No Kidding

On January 29th, 2017, Tony, Meg, Tom, Steph and I did a quick lap through No Kidding.  Not much of a story, but we did have a great time and took a few fun photos.

The following photos are courtesy of Meg Allyn.

Monoxide - West Fork

On January 29th, 2017, after a fun morning in No Kidding, we did a quick lap through the West Fork of Monoxide. There isn’t much of a story to tell, it is a pretty straightforward canyon. However, we did discover four needless bolts that might be a fun repair project for somebody.

Please send me a message if you plan to pull the bolts in Monoxide. I’d be happy to help make your repair job look invisible.

Tom and Tony downclimbed the ledges to the right.  That looked hard.

Amateur hour. There is a nice chokestone anchor 10 feet behind these bolts. 

 Amateur hour continued. These bolts were tied to a deadman with four different pieces of webbing, some 15 feet away. Can't be too safe!

Burr Slot

On January 28th, 2017, Steph, Tom Collins, and I stemmed, pushed, and climbed our way through Burr Slot.

Burr is relatively short, but it packs a punch. The technical portion lasted maybe 45 minutes and started out pretty mellow. The first obstacle was a wide-ish 15-20 foot silo that Tom and I stemmed over (going over was optional, a learning moment for me). That was followed by a long stretch of high stemming with no penalty points, the slot below was too narrow for anyone to fall into.

Soon we found ourselves at a REAL silo, 40 feet tall with water in the bottom. The entry side was offwidth; Tom downclimbed it with some difficulty by the time we arrived. Halfway down on the entry side of the silo was a rappel anchor draped around a chokestone, a seemingly desperate option because the entry side was so narrow.

Tom suggested that we go over the silo then downclimb on the exit side. I went first, feet-to-back, making good use of a shelf on the foot side of the silo. It was a hair-raising and serious move. A fall there would have meant broken bones followed by a slow, wet, frigid death. As I crossed, my focus was so intense that the world below me vanished, for a few seconds it was a black void. No Tom, no silo, just black. After making it across, it was sobering to look down into the silo. It was another step forward in the progression, and it felt good.

I downclimbed the far side of the silo. Like the entry side, it too was offwidth, but a slightly friendlier geometry. I then rested in the slot below, feet still not on the ground, as I watched Steph cross high above.

Steph began to the downclimb the exit side of the silo, then started to struggle. I could see no way to help her from my perch below. Then Tom then made an amazing move. He stemmed up 25 feet to Steph and took the weight of her pack. He then offered to let her use his shoulder as a foot hold (!!). He stayed just below her on the way down. Keep in mind, from the top it was a 40 foot fall backward into a wet pothole, or a 35 foot fall forward into a tapering slot. It was the most incredible assist I have ever witnessed.

Then the canyon got HARD. The slot after the silo was an unfriendly width at every level and tried to funnel us into the bottom. Getting the ropes through (400 feet) soon became the crux of the canyon. It only lasted for 15 minutes, but the experience was scary and tiresome.

With a sense of relief, we found ourselves at the final rappel. We were happy to find new webbing that draped over the sharp edge so our ropes did not get nicked. We made the rap, pulled the rope, then made the looooong hike back to the car, tired and satisfied, with no interest in adding a second canyon to our day.

Bob

Return to Shenanigans

On the wall above our bed hangs a large picture of the Grim Crawl. Even though it looks great, it has bothered me a little every time I've looked at it. I had never been across the Grim Crawl, nor had I done the downclimb adjacent to it. I just felt like I hadn’t earned the right to display a canyon obstacle that I had not yet conquered.

You might recall that we had a difficult day in Shenanigans back in 2012 that taught us a few hard lessons– don’t underestimate the tricks a canyon can play on your mind, don’t underestimate the Grim Crawl, be realistic about you body size; and most importantly, do not ever, ever lay down in the skinny section.

I’ve probably told the story a hundred times, about inching along on my side to get through the crux narrows. It was terrifying, I remember it like it happened yesterday. I swore that I would never go back.

Years passed and I lost some weight. We learned mental tricks and physical tricks that help us through tight places. We learned to downclimb.

Finally, on New Year’s Day, 2017, Steph, Tony and I returned to the canyon that had haunted me for so long. This was Tony's first time through.

On this day I weighed 154lbs and Tony weighed 194lbs*. Like any good buddy I wanted to see him suffer through the skinny sections. I knew this was unlikely, but I was still hopeful.

The first section of the canyon was simple and mercifully dry. The second section was excellent. The leaning hallway was better lit in January than it was in September, which was rather odd.

Then came the main event. We found the Grim Crawl to be free of dust, so it seemed extra grippy. I asked Tony for a belay (really a psychological belay) and made my way across easily. Steph rapped off Tony, then Tony made his way across the Crawl to join me.

Sliding off of the Crawl into the downclimb was far more intimidating than the Crawl itself. The short move, onto a large chokestone, was not particularly hard. However, there was no way to protect it. If you botch the slide you will fall 40+ feet; in January the consequences would probably prove fatal. Thankfully, we didn’t botch it. It was fun and rewarding to make that move and the subsequent downclimb, a step forward in the progression for me.

We made our way to the crux narrows. I made it through easily, shifting my ribcage up/down/diagonally at places to micro-route find my way through. No helmet stands were necessary. Tony had to go up a foot or two to get over a pinch. A simple heel-to-toe jam was all he needed. Dang! Minimal suffering!

Overall, this was one of my favorite canyon days. It was fulfilling to conquer old demons with two of the best people I’ve ever known. I couldn’t dream of a better way to spend New Year’s Day and look forward to visiting Shenanigans many times in the future.

-Bob

*If you weight more than 180lbs and are thinking about doing Shenanigans, please take a moment to check yourself. Realize that Tony has no body fat and moves like a ninja. Going over the crux narrows would be easy for him.

Our car-to-car time using the Kelsey exit was 5h34m.

Chambers + Little Bull

On December 31st, 2016, Steph, Tony, Tom, Russell, and I spent a day in Robber’s Roost. Chambers and Little Bull were our objectives for the day.

Tony and I had done Chambers before; it was 60 degrees hotter and I was 20lbs fatter on that day. I was excited to see how different the canyon would feel.

This was Steph’s first visit to Chambers. It was fun to see her fly through the obstacles. When we arrived at the crux upclimb she simply slid through. We played with the idea of returning to the top to see how fast we could do a second lap.

This was also Tom’s first visit. He moves fluidly through most canyons, and this was no exception. He tried to stay low through the crux. I was up above, watching him, nearly certain that he would get stuck. Alas, he did not fit, but was able to retreat.

I’m not completely sure if Russell knew what he was in for. He is bigger than me, but not really big, maybe 180-190lbs. He eventually got to a spot where he could not fit at ground level. He opted to go high, up and over a huge rotten flake, maybe 40 feet up. I did not see him do this because we were downcanyon a little ways. It sounded like a hell of a lot of work.

Overall it was a really good lap through Chambers, a true classic. Afterward, we quickly made our way over to Little Bull Canyon.

Little Bull is short but very good. My pictures suck because the inside of the canyon is pitch black. It is certainly worth your time if you are in the area. It was a fine way to finish a great day with friends new and old.

Falling from this perch would be bad. It is 50 feet to the floor below. If you look closely you can see Tom's helmet (on rappel). 

Tom rapping into darkness. I'm satisfied with the quality of this photo, considering the conditions.

Boss Hog + Hog 2

On December 30th, 2016, Steph, Deanpaul and I ventured through Boss Hog and Hog 2.

Some days are about pushing the envelope and swimming in the pool of adventure. This day was about enjoying the unseasonably warm temperatures while trying to capture a handful of quality photographs under the unfavorable December sun. Deanpaul brought two cameras, I only brought one. I hope he got twice as many good shots as I did.

This was Steph’s first time to the Hog canyons. It was fun to watch her style the harder parts of Boss Hog.

After we completed our canyons, we opted to exit via Hog Springs. That was a fine way to finish a very fun day (good idea Deanpaul!).

The following photos are courtesy of Deanpaul Russell.

Bingo Canyon

On December 29th, 2016, Steph and I rolled into Hanksville with a few hours of daylight to burn. We hoped to stay dry. We like to downclimb. We LOVE skinny canyons. Hmm…

We selected Bingo Canyon from our stack of beta and boogied on over to the trailhead.

That tiny canyon did not disappoint! It had four really interesting downclimbs, one that looked like a certain rappel from the top. It also has a really nice 70 foot rappel at the end.

Bingo was an excellent way to start our trip. Our car-to-car time was 2h14m.