Canyoneering Festival: San Rafael Swell

The OCA / Canyoneering USA Annual Imperial Slot Fest was held at Hidden Splendor Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 3-5. What fun. About 30 intrepid canyoneers turned out for a weekend of gnats, canyons and sunshine. Many new techniques were shared, new friends made, faces connected with email names, and good times had.

Friday, I took a group of Toms through Quandary Direct. Tom Jones - moi; Tom Talboys from Salt Lake; Thomas Haskett from Pocatello; and Ron Westlund from Delta, an honorary Tom for the day.

We found the canyon very dry. Arriving at the first drop of the Direct route, we found a freshly drilled bolt above where I had removed my own piece of hardware last fall. Hmmmm.

We moved a large boulder into position and dug it in as a deadman. Not too hard, really, but it was nice to have a lot of brawn along on this trip.

Here you can see the new bolt (red hanger), fresh drilling dust and my poorly filled hole from the drilled angle I placed 2 years ago and cleaned last fall. The bolt was a 3/8″ red tip Rawl Powerstud in a sloppy hole, and cleaned really easy. It’s kind of remarkable that such a sloppily placed bolt actually held for a few rappels.

Tom uses a Happy Hooker to escape the pothole.

first "Direct" rappel leads into a deep pothole, currently about calf-deep. Exiting this pothole is difficult, but could be done using a three-person shoulder stand, or a pack toss (tossed from the rappel point). For the pack toss, tie the end of the rope securely to the pack - this often requires tying through multiple straps and loops on the pack. Fill the pack with non-breakable stuff, and have it be as heavy as you can easily make the toss with. It is remarkable how well a surprisingly light pack can be used in this way. Toss this pack past the pothole and over the next lip (see ropebag in the picture). Rap into the pothole, then ascend the rope to get out. In this case, we used the Happy Hooker to hook the edge, then climb out. Here, Tom climbs while Tom and Thomas spot him. And the rest of the canyon was fun...

After a delightful dinner served by Mark Rosen (and cooked in the official cooking pot of the State of Utah) and a few hours of swatting gnats, scratching bumps, chatting and imbibing a few interesting liquids... after all this we awoke early to find more vehicles and sleeping bags had arrived in the middle of the night. Sorting through the new arrivals, we broke into groups and headed off to try to do the exposed climb up the Moroni Slopes before the sun got un-goshly hot.

After an exciting drive to the mouth of The Squeeze, we charged into the full sun and climbed up the Moroni Slopes, just a little too late for it to be pleasant. Hmmm, got to set the alarm a little earlier. We scouted around and tried to find the walk-in, but cut a little too far left, and ended up rapping off a bush into the middle Squeeze. (Hidden Splendor Slot Fest)

Gwen might be having a good time, but we can't really be sure. (Hidden Splendor Slot Fest)

The Squeeze has some very interesting potholes, plus 2 large natural bridges. In this pic, Gwen, Bill and Craig admire the underside of one of these marvelous arches of stone. (Hidden Splendor Slot Fest)

And here we are having a little snack at the second one. (Hidden Splendor Slot Fest)

And another view of the second arch. Bill, Gwen and Kris. (Hidden Splendor Slot Fest)

The Squeeze has a couple of long, dramatic rappels. Gwen on rappel. (Hidden Splendor Slot Fest)

Craig did a great job, considering it was his first real technical canyon. Craig having a good time rapping down this colorful wall. (Hidden Splendor Slot Fest)

The final rappel, "return to the land of the living", out this great slot and next to a dark, ominous pool. (Hidden Splendor Slot Fest)

Here’s our Saturday crew: Craig, Gwen, Bill, Tom and Kris. Had a very “appetizing” dinner. More gnats, more socializing. Got up Sunday and went home, though many stayed and did more interesting things.