Guest Rave by Steve Ramras; all the good pictures by Ramsel Adams. It doesn't happen every year. Usually about every 4 or 5 years. When it does, I can't resist. It happened to us the first time, in the early 90's. We descended Middle Echo, one May day, finished the short raps and came smack into a walls of ice. For the next 2 hours, we dangerously weaved our way through the snow and ice...
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Guest Rave: Steve Ramras. Indecision reigned. It was the Christmas day traditional insanity time. Who would go? Many of the past participants felt the reality of the danger of the thing. They waxed eloquently on it foolhardiness. In the end, the same people as last year filled up this year's permit. Where would we go?
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Poor choices will be punished. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Aron Ralston and I are in Pleiades Canyon.
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It was the project of others. Dan Ransom had been spying it for a few years. So had Rick Green. When I considered that they may be talking about the same canyon, I put them in touch with each other and proposed some dates.
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“How do you know an unexplored canyon is going to be good?”
Well, there are the obvious hints ...
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4-We awoke in a cloud. It was mostly calm. Then a drizzle. Then a sleet. Then a rain. Then it would blow. Then calm. Sometimes it would brighten…
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Day 2 started with that reddish sky that warns of unsettled weather. Dorado Needle, hidden behind the bulk of Eldorado, had intrigued for years.
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We hoped to snag 6 peaks in the 4 days. Mark would join us for a day and a night and head out the way he came. Sonny, Aaron and I, joined by the multi talented Ziff, would continue on.
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I think it is a little over two years since the three of us met for part of a wonderful trip down to Escalante. If I recall, part of the purpose was for Todd to try out his legs and head on harder canyons, in a safe (sorta) incremental way.
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Cerberus Canyon is a BIG Death Valley Classic. So I took the day off (and enjoyed it immensely) while the boys engaged the challenge. Here's their story...
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“No Stefanos, you won’t need a wetsuit”
“Ram, are you sure?”
“Yeah, it is a dry canyon, except after real storms and there haven’t been any for awhile”
“I don’t mind carrying it”
“Don’t bother”
Then Tom pipes in “But Ram is often wrong”
Yes, a couple other canyons were done. But the next BIG EVENT of note was a descent of Sandthrax Canyon by most of the gang on the 30th. Hank got a bunch of great pictures, and Ram wrote a wonderful trip report.
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Tom picked a return engagement with Not Mindbender Fork of the North Fork of Robbers Roost. He had shown great enthusiasm in wanting to share this gem with me, as I had never been there. Payback for the ones I had shown him on this trip?
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You get to sleep in on Hole day. After sipping scotch at midnight and a restful sleep, the call went out at 8 AM. The sun was up, offering one of the few sunrises of note, on the trip.
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Now two plus days removed from any substantial weather, it is time to say adieu to Arches. She has served us well, provided treats, kept us safe, while the rest of the canyon world found its way back "into condition."
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That afternoon, after getting back to the car, we headed off to a panel of rock art, not more than a hundred yards off a major park trail. Some know of it, most don't. Heard there are many such places in the park.
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Rain or snow, everyday. 40-80%, depending on the day or night specified. Makes someone who didn't know better want to go home
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