I'm not sure who's mind this annual tradition of mid-winter madness originally belongs to, but I can't imagine it being the product of any rational thought.

The mornings were hauntingly cold, and motivation to get out of camp early was as short as the days were long. It took a few nights to realize that sleeping with a canister of fuel was the fastest way to get boiling water the next morning. That is, if the water container hadn't frozen solid during the night. Arriving back at camp at night set off a race against the sun. The object was simple: get into the warmest clothes possible, and get dinner started before the temperatures plummeted. If you don't, the lure of the campire's warmth would be too comforting to be divorced, and tending to these other matters no longer seemed reasonable.

And to think, I had been made to believe this was a trip that couldn't be missed. Yet, when the invitation to attend was made, I put up little in the way of resistance. Apparently, neither did anyone else. We were hoodwinked, I tell ya. Hoodwinked. It didn't take long for the number of participants to climb above the forecasted high temperatures, and it quickly became evident to me that FreezeFest is a tradition that could have been conceived only by halfwits, and attended regularly only by fools.

To their credit, these fools know how to have a good time. In all, 33 people made appearances at one time or another. The reasonable folks stayed only a few days, while the more loony stayed a week or more. As the final seconds of 2007 ticked away, twelve people remained huddled around the campfire, anticipating the curtain-raising event of the new canyon year: a January 1st descent of the Black Hole.

A special hat tip to all those who made it down for the celebration. It was great to meet and canyon with you, but it was even better to see your cars full of more firewood. Here's to another great year of canyons!

NEEP - An exploration of the North-East fork of East Pasture.
Chambers - A beautiful but chilly descent of the classic canyon.
Shenanigans - Traditional FreezeFest fare, found in fantastic conditions.
Monkey Business - A record attempt to get 20-something canyoneers through in one day.
HogFest - 16 people. 4 hogs. 49 canyons completed. And a few real piggies who did all 4.
Foolin' Around - Completing the W. Fork Butler trifecta on a day when hell surely froze over.
Black Hole - Wild conditions for the FreezeFest Finale.