The Latest Rave is your resource for Utah Canyoneering know-how. From Utah canyon condition reports to narratives of mind-bending epics to wildflower sightings, you will find all the beta you need from Tom and his team on The Rave.
One concept I have been working on putting into words is the idea of Stewardship, both personal on my part, and moreover the stewardship the community and visitors take on, to keep the canyons clean, friendly and in as natural a state as possible. Keeping the canyons “natural” requires active management, as contradictory as that sounds, and producing a guidebook spurns the steward in me to take action, and deal with problems that have festered for a while.
Read MoreI have some bruised ribs, so I am not up for much right now, but I could not resist getting out to my closest Zion trail to shoot some flowers. It rained last month, almost every day. Now we have had a week or two of hot weather, so the flowers are out something FANTASTIC! All shots here at near the East Entrance trailhead to the East Rim Trail… and actually within 100 yards of the parking lot. SO many blooms out. No mosquitoes. Hot hot hot though…
Read MoreNot the best conditions (excuse#1). A late start due to errands to run, etc. It was windy. There was not much light. But there were a fair number of flowers out, and Cassy Brown and I both got a few good shots, despite the excuses… uh, I mean, challenges!
Parking in Zions is tough at around 5 pm, on a Saturday, but we found at spot at Canyon Junction. Took a quick peek around there. Then Weeping Rock, in the shade, chilly. Then …
Read MoreFiddle Me This Canyon
I was looking for good stuff going into Echo Canyon, and this is the good one. I looked seriously at a couple others that were kinda lame. But this one… starts with a 200 foot rappel, has a bunch of raps, a bunch of interesting features and, me still my beating heart, can be done without leaving anything behind.
Read MoreWith the Angels Landing trail closed due to collapse, thus starting Imlay from Lava Point, it makes sense to do the full Imlay, as much as I am not as fond of the top half as of the bottom half. With thunderstorms almost every day in the previous week, it would be full, and fairly warm. That huge flood on July 11th might have brought a few changes to the canyon, what would we find?
Read MoreIn researching the very fine book The Kolob Tragedy, I encountered an interesting rumor that, during the KT lawsuit, the Park had claimed officially that the rappel section of Kolob Creek was not in the Park. If true, this would mean that getting a permit to run Kolob would not be required, as there would be no technical canyoneering inside the Park.
Read MoreThe Right Fork is a wonderful Zion canyon, protected from popularity (for all but the swiftest) by requiring two or three days, thus being a ‘backpacking trip’, which canyoneers don’t do so much. As I looked back through my canyoneering diary, I realized it had been 10 years since I had Right Forked...
Read MoreKind of a crazy spring, here in Zionland. First very warm. Then cooler and rainy, as in very rainy. Went down to the main canyon to see if anything was out in the lower elevations, taking the Kayenta trail to the Middle Emerald Pool, then near Weeping Rock went to one of my favorite riparian nooks. Not all that many things out, but many of the usual suspects were getting going. Also some species new to me, or at least that I had not carefully photographed previously...
Read MoreIt's a small canyon. One rappel. Some nice narrows. I've done it twice now, and both times did not get much in the way of pictures. And stuck the rope, both times. My niece Rylin was in town, and we wanted to do something, something short. It was broiling hot. Shelf Canyon seemed like a good idea, though the scenic approach would be a bit on the toasty side, so we took the Upper Pine Creek approach...
Read MoreBack to Zion National Park's Not-Imlay Canyon. Rumor had it someone left a bunch of ropes hanging, so we organized a trip to go in and retrieve these things. The dangling rope was swung on by the numerous Narrows hikers... until it broke. Emergency over, but cleanup still required...
Read MoreIt's hot down here. Anyone notice? I've been doing a lot of canyons, but my energy level is tanking. So how about something kinda short? Walker has been on the list to do for the new guidebook, and I had made an attempt a couple years ago in the fall, when we went down the East Fork only to discover that the East Fork does not get you to the cool big rap that is the big event in this canyon...(sigh)...
Read MoreDarn hot down here, it is, limiting choices to a few. But Lower Echo (Echo below the trail) is one that is deep and dark, with some water to cool off in. A short approach hike means, not so bad. But the penalty gets paid at the end - since the final rap out of the canyon is closed, one must fix ropes to exit the canyon. A while ago, I put in an anchor to improve the usability of the fixed rope...
Read MoreOn the fringe of Zion National Park lies the little sister of the famous Zion Narrows. Parunuweap Canyon holds the smaller East Fork of the Virgin River, rather than the North Fork that runs through the more famous (and popular/crowded) Narrows. Kat2 (Katherine H) from Hurricane was looking to go backpacking for the very first time - this seemed like a good choice. Flat, local, not too long, secluded, beautiful...
Read MoreMemorial Day weekend. Zion is PACKED! I'm chillin, but decide to go for a flowerwalk. The wait at the East Entrance is 25 minutes... I wanted to do the main canyon to look for hanging garden flowers, but there was no parking to be found so I ran away to the KT Road, hoping to get some good cactus shots...
Read MoreTried to do Spry on Thursday, but rain intervened. Good thing it started raining at the top of the first rappel or this could be a very different story. (Most likely the canyon did not flash, just woulda been not so much fun in a steady light rain which we did not have sufficient clothes for)...
Read MoreRan up Lady Mountain last Saturday. We planned on a different adventure, which involved getting wet and cold, but not getting wet and cold sounded a lot better, so at the Zion Lodge we off-loaded. We hiked up the sorta-closed upper-Emerald Pools trail, shortly dumping most of the weight from our packs beside the trail. With lighter packs, we headed upward...
Read MoreGuest Rave by Steve Ramras; all the good pictures by Ramsel Adams. It doesn't happen every year. Usually about every 4 or 5 years. When it does, I can't resist. It happened to us the first time, in the early 90's. We descended Middle Echo, one May day, finished the short raps and came smack into a walls of ice. For the next 2 hours, we dangerously weaved our way through the snow and ice...
Read MoreCanyoneering in winter - be careful! I was looking for one more "full day" canyon before the season closes down...guess I got it! Doesn't help that I don't like getting up early. Or maybe I didn't do the math, but... We chose Checkerboard as a worthy canyon for a mighty day, and thankfully not all that wet. We met at 7:30 a.m....
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