Craziness we call Benson.

So I get a call one day in early spring from the district representative for high adventure training for the scouting program. They were looking for help with planning a Kodiak training camp for the 14 to 17 year old boys for the Cedar Breaks area. They wanted to have a high adventure activity using Climbing and Rappelling. Their first thought was to have them go on a canyoning experience and we made arrangements to explore a possible area with some other rope junkies. We met on a Tuesday afternoon and made our way to the area with five of us geared to the ready. The first part of the hike seemed long and one of the others remarked that there is a shorter route but it had lots of hazardous stuff that may not be suitable for scouts and other groups. As we got to the top of the ridge we rested and found the trail (old wagon road). We stopped a few times along this part of the trail to look down at the road far below us noting we were possibly a good thousand feet above it. There is also on the other side of the canyon a formation of rock that is large and promenade called the hole in the rock. About twenty five minutes or so latter after bush whacking around some we managed to find the desired canyon. The dropping phase of this trip included four rappels ranging for 50’ to 110’ down waterfalls of the slot canyon. Easy half mile on a good path walk back to the road. This was just the start of the craziness we call Benson Creek.

Many a year or two has passed since that day in 2008. We have been to the area so much that it has become a quiet home away from home. We have since also placed a few Geocaches along the way to add to the adventure. Some trips have been in the early spring when the water is flowing higher and making for an outrageous experience. Other trips later in the year not as much water but fun none the less. Although the Kodiak camp experience was changed and we used a different venue, finding Benson Creek was a great trade off. There have been trips with scouts to Benson Canyon. 

One of the biggest statements about it came on the first trip there by my good wife. After hiking for ever she was not thinking much of the whole thing until we had dropped down the first waterfall and her whole mood changed. The statement of “you can’t have a bad mood for long walking in the woods” Not sure where it’s from or who said it. Something changes for many people when you get to play in the water where few people have been. She has been back so many times now that it must have left some kind of spot with her that is good. We have had graduation hikes, challenge hikes, things to prove hikes, birthday hikes, and many others in Benson. We have taken family, people we even consider family, many friends and new friends. There have been lots of diversity in the groups we have taken as well. Some groups of people from many states and some countries out in the world. Some interesting tidbits on this placed that happened or are ongoing. 

A tradition that started not long after going a second time was placing a rock or two on a stack on the top of the ridge. With that in mind, we stopped to rest and look down on one trip and a friend Sara started a rock pile. That same trip we came a crossed a small rattler at the bottom of the first Rappel. He was dazed and confused to the point of not caring much that we were there either. We came had and surprise one trip finding a house cat at the top of the first Rappel once also. Once crossing the upper meadow we spooked a large buck with a rack that any hunter would have been drooling over  with a good herd of deer running him. The meadow still has a few remaining things of years gone by when a man named Benson had a saw mill there. Very often we would encounter many shocked and camera happy people as we would make the last Rappel on our exit. Many people come to this area to hike and enjoy the lower area known to many as Hidden Haven not knowing that the greatest of water falls is deep in the canyon out of reach of the rest of the world with out a trusty rope.

There have many names of some of the crazies that have joined us on the hike of fame. There are a few cool birds we call Gull, some one that runs and likes to Dash, Dave’s not here, Let Mickey, The Wind, and many more. May the craziness live on long with the next generation of crazies! The connection of a soul is most often found in connecting with the wilds of nature. There is some solitude in the confines of a canyon that is narrow and deep. That is a short clip of the craziness we call Benson.