Utah Section
Utah, the home of many world-class and historically important climbing areas, has finally seceded from the Northern Rockies Section and become, drumroll please, the Utah Section. In 2012 our efforts focused on conservation. On August 18 and 19, the section teamed up with the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance, the Jeep Access Fund Conservation Crew (Jeff Young and Jason Kaplan), and the Forest Service’s Joseph McFarland for the Ruth Lake Crag Day in the Uinta Mountains. Ruth Lake’s crags are situated at 10,000 feet and are very popular with climbers trying to beat the summer heat in the valleys below. AAC members helped eliminate social trails in this fragile alpine environment, harden soggy footways, and replace an especially steep and loose section of trail with a stone staircase that will stand the tests of time. All this hard work was followed by a BBQ sponsored by the AAC. Over 30 volunteers participated.
October 13 and 14 brought Jim Donini’s Annual Indian Creek Trail Days. The Jeep Access Fund crew, Rocky Mountain Field Institute, and 70 volunteers showed up for a weekend of climbing, hard work, and BBQ. Much thanks to the Western Slope Section for sponsoring this event. Meanwhile, an AAC Cornerstone Conservation Grant to the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance will ensure the existence of seasonal latrines at Joe’s Valley for the next two years.
Jewell Lund of the Utah Section was the recipient of the Northern Rockies Live Your Dream Grant, and she and Kim Hall went and sent in the Wind Rivers. “It’s going to eat me!” is a quote from Lund’s trip report. For details, you’ll have to read the report at the AAC’s Inclined blog (inclined. americanalpineclub.org).