Canyoneering, it's kind of like fun, only different.: Blog

Bears in the Wild

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:35:20 GMT

So we took our family vacation over the last week up to the Teton/Yellowstone area of Wyoming. We set up base camp in Colter Bay and ran our day trips from there. It was quite an event with over 35 kids, and 14 adults. We had a good time playing games, trying to keep all the food put away so the bears wouldn't come harass us (we actually had one in the camp). We spent a nice day visiting the highlights of Yellowstone, though our preferred hike was omitted because there was still too much snow on the access road; and the mosquitos were in squadon.

The week long trip gave us a perfect opportunity to finalize our testing on the Coleman eXponent Northstar X8 tent . What a fabulous full 3 season tent. The full double fly provides ample protection from the wind and rain, and when guyed out properly, is incredibly stable. There Was plenty of room inside for the two parents, 4 kids in sleeping bags, and a baby in the porta-crib; plus all of our gear. The vestibules are handy, but could stand to be a little larger.

We also finished up testing on a couple of Eureka tents. You can see those reviews over on Gearreview.com. It is amazing how much the family camping tent market has evolved over then last several years. Keep an eye on our site for upcoming sleeping bags, pads, and tent reviews over then next couple of weeks.

Rally to Boundary

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:14:00 GMT

So after our exploration attempt, we found ourselves mid-way through the day, loaded for bear, and looking at temperatures in the mid to high 90's. There are a couple of places over in Zion that we wanted to look at, but most are either full sun exposure or far away on the other side of the park. None of us were very excited about spending the afternoon marching in the sun. We had favorable reports that Boundary Canyon was flowing slightly. That would make a cool descent, but with a price; the MIA exit in late afteroon sun. We decided to pay the piper and head down Boundary. We stayed in the drainage, rather than heading down the MIA road and entereing via lower routes. The old fire roads were in pretty good shape, with the exception of a lot of fresh deadfall from the winter. We made it to the head in good time, and could hear a group out in front of us. Not wanting to catch them in the canyon, we ate a leisurely lunch and rested in the shade.

We descended the canyon with relative efficiency after a 30 minute snafu at the first anchor that got the rope and the pull cord all tangled up preventing the rappeller from progressing. We prefer to rig off the much larger tree on the south rim (which also has a cleaner pull); but opted to go off the existing anchor on the north rim. Someone had extended the anchor nearly to the edge, but not quite...accomplishing nothing. With the anchor close to the edge, the start is much more awkward; but because it isn't actually over the edge you don't really get any mileage towards making the pull easier. The pull cord had been rigged and leaned against the tree, when the first guy loaded the anchor and it swung around, the pull cord got knocked over the edge creating a tangled mess. Lesson learned...clip the pull cord bag, or let the last man rig it.

Anyway, after we got that sorted out, things moved along pretty well, and the small amount of water in the canyon actually felt pretty good. All off the rappels were slimey and mossy. I felt bad that on rappel I was knocking off some of the moss because it is so beautiful and green. After an 11 a.m. start we hit the last grotto at a little after 3. We met up with James Burr from Delta, and his group who had been ahead of us in the canyon. We spent the better part of an hour shooting the breeze with them and filling up our water bottles in the Oak Creek drainage. A short hop down stream to the MIA exit and we were on our way out. We made it up the MIA in a little under an hour (55 minutes) and took a new route back to the west rim trail head. This saved us lots of time, and allowed us to make that awful journey in relative comfort and partial shade. We kept hearing 4 wheelers on the road, and hoping for a ride, but it wasn't to be and we ended up walking the whole way. Car to car, including the rests we were about 7 hours in the canyon. Not a bad way to rally and save the day.

Exploration Skunked

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:38:08 GMT

So as I noted a couple of weeks ago, I have been exploring around this particular drainage in anticipation of a first descent this weekend. I have been looking at this place for about 8 years, starting on the 1983 BW aerial photos and quads for the area. The only problem is there is this scary, nasty looking dogleg right in the middle. In every aerial it is in a shadow, and the contours on the quads just don't have the needed detail to show what is actually going on. That's why I have hiked in on several occassions to look at the drainage from various angles. We felt like we had finally gathered enough information on the geology and probable nature of the canyon to attempt an alpine descent.

We got our team together and planned our attack. We would approach from an adjacent drainage convenient to vehicle access, and then travel cross country once on the plateau to the head of our destination. I was giddy with anticipation and didn't get a very good night sleep, in spite of knowing I had something in the neighborhood of a 20 mile day ahead of me, with full exploration gear. We woke to brisk temperatures and a beautiful pre-dawn. After dropping a shuttle vehicle, we were on the trail, well ahead of the heat of the day. Everything was finally coming together...that is until about an hour and a half into our approach.

We have done approaches using this canyon as an access in the past, even at this time of year. It hasn't been uncommon to run into a few isoloated snow drifts, particularly in some of the deeper, mostly shaded parts of the slot. Initially we thought this would be the case, but it quickly became evident that the bountiful winter and cool spring were going to throw a wrench into our plans. We hoped that even though the more-than-expected snow conditions would allow access to the top of the plateau, even though at this point we knew we wouldn't be making a descent, at least we could rim walk and gain some new perspectives on the drainage we hadn't seen before. It was not to be.

No way I'm risking this!

The snow quickly became very deep with snow bridges that were impassable either underneath because of insufficient space or unacceptable risk of collapse, or over, for the same unacceptable risk of collapse. Prepared with an ice axe, we continued our upcanyon struggle only to come face to face with a steep 30 foot combination of a snow barge leading immediately to an unstable snow bridge. We called it quits knowing that to proceed upcanyon at that point carried mortal consequences. I have to admit that I was disappointed, but after so many years of research and preparation, I wasn't about to risk my life for something that is going to be there in September after the snow melts out, the summer monsoon rains pass, and conditions are again favorable for an attempted approach.

Pine Creek Marriage Counseling

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:37:29 GMT

So for quite some time now, I have been trying to convince my wife to come canyoneering with me. And by some time, I mean 11 years, because that's how long we've been married. Now, don't get me wrong. She has been down in Bull Valley Gorge, and up the Zion Narrows, and through Orderville Canyon. But I'm talking something more than that. She has always used the excuse that she was pregnant, just had a new baby, or was nursing. Granted, that may be true, but to me...well, I won't go there. Priorities...I'm just sayin'.

So I put together a support team of friends, got the reservations, and permit, and it was settled. Pine Creek on Memorial Day weekend. I chose Pine Creek deliberately. It is short, rarely has surprises, and the approach and exit are short and easy. A perfect candidate. I rented my wife a nice 5 mm wet suit just to make sure she didn't get cold. There had been recent rains. The weather was cool but nice. A diminishing chance of showers throughout the day (20 percent and decreasing) so we felt comfortable as we dropped in seeing the clear sky extending all the way to St. George.

My wife was a trooper, and after the initial fear of exposure, awkward starts, and trusting the rope seemed to be having a good time. That is until it started to rain. I don't need to impress upon you the significance of rain in a slot canyon. Fortunately, we were beyond the Cathederal, and short rappels / downclimbs thereafter. Having been through the canyon many times, I knew we were within about 5-10 minutes of where the canyon opens up immediately above the penultimate and final rappels. Nonetheless, as the rain picked up from an occassional drop to a sprinkle, to a light shower, I became increasingly concerned, and we upped our pace from relaxed and leisurely to consciously efficient. We made it to safe ground within minutes, and were out of the woods. At about the same time, the small wispy clouds blew by and the sun returned. The freshly watered trees in the valley were spectacular. The colors on the cliffs, some wet, others dry, were fantastic. I have never seen the rock with such personality. It was amazing. I managed to pop off a few good pictures before moving down to help my wife rig for the final rappel. The funny thing was, in the end, the canyon was mostly dry. Most of the pools had drained out and we only had a short deep wade / possible swim to exit the Cathedral (as usual).

By then she had become much more confident and comfortable trusting the rope. As always, there was that moment of hesitation on the last rappel in Pine Creek when you realize you're going to have a little slack in your rope as you go over the edge. She did great, and was able to look up and around as she descended, and enjoy the spectacular scenery in the final grotto alcove.

It was odd how conscious I became with my wife in the canyon. My senses were heightened as I found routes and moves that would be easier for her. I could hardly hold the camera still to take pictures. I'm not sure if I was twitching from excitement, or nervousness. In the end it was a great experince for both of us to trust each other, and make those simple gestures to ease the other's life. Sum total price was about $50 including food, permits, and gas. Try and get a deal like that from your local family counselor, and we were there for 4 hours! I think I might have to see a "therapist" more often for marriage and family counseling. I've heard of some great thereapists at the Full Left Fork, and Rim to Rim to Rim clinics that do wonderful work.

Washington County Exploration

Wed, 28 May 2008 04:00:50 GMT

So a good friend and I, actually a couple of good friends and I have been working on documenting the canyons in a particular area of Washington County. We have our eye on one in particular. We have scoped out various parts of the drainage, but were missing a critical, and crucial detail. The exit route and final rappel sequence. We have poured over aerial photos from various sources, maps, topographic maps, even Google Images trying to find out more information. But unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, there isn't much information. There simply was no substitute for making the 5 mile bushwhack in, and 8 miles back out (I'm not going to explain where the 3 miles in the middle went. If you're that curious, ask me.) to have a look. So we did. We spent the morning with intermittent light rain, and a short burst of sleet. In the end, the day cleared up and we enjoyed the hike out in cooler weather.

I carried the Imlay Canyon Gear Heaps Pack that I have been working on. As with the previous models of the Heaps, the pack is simply built for work. The internal stays make carrying a heavy load more comfortable than on most other packs. The competing weekender sized packs are just not going to hold up to the abuse. Anyway, I digress. The 2008 Heaps pack has a rugged PVC laminate bottom that holds up to the abuse of sandstone and bushwhacking that I regularly throw at it. It also features new cavernous pleated pockets....and I mean big. I saw a helment go into one of the pockets this weekend, no problem...apparently that was part of the design. If you care to bring your designer puppy, you could probably fit it too. Watch for the upcoming review over on Gearreview.com.

The descent into the lower, non-technical portion of the drainage was steep, and about 1200 vertical feet. It is by far the steepest descent I have done without ropes. We estimated the slope to be 60 to 65 degrees. The saving grace is that rather than a large slabby descent like we expected, it was a loose, rock filled slope. This made the descent easier on the one hand because the soft soil gave footing. But on the other hand, the rocks rolled easily when disturbed, so we had to be pretty careful not to knock them down on each other.

This was also my first trip with Bo, the proprietor of a local outlet store. Man, for an old guy, he can hike. I'm not sure how he compares to Ram, but it was all I could do to keep up with him in the sand in the morning when I was feeling fresh, let alone in the afternoon. It was a shame when he took a small fall on his already injured shoulder. He was a trooper though, and gritted through it. I look forward to future trips with him. He really has been about everywhere, and done about everything in that neck of the woods. Plus he volunteers on the Zion SAR team. Couldn't ask for a better hiking partner. Just don't walk too close when you're bushwhacking, because he is going so fast, sometimes he forgets about the branch!

Garmin Colorado 400T

Wed, 21 May 2008 14:27:23 GMT

So at the winter Outdoor Retailer show, I was excited to see the new offerings from Garmin. They have two new products the interested me in particular, the Colorado 400T, and the Forerunner 405. Today, I'll talk about the Colorado 400T. We'll come back to the Forerunner 405 in a couple of days.

The Colorado 400T is basically the top of the line portable GPS. It has integrated 100K:1 topographic maps, a full color screen, and a bunch of new features for geocaching. The 400T also features WAAS correction, which should improve accuracy. The navigation wheel is quick, convenient, and easy to operate. I was a huge step up from pushing the tiny buttons on previous versions like the eTrex line. The screen is large and easy to read, particularly with the backlight fully on.

The GUI is intuitive, and easy navigate. Saving waypoints is easy, and the navigation wheel eases your pain when entering in a point name.

Right off the bat, there are a couple of things that bothered me. First of all, I like to be able to see the available satellites easily as I try an acquire a data point. In the 400T it is several menu steps away from the navigation window. Not very convenient. Secondly, even with the WAAS enabled, the accuracy shown on the navigation pane didn't match well to the line that was being plotted in the map pane. As of yet, I haven't determined where the error is by checking it against a known position, but that is forthcoming.

Zion in Spring

Fri, 09 May 2008 20:07:27 GMT

So I spent the last long weekend in Zion. The weather was perfect. Temperatures were in the 70's during the lay, and barely cracked past 40 at night. Mostly I was there to socialize with my brother's, but I was also working on a couple of upcoming articles for Gearreview. We had the new N!ergy tent from Eureka. It is wired for 12V DC access at 3 locations in the tent. That's a handy feature for charging cell phones, using the night light etc. The remote switches make it nice and easy to kill the light from inside you sleeping bag. The included ceiling fan is a fun gadget, but I'm not sure it circulates any more air than the tent does on it's own with the windows open. The tent held up pretty well in the wind, paticularly for a high profile 3 season tent.

We also had the Coleman eXponent Northstar 8 tent. Now this is a full on 3+ season family or base camp tent. There are multiple door / entry options, with plenty of room on the inside to accomodate your family. With the oversized cots and pads common for car camping now, it would be a squeeze to fit 8 people, but with standard 22 inch x 76 inch pads it wouldn't be a problem. The full rain fly is awesome. It has sufficient guy lines to keep the tent firmly anchored to the ground, and stable enough that you aren't going to be tearing fabric or bending tent poles. The Northstar also has 5/8 inch aluminum poles, not crappy fiberglass ones, which makes the tent not only lighter (as if 37 pounds vs. 40 matters) but stronger and more stable. The tent bag is also well thought out with separate zip compartments for the body, fly, and poles, which makes it easy to set up and take down. Watch for the full review in June on Gearreview.com

Finally, I took the new Imlay Canyon Gear Heaps Hybrid pack out for a little workout. It wasn't really the most appropriate test location because we were mostly in the desert, and not too much water, but it gave me a chance to see a few of the differences. Just as with the original Heaps pack it is stable and carries the load well. The new compression pocket configuration and straps were handy. It seemed like the lid is smaller than in the past, which I need to check on.

Arches Fiery Furnace - Directors Cut NR

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:52:30 GMT

I spent two weekends in late March visiting one of my all time favorite early spring locations - Arches National Park. Arches seems to thaw out from the winter earlier and better than many other location on the Colorado Plateau. There is so much to do, with easy trails and excursions as well as full on challenging adventures for the canyoneer in me. When I was at the Furnace in November, I noticed a few things I wanted to check out, and I had some good beta from a close friend. He agreed to me me there, and we spent the better part of a day dissecting new routes, and revisting long forgotten ones.

There were three basic highlights to the day, one was the discovery of a new exit route out the the lower reaches a series of fin joints deep in the heart of the Furnace. The second was the discovery and successful passage of a 150 foot slot near the desert. The slot was every bit as tight at the crux of the 4th narrows in Shenanigans. Sorry folks, no pictures because there wasn't room for much in there. It was the effective bypass of a jumbled boulder field with a difficult down climb exit. Ryan, my skinny compadre was able to pass through the 15 foot crux section with only some grunting and pushing. I on the other hand had to contort my body to pass through the wider spot located at a slight incline, mostly horizontal, at waist height. This involved standing on one leg with my other leg outstretched behind me. One arm on my side, the other pointed straight down to support my upper body. The problem is that in this position, locomotion was difficult a best. I was only able to move inches at a time by sort of hopping on my foot while supporting my weight on my hand. This strategy finally failed when the going got tight. Ryan, ever the Hero, assisted by pushing on my head. It was fantastic, and I will make sure to visit this special spot again in he future. Fortunately, I was able to keep the "Beast" at bay.

Finally there was the satisfaction of entering a joint series I had looked into often. My friend had been in there before, years earlier. It was my first trip. The most memoriable part of the series being an exposed 40 foot elevator, off width, with sand coating every near horizontal surface. The downclimb was not overly difficult, but challenging and exhilirating all the same. The spot was futher highlighted in my memory by Mr. Ransom kindly kicking lots of dirt into the back of my pants and I climbed down.

There were so many other discoveries between the two trips that I won't take the time to review them all. Needless to say there are many beautiful places that I will return and visit when snow, frost, and ice water clog the deep reaches of my home territory, Zion.

Sherpa.

Look 986 VTT

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:18:24 GMT

So I took the 986 out on the Provo Race Loop on Saturday morning. My toes and fingers were freezing as we pedaled up the shoreline trail to the start of the loop in the 36 degree air. The 986 was light under me and I made good time. I had adjusted my seat forward a little since my last ride along the shoreline trail, which seemed to mitigate some of the front end lightness I had felt on steep, loose climbs. I also reduced my tire pressure a bit after my first ride. On my pump, it shows I am about 25 pounds. The tires are firm, but pliable when I squeeze them. I also tweaked the Avid Juicy Ultimate brakes to get better stopping power. For some reason, it came from the factory with the rear pads barely in contact with the disc, even with the lever fully against the hand grip. I wiped down both rotors with isopropyl which improved the braking quite a bit, especially on the front brake.

We rode past the start of the race loop until we joined up with the Orem double track, and continued uphill to the upper entrance to the race loop. The 986 felt light and nimble. It took some getting used to the responsiveness. I found that I was able to contol the bike better driving hard into the corners with my full weight centered, rather than cautiously towards the rear. We rode the loop once clockwise and once counter clockwise before exiting downhill on the access road.

Now that I am getting used to the bike, I have to take it out on some longer and more demanding trails. I'll keep you updated. Jon Sharp will also be testing the bike, so keep an eye on his blog http://acidinmylegs.blogspot.com/ and look forward to our full feature review on Gearreview.com.

Family Camping

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:14:58 GMT

I have been working on several family camping pieces, and some trail runners. Look for them to be updated soon on our gearreview.com website. Also, we have received and started work on the new Look 986 Carbon Fiber Mountain Bike. I have never ridden a bike so light and responsive.

Boundary Canyon - La Sportiva Exum River

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 15:30:39 GMT

So I spent this weekend in Zion with my brother. We had wanted to descend an unnamed drainage on the east side of the park, but because we were unable to arrange a car shuttle, we opted for Boundary Canyon. Neither of us had done this particular canyon before, so we were excited.

We left the WRT about 8:00 and were at the head of the canyon by 9:00. After a short rest and putting on all the gear, we got going in the canyon at about 9:30. The canyon drops quickly through beautifully sculpted sandstone stained with iron oxide. It was fabulous. The bottom of most of the potholes were moist, but not wet as a heavy thundershower had soaked the area the night before. There was a small snake in the second pothole, trying to get warm on top of a log. We left him there, and tried not to bother him.

We hit the grotto at the last rappel at 11:30, and were at the main Kolob / Oak drainage by noon. A short walk and we were at the MIA exit. We stopped and had a nice long lunch break before embarking on the climb out. We took a wrong turn up the gully to the right after the second dry fall, and ended up high and right from the regular route. That cost us about 30 minutes and a lot of bushwhacking through the manzanita. We intersected the regular route just below the saddle, and got back on track. We were at the road within 30 minutes after that, and back at the WRT in about another 45 minutes. Thankfully, the sun was blocked but developing afternoon thundershowers. That made the walk back up from the MIA camp much more enjoyable. We got to the car just after the rain started. All in all it was a good day.

I was wearing the Exum River shoes from Sportiva. They are similar to the Exum Ridge mountain running shoe they make. I found the shoes to be reasonably grippy, and quite comfortable to walk in, especially when scrambling. The only discomfort I noticed is that the shoe is cut a little high around the ankle, so there was a pressure point on my ankle bone. It didn't bruise or blister, but it was a little tender the next day. The Exum river is quite abrasion resistant. I am happy with how well the upper performed so far. Watch for the official review to be posted shortly on Gearreview.com

Nice weekend weather

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 14:37:30 GMT

So I spent a nice 3 day weekend down around Hanksville. It was a great trip and it gave the a chance to complete testing on the new Sierra Designs Volt sleeping bag. It's a Primaloft bag rated to 15 degrees. I posted the draft review yesterday at http://www.gearreview.com/SD_Trade_Wind.php . It's worth a read anyway. I also review the Trade Wind down sleeping bag there.

Temps were moderate in the daytime at about 40 degrees. There was more snow in the higher elevation canyons like Pandora's, and more water in the lower elevations like the Black Hole. I've posted photo albums of both of the canyons.

I just getting started on an update to our bivy reviews, which will include content from Integral Designs, Outdoor Research, and hopefully Bibler. The Sierra Designs Navassa bivy will also be included.

Metolius Canyoneering Pack

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 02:34:05 GMT

So I have spent the last several months hammering around with a prototype Metolius Canyoneering Pack. They have since added it to their production line. It's super robust, though a bit heavy. The waist belt is great though to tell you the truth.

I wish it had a few more grommets in the sides because when I have it packed full of wet ropes and dry bags, the water has a hard time getting out the bottom. It is also a little small for a full on exploration pack. The Imlay Canyon Gear Heaps Pack is better for that. Look for a review soon on Gearreview.com. It is cavernous, comfortable, and tough. I hauled it through a canyon we were scounting out. All in all we did about 23 miles, with about 2000 feet of gain and another 2000 feet of loss. I carried bivy gear, as well as a wet suit, and 300 feet of rope, plus all the regular gear. I think I was weighing in at about 45 pounds or so with the pack. By the end of the day though I still felt pretty good, all things considered. My feet were the most sore part on my body.

Shenanigans

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 23:40:26 GMT

So a couple of weekends ago, we went on a little jaunt though Shenanigans. I was a bit apprehensive at first because I knew full well there were narrows that would be very tight for me at 195. I think the previous record was held by my buddy RAM from Colorado at 193 just a couple of weeks before. He usually floats around the 175 mark, but it must have been a good winter for him. Anyway, here are a few pics and a wmv show that I put together from that trip.