Category Archives: Trip Reports

Trip reports from our staff and clients

Kim and Dan Visit The Wave

Posted on February 25, 2013 by

The Wave is a spectacular and world-renowned site located in the backcountry border of Utah and Arizona. A trip there is a magical experience. Getting everything in order to go there is quite another. Hiking the Wave requires a permit, obtained through the Arizona Strip BLM at the Kanab Office or at the Paria Ranger Station (summer only). Only twenty hikers may access this resource each day. Ten of the permits are assigned four months in advance through an online lottery. The remaining ten permits are issued through a walk-in lottery the day before the hike. Obtaining a permit is competitive. You may compete against as many as a thousand people in the online lottery, and a hundred in the walk-in drawing. As you can imagine, being a lucky winner is quite a thrill. To obtain my permit, I entered the next day lottery. Individuals showing up at 9 am for the next day are considered in the drawing. The intensity in the room while your number is drawn from a bingo ball was penetrating. There were 21 names submitted and only 10 names were permitted to enter the Coyote Butte South area to the Wave. The sixth ball drawn, … Continue reading →

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Winter Grand Circle Field Trips

Posted on December 18, 2012 by

Our 2012 season has been rewarding in many ways. We have had enjoyable experiences with thousands of new visitors. Our staff has been the happiest, healthiest, and most cohesive of my eight seasons at ZAC. We head into December celebrating the largest winter staff in our history, as eleven staff will continue work in some capacity. Winter is a time of reflection, relaxation, rejuvenation, improvement, creativity, and innovation. We look for ways to improve ourselves and the way we do things. One such initiative is the Staff Winter Grand Circle Field Trips. With enthusiasm, we are eagerly visiting places visitors often ask about, or even tell us stories about. Our goal is to broaden our skill level as information givers by becoming familiar with more of the Southwest, its places, and context. We journey to destinations few, sometimes none of us have visited, putting staff in charge of planning the trip who have never been. (We love adventure, too.) In the coming weeks, you will see ZAC blog articles of our exploits and the potentially hilarious hijinks that ensue. We aim to travel to Toroweap, Escalante, Antelope Canyon, and more. Our aim is to use these field trip experiences to … Continue reading →

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Zion Narrows Fall Colors Video

Posted on November 22, 2012 by

Long-time ZAC client Jerry King visits us at least every year, regularly recording his hikes and canyon descents via video and still images. When Jerry gets home, he puts together some nice informational videos about the adventures he goes on. If you are thinking about doing a Zion Narrow Through-Hike, check out Jerry’s movie to learn about the hike and see the Narrows in prime fall color splendor.

Posted in Autumn, Canyoneering, Seasonal, The Narrows, Trip Reports, Videos, Zion | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Imlay Canyon Trip Report, 9.2.2012

Posted on September 10, 2012 by

Went through Full Imlay Canyon with Steve Brezovec and Kelly Birdwell – to enjoy the canyon, of course, and to work on the anchors. Found some interesting things. We started the canyon from Potato Hollow, from the very tip-top there, a few hundred yards higher than I had before. We used a retrievable anchor off a tree in order to not leave a sling visible to the public. Downcanyon a ways, we found a tied off rock for the third stage of a rappel that can be done as a three-stage rap. This rock as cleverly wedged in a slot, but was tied off with some cord which was quite pretty, but had a core of paper (indicating that this cord was never intended for any purpose requiring strength). Further down, we found an anchor tied with a non-knot (versus a Water Knot)… but I guess it held for whomever tied it. Quite a few anchors in the canyon were tied with the Minnesota-clip style of equalization – especially scary since on a lot of these two-bolt anchors, one bolt is an ancient eroded stud-type bolt (very unreliable). We re-rigged 4 or 5 anchors usually with fresh webbing. The upper … Continue reading →

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Spry Canyon Flash Flood Video, July 11, 2012

Posted on July 23, 2012 by

Flash flood videos can’t do justice to the real thing, but this video from Spry Canyon last Monday (7/11) offers an educative perspective. The narrators’ emotions perhaps say more about the danger than the actual video… these two guys are clearly scared, excited, and riveted by the crashing, dynamic conditions. They literally have no idea what might happen, how high the water might rise, what debris might come crashing down to them. A scary situation. Were these guys in danger? It’s really difficult to say. Obviously, the water came up quite a bit while they were there, and they seem trapped in the alcove they are in by the middle of the video. But they seem to feel safe in their perch, amazed and lucky they weren’t stuck in a worse position in the canyon. As they point out, their next anchor is 1-2 feet under water by mid-video, and even as the waterfall slows toward the end, they point out how the overall depth just keeps rising. The parting shot shows the red webbing anchor filled with debris, hinting at the surge that receded only minutes before. The weather forecast on this date was not obvious: 40% chance of … Continue reading →

Posted in Accidents, Canyoneering, Flash Flooding, Outdoor Leadership, Safety, Summer, Trip Reports, Zion, Zion National Park | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Awesome Right Fork Trip Report on CUSA’s “Latest Rave”

Posted on June 24, 2012 by

After taking a year off in 2011, Tom Jones has reinitiated his popular canyoneering blog The Latest Rave in a beautiful, updated format, making high-quality, illustrated trip reports even more accessible to canyoneers searching for canyon beta, pictures, and stories. The Latest Rave is a “canyoneering diary,” featuring accounts of recent canyon descents and trips throughout the canyoneering world, but primarily focused on Colorado Plateau canyons. Tom has expanded the Rave a bit, inviting long-time canyoneering partner Steve “Ram” Ramras as a regular Raver, as well as publishing well-written and illustrated canyoneering stories from other canyoneer/authors in his Guest Rave section. Fortunately, quite a few Rave trip reports are about Zion canyons, which are, of course, our favorite. Mark Duttweiler published a particularly nice trip report last week on his party’s descent of the Right Fork of North Creek, a less-travelled canyon deep in the Zion Backcountry. Mark and his crew descend the “Hammerhead” variation of the Right Fork route, adding a great, technical start and a number of rappels to the package. The meat of the Right Fork, however, is the Direct Variation, a formidable section of slot that, though relatively short and not particularly difficult, threatens inexperienced canyoneers with shadows … Continue reading →

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Quicksand!

Posted on May 7, 2012 by

Yesterday while descending Water Canyon with a small CAD I learned a little something about quicksand. Over the past several years I have experienced quicksand, quickmud, and various other mires, but NOTHING like what I experienced in Water Canyon on 4/18. After descending into Middle Water Canyon, we got past the first three raps and started heading down the long hallway into Lower Water Canyon. About half way through this section, we experienced a couple of sloppy, sucking sand areas, but nothing above the knees, which made extraction casual. Moments later, however, I stepped off of a rock in the middle of the watercourse and INSTANTLY sank to my crotch into thin, watery sand. It was somewhat entertaining initially, and I took 10 seconds or so to have the moment captured photographically for all to see. Within those 10 seconds, the sand solidified around my legs and developed the consistency of concrete. I was unable to move any muscle below my waist, so I started digging and scooping water and sand to attempt to free myself from the sucky obstacle. After 10 minutes of digging, damming up the flow to better remove sand and water from the area, and attempting … Continue reading →

Posted in Accidents, Canyoneering, Natural History, Safety, Techniques, Trip Reports, Zion | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

A Different Kind of Zion Visitor

Posted on April 6, 2012 by

Imagine… You’ve been hiking and running deep in the Zion backcountry for 13 hours, carrying only a few snacks and one water bottle. You’ve summited a handful of peaks, rappelled off small trees poking out of bare rock, and swum in 40-degree pools of stagnant canyons water. Many, many miles and vertical meters have passed. Now it’s 10:30 PM, your headlamp is dead, and you’re squeezing energy from the far reaches of your left pinky toe to keep going. And THEN, you get to one last, mandatory unexpected swim of unknown length. Do you put your wetsuit back on? Do you cry? Do you just lay down and close your eyes? No… you grit your teeth, make it happen, and blog about it when you get home. Because you are hardcore. Which I am not. Nice story, Dakota Jones. Thanks for showing how the crazies get it done in Zion. The honest, inspiring words about digging deeper than you think is possible is worth keeping in mind, no matter who you are or what makes you crumble.

Posted in Books & Articles, Canyoneering, Hiking, Trip Reports, Zion, Zion National Park | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Trip Report: Misery Canyon, March 3rd

Posted on March 7, 2012 by

March 3rd, 2012 proved to be a beautiful day. Stetson, Ben, Zach, Jake, Brandon, and I starting off through the pass west of Checkerboard Mesa around 8am. We had snow here and there, with the occasional posthole-worthy pile. The backside of the pass was sunny and dry. At the start of the canyon, we waded through pools with 1/8″-thick ice on top. The water splashed up on the walls of the canyon would usually freeze before the next person went through. We also enjoyed a few swims, breaking the thin ice as we went. Most wet sections ended in sunny exits that helped you forget how cold they were, right before you got to the next one. We got into the grotto section around 1pm and the canyon was beautifully lit with the little light that was able to get in. We had a nice cold swim under the natural bridge and welcomed the warm spring just below. The East Fork of the Virgin River was flowing just enough that we were able to float out when we stayed in the main channel. The canyon was gorgeous and made for a wonderful day not to be forgotten! Dustin Hymas

Posted in Canyoneering, Trip Reports, Zion, Zion National Park | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Trip Report: Imlay Canyon on Christmas Day

Posted on January 18, 2012 by

The question has been asked: Why descend Imlay in the winter? A wonderful canyon maybe, but it’s hard enough during the warmest times of the year. Why build in extra suffering and risk? There are a few reasons really, but paramount is I am competing. Competing with who? For what? Competing for time with my son, Aaron. His options for adventure are great and varied now that he is an adult on his own, with great skills and many talented partners. He likes FreezeFest. He has attended six straight years, but North Wash fare doesn’t move him anymore. So Imlay on Christmas sparks the man-child’s desire for challenge and I am rewarded with time. Time with the man. Last year, the idea was Christmas in Choprock/Kaleidoscope… that was something for him sink his teeth into. This year it was Christmas in Imlay, and I upped it with a plan to climb Ancient Art and Castleton Towers on the following days. He owes me more climbs than canyons anyway, and it is a chance for him to show me his fine skill set. He is on board for this. If I don’t come up with the goods, he will go elsewhere. … Continue reading →

Posted in Canyoneering, Seasonal, Trip Reports, Winter, Zion, Zion National Park | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment