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 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 MoreSaw a bunch of good flowers at the Virgin Goosenecks on Friday, thought maybe I should do a flowerwalk in the Park, so I wandered down in the morning to walk the Pa'rus trail. I've seen some good blooms there in the past, but...
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 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 MoreAfter the Live Like Louis fest, a group of us wandered up Lady Mountain on a fine November day. Not all that eventful, really. We went up. There was some snow near the top that made finding the trail more difficult, and then getting back over to it quite dicey once we found it. Lynn and I put in a bolt above the second step,for rappel and belay. With greater popularity of this route, it seemed like a good idea...
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...
Read MoreHadn't done Behunin for a few years. Kinda needed to, to check on the anchors and maybe fix the 2nd to last, which was a mess; and maybe add a high-water anchor for the last rap, out of the watercourse, since people seem to keep getting stuck up there. I hadn't done a canyon with my fellow Imlay employee and friend Shirlz, and we had fine weather, not so many orders to fill, and...
Read MoreCanyoneering with a crack team is a great pleasure. Two guides from France, Guillaume Coquin and Francois, plus Locomotive Lynn and Cassy Brown from ZAC (and me) make one darn fine team. A test run in Mystery the day before was a bit later, hotter and longer than I prefer before a Heaps, but we did hook up with visiting Australian photographer Mark Watson, who generously offered to hike the 600 foot rope to the Emerald Pools for us...
Read MoreA somewhat difficult Imlay. My wonderful niece Rylin and hubby Eric really wanted to do Imlay, and could sneak down for a weekend. Which coordinated well with lil' 'Lana (now an OB instructor, formerly a ZAC guide) being in town (briefly). Ry and Eric brought along Dave Eiriksson; lil' 'Lana brought along Zion NP Trailcrew Chief Shannon Calabro to complete out team...
Read MoreYes. Again! I've come to really like Not-Imlay. No fight for a permit. A scenic tour. Nice long raps. A short exit. A shortish day. Bailey was looking for a new canyon (for her) and despite the heat, seemed like a good idea. The bad news is that it starts and ends in the Main Canyon - thus one has to ride the bus to get there and back, which costs time...
Read MoreThe Burgemeester of South African Kloofing was in town, and we ran through Pine Creek and Fiddle Me This, and were looking for a Big Finish.
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