don't want you to get in trouble. And then we encounter this. I think this would strike fear in the heart of that guy, Aaron Ralston. In 2003, Aaron Ralston descended alone into Utah's Blue John Canyon, where he dislodged a boulder that pinned his right wrist to a rock wall. Trapped for days, he ended up amputating his lower arm by cutting through it with a pocket knife. After doing so, he hiked to get help. The movie 127 Hours was made about the incident. Yeah, that rock looks like it's rather precariously hanging there. And this is, of course, Utah. This is where it gets a little tricky. We've got to go underneath some rocks here. Right through here. Now there's more rocks to slither through. Do we go that way? Or that way? Or through there? Let's give this way a go. That worked out OK. Now we've just got to get past this little bit here. And continue. Looks like we've got some more things to go slither through. And I can see a ladder up ahead. Right up there. Fairly easy if you're good on ladders. If not, you may not want to try this. Somebody's having fun stacking rocks at the top of the ladder. There is an added rope for safety where that ladder is. And that's where you come up through. And this is the scenery behind it. It's probably not even noon yet. And I can feel the heat coming on. But it sure feels good being right in here with this cool shade. Not far beyond the ladder, somebody placed a branch in there. So it's easier to get up these rocks. And once you get up that branch, you can see the narrow chasm ahead. It's almost like a slot canyon. I guess in a sense it really is a slot canyon. It's just a different type. One of conglomerate rocks. Wow. Yeah, look at that. That's pretty right through there. Just a narrow squeeze through. There's the waterfall. I'd call it more a water trickle at this point. A little pour off. Here at the pour off is where most people would turn around. But if you've watched some of my other videos, you'll know that I'm not most people. So I think we should climb up that rope, up that waterfall, and keep going. It looks to be about a 40 foot climb to get to the top of that pour off. It's not vertical, but it appears to be maybe a 70 to 75 degree angle. What do you think? Yeah? All right, let's do it. Come on. Made it to the top. Those rocks that were in the water were a little bit slick and slippery. I think I can accurately say that this rope climb would not be for everybody. Thankfully it was a strong, good rope. Looks like another rope climb is in order just up ahead from the first one. And that's what's above us. This rope climb was relatively easy compared to the last one. And the last one is just right down there. And that's the canyon behind it. Here's a different variety of cicada. This one's a lot bigger. This one's also dead. I don't imagine this cicada really wants to be surfing in this water. Maybe I'll just pluck him out and lend him a hand. Come on, little buddy. Get on some dry land there. Oh, you look kind of dead, huh? Yeah, might be a little late for that, huh? I don't know. He's actually still alive. There you go, bud. You can dig and dry out. Here's a closer look at the cicada. So now we're following a stream. A constant stream. So let's see where this ends up taking us. Heading up and around the corner here. More of the same. Wow, look at this. This is nice. It's like a little green Eden up here. Got ferns and trees. A whole lot of ferns lining the stream. And some pretty little flowers here, too. And we have here what I'm pretty sure is an elderberry bush. I actually had one growing in my yard in Oregon. And you can tell by the bark here. The flat clusters of flowers that are about to appear. And elderberries can be made into jam and wine and things like that. But if you eat them raw, they are kind of toxic. I don't know what I'm smelling up here, but it smells pretty funky. Like something died. That would be it. Some bird died. Looks like it was a crow. That's a good reason right there to always purify your water. Unless you get it straight from the source and you know it's pure. Now this is interesting. It's really narrowing down right now. Yeah, that's pretty narrow. Here's a look ahead. I hear a crow and some kind of bird of prey. Sounds like it's nesting. Some chicks, maybe. Look at that. No flower. No leaves. Just growing right in the stream there. Let's slip on through here. Going in underneath these rocks here. And I hear a bird. Ooh, a whole lot of yellow jackets or something up there. There's a little canyon wren right there. Hey buddy. Sing us a song. Yeah, there's two of them. A lot of little butterflies here at this pour-off. This little mini pour-off here. Let's go up this and continue. It's getting really green up here. Wow, really green. Got to be careful of that stinging nettle there. That'll hurt if it gets you as we go through this greenery here. See what's back up along here. Duck under these branches. I think we must be getting kind of close to the end here. Ooh, looks like the stinging nettle gauntlet. I think that's the top up there. I think we're almost at the end. Ooh, I've got shorts on. I think I just got nailed by one of the nettles. Yeah, sometimes it just goes with the territory. Careful as you can be, but you get hit. Yeah, right there. Some others up ahead. We must be getting up in elevation. That looks like a fir tree right there. You can eat the young needles. Well, you can eat all the needles if you wanted, but the young ones are much better. Got a lot of good vitamin C in them. Well, surprised it just keeps on going. I'm pretty sure we're almost at the top now. There's my little hiking buddy. There he goes. See you later, Mr. Lizard. Are you going to do some push-ups for me? Okay. You look threatening. Yeah, I'm scared. How about some more push-ups, buddy? Puff up a little bit there. No? Okay. I just looked down and saw this guy. Well, there he is. Yeah. Sorry, buddy. Didn't mean to intrude on your space. Always keep an eye out for rattlesnakes, I am. Learned to do that in Arizona. See you later, bud. Have a nice day. Catch you around the bend. That chipmunk had a sad ending. He might have fallen off these cliffs. Does anybody happen to know what type of feather that could be? One more tiny climb and I think we're out of here. Elvis has left the canyon. Well, that's one for the money, two for the show. Elvis, you're dead. But Bob Dylan, I'm here still kicking. Where's Elvis? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. They say all good things must come to an end, and this canyon certainly has come to the end. I hope you enjoyed exploring Box Canyon in the Maple Canyon area of Utah with me. Don't forget to subscribe and give me a thumbs up, like on the video, and share with everybody you know. Till next time, this is Rock Hopper. I'll see ya. First Wales and now Jerusalem.