Archive for the ‘Canyoneering’ Category

Canyoneering – The Wives, Capitol Reef National Park, UT

Saturday, April 12th, 2014

Capitol Reef National Park - CMC Canyoneering
Colorado Mountain Club Canyoneers

Michael Readies for the Rappel into Wife 3
Michael Rigging his Rappel into Wife 3

Becca on Multi-stage Rappel #3
Becca In Middle of Multi-Stage Rappel

Jill's Peek-A-Boo
Jill Playing Peek-A-Boo!

On Saturday, I led a Colorado Mountain Club canyoneering trip to explore The Wives of Capitol Reef National Park. There were three other CMC trip leaders in the mix, so we were bound to have a successful day.

Thank you to Bluu Gnome for the beta and insightful comments regarding these canyons! The beta from bluu Gnome, waypoints, maps, etc, is spot on!

After scouting out the area the day before, I determined we should start with Wife 3 and then do Wife 5.

We weren’t able to locate the top of Wife 5, as the terrain was a bit confusing and the GPS point for the top was either entered wrong or I forgot to enter it! After hunting around a bit and having a lengthy discussion about the weather, we decided to go for Wife 4 instead.

As four of our most proficient members descended into Wife 4, the rest of us scrambled down to meet them at the end. The weather at the top looked a bit sketchy, so this strategy made sure that they could travel down canyon faster and the rest of us could be outside the canyon in case something happened.

Reunited at the bottom of the Wives, we headed back to the campgrounds. We got lucky with the weather in that it never rained, more than a few sprinkles, and the cloud cover moderated the temperatures. Later that night, we enjoyed a camp fire, with Michael strumming his guitar, and conversation flowing almost as freely as the brewskies.

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Canyoneering – Blarney, North Wash, Utah

Monday, May 27th, 2013

Blarney Canyon
Early morning approach

Looking Back at Rappel in Blarney Canyon
Rappel in Blarney Canyon

Rappel Number Two in Blarney
Having Fun in Blarney

Blarney is Beautiful
Blarney exit!

Our last day of Memorial Weekend, we decide to do the Blarney canyon. A short, mellow canyon, it is good for a nice half day adventure. We dispose of it in 3 hours!

It’s good it goes fast, because we have a 7 hour drive home ahead of us and we still have to break down camp!

All photos for this blog are courtesy of Erin Thompson as my camera was broken.

Canyoneering – The Hogs, North Wash, Utah

Saturday, May 25th, 2013

CMC Canyoneers Ready for the Hogs
Byron, Clare, Jill, Kim, and Fred at the trailhead. Erin is taking the picture!

Erin and Byron Scouting Miss Piggy
Byron and Erin Scouting Miss Piggy

USGS The Hogs Canyons
Colored in USGS Map, with the Hogs

After such a thrilling time on Leprechaun, I wondered how our trip could have any more adventure. Opting to do the Hogs for day 2 was the answer! It was just one notch up on the excitement scale, while still being a very nice moderate canyon.

Mountain Biking Tantalus Flats in Utah
Dennis decided to mountain bike at Tantalus Flats, so it was down to the 6 of us.

Thanks to Byron for driving us to the trail head in his super awesome pick em up 4wd truck! I was happy we were in such capable hands. The road wasn’t that bad, but 4wd with high clearance was definitely necessary as there were some very deep ruts in sections.

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Canyoneering – Leprechaun, West Fork, in North Wash, Utah

Friday, May 24th, 2013

Dennis Scrambling Above Leprechaun
Dennis Scrambling up to the Rim of Leprechaun

Kim and Dennis Descending Leprechaun Canyon
Kim and Dennis Down Climbing in Leprechaun

Jill Setting Up a Hand Line in Leprechaun
Jill Prepping a Hand Line

Erin Downclimbing
Erin Down Climbing – Props to Byron for this rad picture!

Clare in the Leprechaun
Climbergirl is Canyoneering!

Coming Out of the Dark in the Leprechaun
Coming Out of the Darkness of Leprechaun

We woke up to a beautiful desert morning. Clear as a bell and already warm at 6am! I was excited for my first dry canyoneering experience. (more…)

Canyoneering – North Wash (Arrival Day)

Thursday, May 23rd, 2013

DSCN0775
Our Shade/Mess Tent!

We had so much fun wet canyoneering in Portugal, Dennis and I decide to try our hand at Dry Canyoneering. Another trip leader from the CMC, Jill Yarger, tells me about a trip she has done to North Wash, Utah in the past. She is thinking about leading another one and I immediately volunteer to co-lead the trip. I was so happy she was willing to take a couple of newbies out!

DSCN0776
Prepping for our adventure tomorrow!

Back in Early May, Jill gave a canyoneering refresher training class, which went over skills such as assisted climbing techniques, meat anchors, and how to rig a single strand for rappels. After the training class, I spent the next couple weeks gathering maps, doing research, printing articles from other bloggers, and finding guidebooks (noteably, Technical Slot Canyon Guide to the Colorado Plateau, 2nd Edition by Mr. Kelsey).

I would like to thank the following bloggers and sites. Their research and clearly presented data helped to make our trip a huge success!
Tom’s Utah Canyoneering Guide, Courtesy CanyoneeringUSA.com
Todd’s Desert Hiking Guide
BluuGnome – GPS Waypoints and Pictures!

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