Posts Tagged ‘Memorial Weekend 2013’

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.

Day Hike & Family Spat Diverted – Chimney Rock Loop Hike, Capitol Reef National Park

Sunday, May 26th, 2013

CMC Hikers at Chimney Rock Trail Head
On a rest day from canyoneering, we decided to hike the Chimney Rock Loop in Capitol Reef National Park. It was a great little 1.5 hour hike with pretty views.

Chimney Rock Jumping

Chimney Rock Panorama

After the hike was over, we ran into a guy who was hanging out by the side of the road with two touring bikes. Turns out he and his twin brother (whom we saw hitch hiking earlier) were on a trip cross country when they got in a horrible spat. One brother called the other brother a fetus in front of a food worker at a sandwich shop and that was the last straw.

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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

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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!

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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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