The Burgemeester of South African Kloofing was in town, and we ran through Pine Creek and Fiddle Me This, and were looking for a Big Finish.
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Anna was in town for a week of fun canyons, and tried to set up a Heaps trip. It did not set up, so we backed off to Telephone. Grabbed a permit in the morning (thanks Erin), hopped on the very full rush-hour bus, made it to the trailhead about 9am. Compared to last week, it was not all that hot out. As in, it was hot, just not Scorching Hot! I was Jonesing to do Telephone because...
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Is it MAY, already? Where does the time go? Elana is back in Springdale briefly between travelling the world (Israel, Jordan, Spain, Portugal, Morocco!) and moving to Silverton to guide for Outward Bound - and with the fine weather, a canyoneering adventure seemed to be in order. With the recent rain, something casual please. How about Spry?
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As the mayor (self-appointed) of Canyoneering in Zion, it is my obligation to entertain foreign visitors as best I can. In this case, Kiwis Nicole and Raquel were road-tripping in the USA and were sent my way. Rough all over, it is. We did a warmup in Pine Creek on one day; they adventured in Mystery Canyon the next; then it rained on Saturday. Sunday would be their final day in Zion - what would be the best bang for the buck?
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Went out to the Roost to do some Rambling with Alane from Colorado. The weather was a bit rainy, so we kept things rather mild, and tried to keep not too wet. First day, after driving in, we rambled down the Middle Fork of Robbers Roost Canyon, and did it's one rappel (as two rappels), hiked down the Middle to the North, then up to the usual Mindbender climb-up exit. Made the top as the sun was setting...
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Working on the 2nd Edition of my Zion Canyoneering Guidebook, one of the 'benefits' of due diligence is that I 'get' to do all the canyons again at least once, to see how they are doing. Lodge Canyon was never a favorite, but, after two trips this spring, it is not so bad, really...
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Abysmal Canyon, actually. I love the name because "it is way past Bad". Quite a few years ago, Ram and I were invited on the first descent of this canyon, and it seemed like a good way to start this year's Death Valley trip. We have learned that hiking up from the bottom 3000 feet is easier on the body than hiking down from the top 3000 feet...
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Just a month prior, we had a particularly great trip through this canyon.So it seemed a good choice for a sunny February Sunday, for these peoples who had done a few canyons in Zion. After a bit of shenanigans, we had ourselves a shuttle driver, used to driving farm equipment so my Pathfinder should not be a problem, allowing the entire day to be dedicated to going downhill, excepting a few minutes here and there...
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Mystery Canyon. Oh my heck my favorite canyon in Zion... well, sorta. Last trip through Mystery, all of seven weeks ago, Amanda had mentioned that she and Chad had downclimbed almost every rappel during the previous summer...
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Yes, it is still winter. After a few days of rain, we were psyched to go sneak another canyon in, and also psyched for a lazyish start, given the festivities the night before, Amanda and Kat's going away party in advance of their coming-up-fast South Africa adventure. The day was grey and not all that warm. The plan was to do Lower Lower Echo...
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For this adventure, my two favorite and best canyoneering partners, Amanda Josephine Jessop and Bailey Camille Schofield. THEY went skiing and boarding the previous day, so *I* got to play the man this time, carrying the 300' rope up the hill, holding open doors, helping with seatbelts, etc.
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The idea was to sneak in one more good canyon before the weather hit, and Diana really wanted Kolob, so we scheduled a trip Monday Tuesday, hiking out the narrows and... And then it snowed. Plenty of snow up top, so Kolob was not going to be a good choice. Second choice...
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Zion. Tabernacle Dome. A fine easy climb before pigging out on Thanksgiving victuals. What an amazing fall we have been having. The warm, sunny weather has persisted, and it seems our obligation to take advantage. Tabernacle Dome (or Turtle Rock) seemed like a good choice for a pre-feast romp - half-day, not too far, mostly just fun fun fun.
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Canyoneering? It is getting kinda cold at night, but the fine weather in Zion National Park is holding so, when someone mentioned that ropes were hanging on the last rap in Not-Imlay, we thought we would throw together a trip and go get ‘em sooner rather than later. Invites went out and were quickly returned - guess more people than me have a touch of the cabin fever. Weekday travel would allow driving into Zion Canyon. Sweet temps would allow a reasonable start.
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Frank from Colorado was paying his first canyoneering visit to Zion, and wanted to get in a "big boy" before escaping, so Amanda suggested Kolob. While it is kinda long day, it would be less tortuous than our last couple of days out - sounds good. I drove over to Lava Point and camped in the cool of the high altitude, while Frank and Amanda drove up early in the morning.
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We were in Ouray for Wayne and Laura's wedding, which went well. Ira invited me on an exploration - Wetterhorn Creek - presumably because he knew I enjoyed suffering -- certainly not for my uphill speed. Also on the team was Chris Hood from Salt Lake and Lori Shindel from Denver. We drove up the Cow Creek "road", which was an adventure in itself. Glad it was Ira's brand new well-insured Tacoma, rather than a lesser vehicle. Parked among the big trees at 8300 feet. From there, the trail went UP!
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Part of the heat is to chose one's adventures carefully. In this case, we kinda did, kinda didn't. The idea was to check out an "easier" approach to a canyon Kip explored about 10 years ago, as the original approach we took was long and tedious. Would the new approach be short and easy enough? Would the canyon be good enough to make it worth the walk?
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Heaps - the Big Kahuna! What a great canyon. I got the opportunity to do it three times this year - and this is the one where a bunch of pictures got taken. A mellow trip put together by Deeps, with Brian Olliver, Louis Johnson, Everett Boutillet and myself. Two days in the middle of the summer - LOTS of daylight. With the canyon full from recent thunderstorms, and a strong team... SHOULD be no problem. (Pictures this Rave from the whole team!)
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