Canyons

These are a few of the canyons I've gone down. I'm not a water person and don't care for the risk inherent with rappelling. I prefer to climb up things. I consider myself an expert climber. For stories about my climbing, read Daniel Stih's Rock Climbing in Zion National Park. I'm a beginner at canyoneerng. As I learn, I'm going to share tips and tricks I discover, similar to what I what I do on my climbing page for beginner climbers. These days I ‘m a risk adverse. If you’re looking for beta on the conservative side you might be in the right place. 

The Subway

The Subway

Zion National Park

Summer time and the swimming is good.  It was 100 degrees F in Springdale. Left the wetsuit in the car. Wore a bathing suite. A little cold near the end. Better than carrying a wetsuit. And a Rip Curl rash guard shirt. If you do this take a SPACE BLANKET in case of an emergency.

First time I swam with a pack. Interesting how a drybag makes it float. 

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The Subway

Zion National Park

An absolute bucket-list adventure: rappelling, cold swims, and route finding. The top-down subway route requires technical canyoneering gear, water protection, and a permit. 

This started out as a solo. I parked at the exit and tired to hitchhike to the start. I was told if you WEAR your harness you're more likely to get picked up. It was a slow day. I got a ride from a shuttle picking up others because they had room. Lucky :)

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The Subway

Iconic tree shot

After leaving the main trail, there's a lot of tricky navigation. For as many as go the subway it's possible to get lost. I didn't as I made friend with Jim and his kids and ended up doing the canyon with them.

I've since started using the Gaia GPS app. 

After reaching the “Subway” the hike out is LONG. I can't imagine hiking up to it from the bottom. Way fun from the top! 

Keyhole Canyon

Keyhole Canyon

Zion National Park

Sometimes the best adventures begin where your comfort zone ends. For me, that’s getting wet and going into in water.  When it's too hot to climb, you might find me exploring canyoneering. It was 105 degrees in town. A wetsuit was nice to have in the pools.

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The Wrong Way

What Dangerous Dan does

I waited out the morning clouds before getting a 9:30am start from the bottom of the approach. I went the wrong way a LONG way, before turning around. Don't pass it by - take an immediate left at the bottom of the approach gully.

Rappelling

60 foot rope is perfect

I found the single bolts to be bomber. The "60 foot rappel" in Tom's book can be done in 2 sections of 30 feet. I didn't realize headlamps are rated as water proof. I bought one rated IPX8 Submersible. There's a down climb  climb in the dark section.  

More Canyons

Fat Man's Misery

A Full Canyon Adventure

Fat Man's Misery is a classic canyons of the Colorado Plateau.  

I did it solo in the summer. It was 109 degrees. Encountered low water levels at first, had a fine adventure in the end.

Every obstacle becomes a question: What problems am I trying to solve?What's the safest option? What assumptions am I making?

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Spry Canyon

Tricky approach and sandstone slots.

Soloed in Zion National Park. There is zero room for error when you are your own rescue team. I carried two 200" ropes, each thick enough that if a rope got stuck I'd have an extra to get down. Which was good as the rope almost got stuck twice. 

It was 105. Almost got cold in the water. When you're soloing a lot of time is spent with rope management.

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Extreme Adventures

Pipe Spring Canyon

Taking the long way to get where we were going

Early spring. Instead of exiting the normal way, we made a left, hiked a short way up Lower Kolob Canyon, climbed out of the canyon, hiked overland and did a peak in the back country, before rappelling back down, into the Narrows.

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