Gravel Canyon

On August 20th, 2016, Tony, Levi and I splashed our way through Gravel Canyon.

Gravel was much more fun than I expected; it was step up in scenery and challenge from the neighboring Black Hole. Tippy-top water conditions added to the fun on this warm summer day. A bit stinky in places, a bit cold in places, but without a doubt worth a visit.

Some dudes will do anything to avoid water.

Levi enjoying his very first floating disconnect.

Tony, the bog monster.

The Hungry Cyclops. Nom-nom!

 Playing in the log soup. Note the log Levi is sitting on.

Our view of some really cool ruins from the exit route.

Benson Creek

On August 7th, 2016, Steph, Meg and I took a refreshing lap down Benson Creek.

The bushwhack up to the top was a bit of work, but rap #1 immediately rewarded our efforts. The rest of the canyon was pretty good as well. Benson turned out to be a great choice for a hot summer day.

Meg heading down rap #1

Oh yes, this is what we came for!

Steph and Meg, rap #1

Steph.

That's me falling in love with the CRITR2. Seriously, it's so good.

Rap #2

Rap #3

Meg on rap #4

Das Boot and The Subway

After a long and rainy night, on August 6th, 2016, Steph, Meg and I splashed our way through Das Boot then down The Subway.

We caught Das Boot in rare form; it was flowing nicely and the water was warm. Steph and I were surprised to find long hallways full of sand and rocks that had been deep swimmers on our previous visit in 2012. A pair of large intimidating potholes were completely undetectable on this visit.

When we arrived at The Subway we were stunned at the amount of sand we discovered. Keyhole falls was a 5 foot downclimb, then we climbed OVER the bowling ball chokestone. The rest of the route was also stuffed with sand, including the potholes in The Subway proper.

All of the sand made for few pictures and fast travel. We did this route car-to-car in exactly 8 hours. Also, unbeknownst to us, the park closed all of the canyoneering routes down that day, so we only saw a couple of people during our hike. It was kind of nice.

Overall, it was a fun, sandy, and memorable day with Steph and Meg.

Mystery Canyon - 2016

On July 6th, 2016, Steph, Meg, Christian, Cole, Reed and I took ventured through Mystery Canyon.

This was Reed's very first time in a slot canyon. The first rappel in Mystery was the first time he had ever descended a rope. Just like his two older brothers, he is a natural.

Not much else to say about the day... Mystery Lake was stinky, Mystery Springs was cold, Mystery falls was awesome.

It was a great way to wrap up our Zion trip. I can't wait to do more canyons with these guys!

Bob

Boundary Canyon - Down then Up

On July 5th, 2016, Steph, Meg, Christian, Cole and I descended Boundary Canyon. But we didn't want to do the stinkin' hot MIA exit in the middle of July! So we fixed a few ropes then jugged back out.

Descending Boundary required almost no effort. Jugging out on the other hand, was pretty physical. Although we did spare each other some grunt work and took turns enjoying an elevator ride up on a 2:1 haul. FUN!

In the end, even if I had an anvil in my backpack, jugging out was WAAAAYYYY more fun than the MIA exit! The canyon was cool, the required teamwork was engaging, and the scenery was great the entire time.

The ropes we used were:

200 x 2
100 x 3
40 x 1
20 x 1

We spent the entire day in the canyon, mostly because it was 30 degrees cooler than back at camp, but also because we are slow at ascending. At the end of the afternoon we hiked back to the cars on the old logging trail, mostly in the shade. It was a tremendous workout, and a memorable day with some of the most fun people I know.

Bob

Taking a break at the halfway point.