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.
Back 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 MoreCassidy Arch Canyon has gotten rather popular, of late. The Park has become concerned about the wear and tear in the canyon, including on the tree used for the first anchor. We had been telling people to use a retrievable anchor system so as not to leave a sling for the hiking visitors to fret over, but... With increased traffic, slings left on the tree were a regular thing...
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 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 MoreCrack Baby is one of the closest Grand Canyon Redwall Limestone slots to "the road", and was thus chosen for a quick trip for a photo shoot. "Give Tom Jones a call", said Rich Rudow, (almost) heading out the door for a 30-day Grand Canyon trip. So Kristen Caldon, photographer on a Sierra Club project, called me, and we threw together a quick trip...
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 MoreLast canyon of the year. The day before the Black Hole calls for something modest - don't wanna get too worked before A. the big party; B. the big campfire session and C. the BIG DAY. Let's do a HOG, some people said. Hog 2 aka Swine Flue was selected as a good choice - and a bunch of people signed on...
Read MoreFF XIV: After a frosty Inferno, came back to camp to find Alane had arrived from Colorado. Next day we joined Ram and others to do a super-duper, double-cross-your-heart secret canyon, which of course was totally wonderful (400 foot rappels next to hot-water waterfalls, dolphins in the pools, a couple 40 foot jumps... you know, all that secret canyon stuff)...
Read MoreWell, not really. FF XIV: My traditional FreezeFest experience begins with a trip to Paradise... er, through Paradiso, as the case may be. But they did that the day before, and it was EPIC! Sand on the walls, snow on the walls, sand over snow on the walls - the savory FF experience we all strive for. When I rolled into camp at 10 pm on the 27th, the canyon planned for the next day was Inferno, also out in the Dantes...
Read MoreGuest Rave: Steve Ramras. Indecision reigned. It was the Christmas day traditional insanity time. Who would go? Many of the past participants felt the reality of the danger of the thing. They waxed eloquently on it foolhardiness. In the end, the same people as last year filled up this year's permit. Where would we go?
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....
Read MoreGuest Rave by Cassy Brown. Photos by Lindsey and Lynn. The moment I watched Lynn stick the burly Zion Adventure Company Land Cruiser BEFREE in a ravine, I knew we were in for an extraordinary adventure in this ruggedly remote corner of the Grand Canyon. “Game on,” I thought. “Let the foolery begin..."
Read MoreThe name "Epic Blarney" has been thrown around for awhile, origin mysterious. Some said it was because of a canyoneering expedition where an Epic brew (good choice) was to be drunk at each rappel... (hmmm, suspicious). A more likely origin was perhaps a descent during one extremely snowy FreezeFest, when it really was EPIC, just to get down Blarney...
Read MoreIt's my party, and I get to choose the canyon and the company. For this year's TomFest, the sparsely-attended Friday canyon would be Pandora's Box, a wonderful though vigorous canyoneering adventure in Capitol Reef National Park. There have been several rescues in there the last couple years, as novice groups have underestimated the difficulties (foreshadowing!)...
Read MoreWent to do some canyoneering, this fine Halloween day. Pipe Spring Canyon in Zion, up near Lava Point was the canyon du jour. I had not been there in a while, and wanted to revisit. Was not all that interested in swimming, or getting up early, so this seemed like a good choice. Mike Cressy came up from Vegas for the day; Cameron was in town briefly; Andy Archabald (AA) came over from St George; and Felicia joined in to complete our crew...
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