The Latest Rave is your resource for Utah Canyoneering know-how. From Utah canyon condition reports to narratives of mind-bending epics to wildflower sightings, you will find all the beta you need from Tom and his team on The Rave.
Less for the thrill and more for the fun, the Xcalante canyons have been calling me all winter. I watched the film “Gorging” and sweat through a portion of a man shuffling, scraping, and screaming through DDI. I don’t know what personality type looks at that and thinks “Huh.. I wanna do that..” but here I am.. With a particular weakness for trials of strength. And I love stemming. And a good downclimb or two. Silos and stretching? I wouldn’t use the word “love”..
Read MoreFor me the approach really sucked... my full 5mm wetsuit weighs 6 pounds dry and it was still damp from the day before. On top of that, I was carrying a 100 foot, 8mm rope and 3 liters of water…
Read MoreWe'd seen some really good stuff, but it was weekend menu that really had me salivating. With a few hours to kill before making the approach hike down into Fence Canyon in the cool hours of the afternoon, we decided to make a half-day out of Egypt 2.
Read MoreLet's jump right in... The Escalante River was up, so Ram and Hank had rigged a rope the night before. Now, early in the morning, most stripped naked to hand traverse the rope across the river, body hanging downstream in the current. It was cold. Better than coffee.
Read MoreWent down Escalante-way for Memorail Day. Crew was Alicia, Tom and Sharon Talboys, Tom Wetherill up from Tucson for the occasion, and Tom Jones (me) (a 3-Tom trip!).
Read MoreThe man with the white hands denies responsibility for all that occurs on our last day in the Escalante, when fate had ordained our encounter with the dreaded canyon, Nasty Ass.
Read MoreThese guys, Michelle and Charly, invited me to enjoy some of the warm spring weather down in Excalante. The best laid plans… But I figured, even with a crappy weather forecast, since their drive was twice mine, I really needed to show.
Davis is notorious as the last known location of Everett Ruess. The lower part is now awash under Floyd Elgin Dominy Reservoir, but the rest is open for adventure. The middle is often visited by backpackers, but the upper is a very interesting slot.
Read MoreStudying the map, we spied a likely looking wash headed directly from the road to the correct place in Harris wash, so we took it. A convenient parking place next to a fence and cattleguard was in the right place, so...
Read More(Peekaboo, Spooky and Brimstone) are one of the most visited spots in the area, the upper sections of these same canyons have escaped common noteriety. So we pulled out our Steve Allen #3 book and drove out the Cat's Pasture / Early Weed Bench road and set up to drop into upper Brimstone.
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