Crack Baby is one of the closest Grand Canyon Redwall Limestone slots to "the road", and was thus chosen for a quick trip for a photo shoot. "Give Tom Jones a call", said Rich Rudow, (almost) heading out the door for a 30-day Grand Canyon trip. So Kristen Caldon, photographer on a Sierra Club project, called me, and we threw together a quick trip...
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Last canyon of the year. The day before the Black Hole calls for something modest - don't wanna get too worked before A. the big party; B. the big campfire session and C. the BIG DAY. Let's do a HOG, some people said. Hog 2 aka Swine Flue was selected as a good choice - and a bunch of people signed on...
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FF XIV: After a frosty Inferno, came back to camp to find Alane had arrived from Colorado. Next day we joined Ram and others to do a super-duper, double-cross-your-heart secret canyon, which of course was totally wonderful (400 foot rappels next to hot-water waterfalls, dolphins in the pools, a couple 40 foot jumps... you know, all that secret canyon stuff)...
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Well, not really. FF XIV: My traditional FreezeFest experience begins with a trip to Paradise... er, through Paradiso, as the case may be. But they did that the day before, and it was EPIC! Sand on the walls, snow on the walls, sand over snow on the walls - the savory FF experience we all strive for. When I rolled into camp at 10 pm on the 27th, the canyon planned for the next day was Inferno, also out in the Dantes...
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Canyoneering in winter - be careful! I was looking for one more "full day" canyon before the season closes down...guess I got it! Doesn't help that I don't like getting up early. Or maybe I didn't do the math, but... We chose Checkerboard as a worthy canyon for a mighty day, and thankfully not all that wet. We met at 7:30 a.m....
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The name "Epic Blarney" has been thrown around for awhile, origin mysterious. Some said it was because of a canyoneering expedition where an Epic brew (good choice) was to be drunk at each rappel... (hmmm, suspicious). A more likely origin was perhaps a descent during one extremely snowy FreezeFest, when it really was EPIC, just to get down Blarney...
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It's my party, and I get to choose the canyon and the company. For this year's TomFest, the sparsely-attended Friday canyon would be Pandora's Box, a wonderful though vigorous canyoneering adventure in Capitol Reef National Park. There have been several rescues in there the last couple years, as novice groups have underestimated the difficulties (foreshadowing!)...
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After the Live Like Louis fest, a group of us wandered up Lady Mountain on a fine November day. Not all that eventful, really. We went up. There was some snow near the top that made finding the trail more difficult, and then getting back over to it quite dicey once we found it. Lynn and I put in a bolt above the second step,for rappel and belay. With greater popularity of this route, it seemed like a good idea...
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Went to do some canyoneering, this fine Halloween day. Pipe Spring Canyon in Zion, up near Lava Point was the canyon du jour. I had not been there in a while, and wanted to revisit. Was not all that interested in swimming, or getting up early, so this seemed like a good choice. Mike Cressy came up from Vegas for the day; Cameron was in town briefly; Andy Archabald (AA) came over from St George; and Felicia joined in to complete our crew...
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Hadn't done Behunin for a few years. Kinda needed to, to check on the anchors and maybe fix the 2nd to last, which was a mess; and maybe add a high-water anchor for the last rap, out of the watercourse, since people seem to keep getting stuck up there. I hadn't done a canyon with my fellow Imlay employee and friend Shirlz, and we had fine weather, not so many orders to fill, and...
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Canyoneering with a crack team is a great pleasure. Two guides from France, Guillaume Coquin and Francois, plus Locomotive Lynn and Cassy Brown from ZAC (and me) make one darn fine team. A test run in Mystery the day before was a bit later, hotter and longer than I prefer before a Heaps, but we did hook up with visiting Australian photographer Mark Watson, who generously offered to hike the 600 foot rope to the Emerald Pools for us...
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A somewhat difficult Imlay. My wonderful niece Rylin and hubby Eric really wanted to do Imlay, and could sneak down for a weekend. Which coordinated well with lil' 'Lana (now an OB instructor, formerly a ZAC guide) being in town (briefly). Ry and Eric brought along Dave Eiriksson; lil' 'Lana brought along Zion NP Trailcrew Chief Shannon Calabro to complete out team...
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Yes. Again! I've come to really like Not-Imlay. No fight for a permit. A scenic tour. Nice long raps. A short exit. A shortish day. Bailey was looking for a new canyon (for her) and despite the heat, seemed like a good idea. The bad news is that it starts and ends in the Main Canyon - thus one has to ride the bus to get there and back, which costs time...
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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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