Ramoo was doing a prodigious (as usual) May trip, on which I was invited but, c'mon, this is my time to make hay, as in dough, so alas... But it was INSISTED I participate on one particular project, where certain chunks of metal were inserted in backcountry holes, rather unnecessarily, with our job to remove them and patch carefully with epoxy. Yes, dear friends, nothing like a little bolt removal to get ME motivated.
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I consider a slot canyon a canyon where you can touch both sides at the same time. There are many slot sections of canyon in Zion, but most are part of technical canyons. Where can a person enjoy a slot canyon experience without ropes and helmets and permits and all that jazz? In Zion, there are not many options, but there are a few.
The BEST - Middle Echo from the Bottom
"From the bottom" means entering the canyon at some point and then moving UP canyon as far as you can or want to, and then coming back to where you started.
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Seven days after President Trump’s inauguration, the country’s airports and courthouses were clogged with protesters fighting to protect immigrants facing deportation due to the administration’s “Muslim ban” policy. It was to be the opening salvo of a relentless attack on civil liberties—and a tsunami of lawsuits waged against the Trump administration.
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“You wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out? It’s kind of long but full of suspense.”
Zola meets Stefani at a restaurant where Zola waitresses, and the two immediately click over pole dancing. Only a day after they exchange numbers, Stefani invites Zola on a cross-country road trip, where the goal is to make as much money as possible dancing in Florida strip clubs. Zola agrees, and suddenly she is trapped in the craziest, most unexpected trip of her life.
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Blurb: “Taylor Swift is a global icon who repeatedly tops the charts, fills stadium tours with rapturous fans, and continues to challenge herself both professionally and personally while remaining steadfast in her vision as an artist. Few have achieved as much as Swift, or have had their personal lives open to such public scrutiny, but in Miss Americana, she finds herself at a watershed moment in her career, using her platform not only as a singer-songwriter, but as a woman fearlessly harnessing the full power of her voice.”
The film is excellent. The story is Americana in spades. Talent. Ambition. Success. Drive. Success. Earned… Oh, wait. I did not win ALL the awards this year! I’m very disappointed, but the next album must be so so so much better!!!
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Blurb: “No one at Camp Jened could’ve imagined that those summers in the woods together would be the beginnings of a revolution. Just down the road from Woodstock, Camp Jened was a camp for disabled teens. Directors Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht (a former Jened camper himself) deliver a rousing film about a group of campers turned activists who shaped the future of the disability-rights movement and changed accessibility legislation for everyone.”
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We were looking for something to do, not too long, not too short. Not too icy, not too wet. A sunny but cold day expected, thankfully with minimal wind. I suggested the south-facing Spry, the greatest anticipated difficulty being negotiating the extremely shaded first rappel area. Some of us grabbed microspikes, one of us grabbed a wetsuit (me) and off we went, somewhat delayed by Cassy’s morning staff meeting; thus we squeaked out a crack of 10:30 start. The “we” being TreC Kwan from Vegas, Cassy Brown from Sdale and myself.
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With the Angels Landing trail closed due to collapse, thus starting Imlay from Lava Point, it makes sense to do the full Imlay, as much as I am not as fond of the top half as of the bottom half. With thunderstorms almost every day in the previous week, it would be full, and fairly warm. That huge flood on July 11th might have brought a few changes to the canyon, what would we find?
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Albania is actually close by Switzerland and is often so far away for tourists. Beautiful beaches, wonderful mountain landscapes and remote regions to explore, as well as nice people who are mostly very helpful show the country from its sunny side. Also for canyonists this country is still rather new territory and there is still a lot of potential for new tours.
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I have been working on massaging the pack designs for about a year now – a year and a half actually – and finally finally got the pre-production samples in from the factory on July 13th. Yeah! I am very happy with the work the factory does. There are a few small mistakes, all of which will be fixed in production, which is now underway, with the shipment expected to arrive the last week of September. While the line itself has not changed much, there are a few upgrades from previous years worth noting:
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So it is a good idea to start early, and stay out of the sun. So we did, mostly, by doing a canyon on the East Side, possibly the third intentional descent. Part of the research for the Zion: Canyoneering 2nd Edition.
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In researching the very fine book The Kolob Tragedy, I encountered an interesting rumor that, during the KT lawsuit, the Park had claimed officially that the rappel section of Kolob Creek was not in the Park. If true, this would mean that getting a permit to run Kolob would not be required, as there would be no technical canyoneering inside the Park.
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Johan and Hans from Costa Rica were in town, and I wanted to show them canyons as dissimilar to Costa Rica as possible. Despite the high heat at the end of May, I figured we would go to North Wash and get a few narrow-type canyons in.
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Went to the DarkHorse Leadership Canyoneering Rendezvous down in North Wash, I arrived Thursday night and it was COLD, so having a large room inside was really helpful. I hung out and chatted with people and retired to a tent on the large lawn about 11pm.
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First up – the incredibly gorgeous La Vieja Canyon, entered by rappelling down a side stream to the main “Old” Canyon.
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Friends from ZAC, Robby and Hayley, had descended a way-backcountry newly found canyon near Zion, and said it was really cool...
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The Right Fork is a wonderful Zion canyon, protected from popularity (for all but the swiftest) by requiring two or three days, thus being a ‘backpacking trip’, which canyoneers don’t do so much. As I looked back through my canyoneering diary, I realized it had been 10 years since I had Right Forked...
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How much do ropes shrink as we use them? There is no standard test for this, so it becomes very hard to say. I think/guess/observe/no-really-it-is-a-guess about 5% in the first few trips, and not much past that. For my Imlay Canyon Gear ropes that are 100% polyester, sheath and core, thus perhaps more resistant to shrinkage than other ropes. But what is really true? Could we actually collect some data and find out?
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