AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PAST:
Some historical tidbits related to canyoneering in Utah, ranging from Zion National Park archival documents to trip reports of canyon first descents.
Historical Photographs | Morning Report Excerpts | Historic Artifacts | The Black Book (Trip Reports)
HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS
While working on my Zion book, I came across the National Park Service Archive of Historical Photos. I found a few of them pretty interesting, so I made up a Latest Rave Zion Historical Page about them.
EXCERPTS FROM NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM
MORNING REPORT
The Morning Report is an NPS internal report that includes accidents and incidents in the National Park System. The NPS recently decided that listing people's names violated their privacy, so they removed from public access their morning report archive. I got some of the good stuff, but not all of it. Here are some reports that you might find interesting:
SOME OF MY FAVORITE
HISTORIC ARTIFACTS
1938 Zion Postcard Set
This is a nice postcard set from 1938. I have scanned them into images that are twice as big as this one (generally), and made links that pop up in a new window. I would suggest making this window tall and skinny on the left side of your screen, and making the picture window on the right. Enjoy.
1960 GUIDE TO THE TRAILS
A Zion Trail Guide from about 1960. Thanks to Leif Bennett for scanning, typing and posting this interesting booklet.
CHOICE SELECTIONS FROM
THE BLACK BOOK
Zion National Park has long been a center of canyoneering in the USA. One of the unique aspects of the Zion scene is The Black Book, a collection of trip reports kept at the visitor center, that makes for interesting reading on those rare rainy days in Zion.
Here are a few excerpts from The Black Book. Some are from the current Black Book, and some from 'alternative sources'. Here's what we have for you this time around: