Thornton Creek Canyon, North Cascades National Park, PNW Fest

Thornton was the business. It was my favorite canyon of the trip, though some of the other festers would like to disagree. But let's be real, this thing has it all.

Canyoneering, Class C, Pacific Northwest, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip Report, WaterfallsDan RansomAugust 16, 2007Jane Arhart, North Cascades, Roger Arhart, Thornton Creek, class c, canyoneering, waterfalls, waterfall rappel

Gorge Creek Canyon, North Cascades National Park, PNW Fest

I was amped for the drive into the great North. The highlight of the night definitely came in Sedro-Woolley. I never realized how important the process of beer selection is.

Canyoneering, Class C, Pacific Northwest, Tom's First Visit, Trip Report, WildflowersDan RansomAugust 15, 2007Gorge Creek, Jane Arhart, North Cascades, Roger Arhart, steve arhart, Washington, pnw, canyoneering, North Cascades National Park, north cascades, class c

Denny Creek, PNW Fest

Denny Creek is the equivalent of Snoqualmie's less attractive roommate. You don't mind hanging out with her as long as the good looking one is there too, but you certainly wouldn't go out of your way to just hang out with Denny.

Canyoneering, Class C, Pacific Northwest, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip Report, WaterfallsDan RansomAugust 14, 2007Bob Madsen, Denny Creek, Jane Arhart, Roger Arhart, steve arhart

Canyoneering South Fork Snoqualmie Creek, PNW Fest

South Fork Snoqualmie could easily be considered the "Pine Creek" of the Pacific Northwest. The similarities are striking. Easy access, densely packed with action, and fairly straightforward technically. What's more, they both have highways running literally on top of them.

Right Fork and Stevenson Canyon, Zion National Park, UT

Chris Avery came by for his annual Zion trip, this time with son Tanner in tow. We rounded up Lin Alder of Springdale and two of his friends, Pearl and Blake. We set up a wonderful Right Fork trip, but some of us snuck away to do a Zion first descent - Stevenson Canyon, the canyon that comes in just upstream of the Stevenson Alcove (get it?) from the northwest. We hoped for something good… we got a long rappel to get in, then not much, so…

Robbers Roost Canyon Festival: High Spur, Almost Mindbender, and Chambers Canyons

Spring. Usually a time of unstable weather. Ram planned two weeks out in the Roost with family and friends, and I planned to join them. The usual late-night drive brought me in to Granary Spring at 2 am.

FreezeFest V: Limbo Canyon, Ticaboo Mesa, UT

I dropped in on the night of the 26th, for the next day's exploration - Limbo Canyon. We had explored the slot next door in November, and it was good. So we wanted to get back and see what was next door.

Canyoneering, Exploration, North Wash, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip Report, Freeze FestTom JonesDecember 27, 2006Aaron Ramras, Hank Moon, Limbo Canyon, Malia McIlvenna, Steve Ramras, ticaboo mesa, ticaboo, canyoneering, freezefest, freeze fest

Hogfest, North Wash, UT

It was cold, windy and snowy. Hard to get motivated, sitting in Salt Lake, to head south and go freeze in the desert. But we'd promised Ram, so..

Canyoneering, North Wash, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip ReportTom JonesFebruary 18, 2006Boss Hawg, Hank Moon, Hog I, Hog One, John Baise, Steve Ramras, Wyoming Dave, north wash, north wash canyoneering, canyoneering, the hogs, hog canyon, hog canyons

FreezeFest IV: No Kidding, Leprechaun, Stair, Hog, Achilles, Fooling' Around

Black Hole, New Year's Day - Truly, this IS The High Life! Thank you all for a wonderful Freezefest. Heck, we even had WOMEN! See ya in the New Year. (FreezeFest IV)

Robbers Roost Canyoneering: Not Mindbender and Hog Canyons

One of my favorite canyons in the Roost is Not Mindbender, a fork of the North Fork, or of the North-Middle Fork. A tasty one.

Canyoneering, Exploration, North Wash, San Rafael Swell, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip ReportTom JonesNovember 12, 2005Brandt Hart, first descent, Hayduke Trail, Hog Canyon, Not Mindbender canyon, canyoneering, exploration, canyon exploration

Aardvark Canyon, UT

Kris invited me out for a little canyon adventure in a system he had been exploring. Kris's neighbor, Keith, is a pilot and was flying back from Arizona when he spotted this interesting-looking canyon system in a fairly unlikely spot, took some photos and got Kris and a few neighbors interested.

Canyoneering, Exploration, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip ReportTom JonesOctober 14, 2005Aardvark Canyon, Brian Moncur, Keith Sorenson, Kris Nosack, canyoneering, exploration, canyoneering explorations

Isaac Canyon, Zion National Park, UT

The uncertainty called for caution, the late September overnight temps called for some real bivy gear.

Canyoneering, Exploration, Heaps Canyon, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip Report, ZionTom JonesSeptember 16, 2005Isaac Canyon, Steve Brezovic, Steve Ramras, zion, canyoneering, zion canyoneering

Cedar Breaks Canyoneering: Too Wet Canyon

The first try had been made in the spring, when there was much too much snow around, but the approach had been figured out. The second try in June had been more successful, but when they got to the head of the canyon, it was flowing with WAY too much water.

Canyoneering, Exploration, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip Report, Waterfalls, ZionTom JonesAugust 5, 2005Cedar Breaks, Class C canyon, flash flood, Kip Marshall, Matt Smith, canyoneering, exploration, canyoneering explorations

Zion Bakefest: Turkey Canyon

That's why this Festival was called the Bakefest. So we did canyons that had water in them, that would be cool. Thankfully, The Narrows opened up the week before we got there, so we could do Imlay, Mystery and other, classic, pretty wet canyons.

Canyoneering, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip Report, ZionTom JonesJuly 17, 2005Becky Burr, James Burr, Ryan Cornia, Turkey Canyon, Water Canyon, canyoneering

ACA Canyoneering Rendezvous: Matacanes Canyon, Mexico

The coolest, best, most dramatic and amazing canyon to do down there is Matacanes, which became known as "The Big M".

Canyoneering, Mexico, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip Report, WaterfallsTom JonesMay 14, 2005canyoneering Mexico, canyoneering Monterrey, John Hart, Matacanes Canyon, Mexico canyoneering, Monterrey canyoneering, Portrero Redondo

ACA Canyoneering Rendezvous: Chipitin Canyon, Mexico

As expected, after a day of travelling, too little sleep and a night of modest partying, morning came much too soon, and we broke up into groups to go do canyons. Not being in the "ridiculously early" group, I chose to do Chipitin

Canyoneering, Mexico, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip Report, WaterfallsTom JonesMay 11, 2005canyoneering in Mexico, canyoneering in Monterrey, canyoneering Mexico, Chipitin, Chipitin Canyon, John Har, Mexico canyoneering, Rich Carlson, ACA, International Canyoneering, canyoneering

Lake Powell Canyoneering: A Close-Call Overnight on a Canyon Exploration

It got narrow… really, really narrow. I peered into the gloom and did not like what I saw, but my poor, tired brain had no idea what to make of it. Ram asked, “How’s it look?”

Canyoneering, Exploration, Glen Canyon, Lake Powell, Mistakes, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip ReportTom JonesApril 9, 2005Hank Moon, Roylnn Serati, Steve Ramras, lake powell, canyoneering, accidents, close call

Lake Powell: Cathedral Apse

We went off and camped. Next day, we actually had good weather! But, we needed to get the boat back, WAY down-lake by 5:00 pm. Thus we needed something short, like the Cathedral Apse.

Canyoneering, Glen Canyon, Lake Powell, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip ReportTom JonesMarch 22, 2005Cathedral Apse, lake powell, Lake Powell canyoneering

The Latest Rave

Search The Rave:

Canyoneering USA