Posts in Tom's First Visit
Gorge Creek Canyon, North Cascades National Park, PNW Fest

I was amped for the drive into the great North. The highlight of the night definitely came in Sedro-Woolley. I never realized how important the process of beer selection is.

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Canyoneering South Fork Snoqualmie Creek, PNW Fest

South Fork Snoqualmie could easily be considered the "Pine Creek" of the Pacific Northwest. The similarities are striking. Easy access, densely packed with action, and fairly straightforward technically. What's more, they both have highways running literally on top of them.

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Right Fork and Stevenson Canyon, Zion National Park, UT

Chris Avery came by for his annual Zion trip, this time with son Tanner in tow. We rounded up Lin Alder of Springdale and two of his friends, Pearl and Blake. We set up a wonderful Right Fork trip, but some of us snuck away to do a Zion first descent - Stevenson Canyon, the canyon that comes in just upstream of the Stevenson Alcove (get it?) from the northwest. We hoped for something good… we got a long rappel to get in, then not much, so…

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Robbers Roost Canyon Festival: High Spur, Almost Mindbender, and Chambers Canyons

Spring. Usually a time of unstable weather. Ram planned two weeks out in the Roost with family and friends, and I planned to join them. The usual late-night drive brought me in to Granary Spring at 2 am.

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FreezeFest V: Limbo Canyon, Ticaboo Mesa, UT

I dropped in on the night of the 26th, for the next day's exploration - Limbo Canyon. We had explored the slot next door in November, and it was good. So we wanted to get back and see what was next door.

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FreezeFest IV: No Kidding, Leprechaun, Stair, Hog, Achilles, Fooling' Around

Black Hole, New Year's Day - Truly, this IS The High Life! Thank you all for a wonderful Freezefest. Heck, we even had WOMEN! See ya in the New Year. (FreezeFest IV)

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Aardvark Canyon, UT

Kris invited me out for a little canyon adventure in a system he had been exploring. Kris's neighbor, Keith, is a pilot and was flying back from Arizona when he spotted this interesting-looking canyon system in a fairly unlikely spot, took some photos and got Kris and a few neighbors interested.

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Cedar Breaks Canyoneering: Too Wet Canyon

The first try had been made in the spring, when there was much too much snow around, but the approach had been figured out. The second try in June had been more successful, but when they got to the head of the canyon, it was flowing with WAY too much water.

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ACA Canyoneering Rendezvous: Chipitin Canyon, Mexico

As expected, after a day of travelling, too little sleep and a night of modest partying, morning came much too soon, and we broke up into groups to go do canyons. Not being in the "ridiculously early" group, I chose to do Chipitin

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Lake Powell: West Canyon

Went down to visit Glen Canyon with the Arizona gang in March. One of the highlights of the trip was visiting Cathedral in the Desert at low water, with the waterfall hitting the sand for the first time in forty years. It is a remarkable little spot. We motored around the puddle, did some canyons, dodged the weather, broke a prop, had a good time. Here's the story.

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