Imlay Canyon - Sneak Route

Is it better to drive a Ferrari, or to simply dream about it?

The dream of doing Imlay had been in my mind for so long that it seemed unlikely to live up to the hype. Dark, cold, and dangerous, with 27 rappels… gosh, it seemed intimidating. Finally, on July 3rd, 2016, Steph, Meg, Christian, Cole and I got to see what this canyon was all about.

The thing was, it wasn’t difficult or scary at all. It was just fun.

Dare I say, it was… easy.

I wish I had a better story to tell about this storied canyon. Steph hooked out of two potholes. We boosted her out of another pothole that was a bit tough. Other than that, we simply rapped, splashed and jumped, over and over, until we found ourselves standing (and grinning) in The Narrows.

To drive the Ferrari was good, but to dream about it was better. Perhaps I should be thankful that I dreamed about it for so long.

Bob

Right Sneak, early in the morning.

Log soup, early in the morning.

Christian and Cole.

Steph, doing the hooking.

Cole and Meg

Steph

Meg

Steph, Christian, Me, and Meg

Me and Steph

Me

Meg

Water Canyon - Zion

On July 2, 2016, Steph, Meg, Christian, Cole and I needed a warmup canyon for our week in Zion. Water Canyon fit the bill perfectly.

Water has fun little features; a deep pothole to jump in, some interesting downclimbs, some water to stem over, and a very pretty waterfall in the middle. Nothing scary, nothing hard. Plus the pools at the bottom of the canyon make it easy to cool off at the end of a hot day. It was a great way to start the trip.

The Great White Icicle - 2016

On June 26th, 2016, Micah, Cristina, Meg, Matt and I descended The Great White Icicle.

Golll-eee we had fun on this one! Passage to the top was quick and easy. We hit the mid-waterfall platform just as the sun came over the mountain, which made the waterfall explode with color. It was one of those days that makes you want to come back and do the same route tomorrow.

Thanks for putting this outing together Micah! It was one of the best Icicle runs yet!

Quandary Direct

On June 13, 2016, Tom, Cristina, Micah, Meg and I splashed our way through Quandary Direct.

Reading about this canyon frightened me when I first got into canyoneering. Keeper potholes? Gosh, they sounded intimidating. Skeleton soup? Gosh, I didn't want to be an ingredient. So I put it on my 'do not attempt' list.

A few years later, and a few potholes later, it still had never made it on my 'we'll do this on our next trip' list.  It had became a canyon that someone else had to arrange. Finally, things came together.

That day there was no intimidation. Quandary was a insanely fun splash park; a relaxed laugh fest led by the skilled and talented Tom Collins, who had been through Quandary a couple of times before. I was still smiling as I wrote this, it was such a great day.
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Meg playing the flute at dawn. A great way to start a day of canyoneering. 

Tom doing an epic slide.

Downclimb into a cold swimmer.

Tom using The Force to help bag rope.