lost happy hooker

> Was by chance this one of the canyoneers? > http://picasaweb.google.com/aramv14/Oct2007/photo#5122161191056300642

http://picasaweb.google.com/aramv14/Oct2007/photo#5122162513906228450

Yep, that was one of the canyoneers. And there were three of them.

We did have get a pass to park at the grotto. We started hiking at 4:30 am. It was too hot to get any real sleep that night at the campground but it wasn’t uncomfortable on the hike up. None of us felt like we had to drink a lot of water on the hike up. We used the sneak route on the right.

We did meet another group at the final drop. They said that was their third day in the canyon. (They had big packs and a lot of camera equipment – would have hated to haul all that stuff around. They were just hanging out at the final drop, looked like they were waiting for the light to be just right for their next set of pictures.) They all said they had done the canyon several times before, and they didn’t think the current conditions were as difficult as it could have been, and that the water level was still high. I have only done the canyon once before yesterday, and yesterday was definitely harder than when I did it two years ago. (The water was about 2 feet higher two years ago.)

— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “adkramoo” wrote:

— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “randallsheen” wrote: > The log soup has been around most of the season. The monsoon rains of > a week ago? Wonder if they hit Imlay. With dark, cold water, perhaps > not. Imlay loses some water off the top pretty quickly though…Sounds > like you had a Red Pass? Still pretty warm on the hike up? When did > you start? Which sneak route you use? Left or right? Thanx for the > report. My daughter wants me to show her every Imlay report until her > scheduled engagement with the canyon on September 22nd. > R

At the beginning of the first technical section there was thick log

soup and nasty water. The water became less thick the farther we

went but was black up until the pool right before the final drop into

the narrows. The water was quite frigid in a few of the pools.

We had to use hooks on 4 of the potholes and potshots on 2 others.

There were a few others that we had to help eachother out of. The

water level was about 3 feet below the lip on most of the keepers,

and on only one of them could we stand on the bottom of the pool.

That was enough to make them quite difficult for me and my group.

I wore a 5mm wetsuit with a 2mm vest. Another wore a 7mm, and the

other wore a 3mm with a 4mm farmer john. I was never cold and

probably would have been okay without the vest. All of us get cold

pretty easily though, those who are more cold tolerant than could

could probably get by with less.

From the time we left my car at the grotto until we returned it was

12.5 hours. I imagine most groups doing Imlay will be through it

faster than that. (It took us 5 hours to drop into the canyon. None

of us had done the sneak route before. We’ll be able to do the

approach faster the next time we go.)

>

— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “adkramoo” wrote:

— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “randallsheen” wrote:

BTW, this is only the second time I have been through the canyon. The water was lower this time than the previous time,

but there was still a lot of water and a lot of swimming.

Other than that it was a great day.

Water quality good? Was it warm or cold? What was your group wearing > thermal temperature wise? Pothole escape challenges? How many? Hope > your Hooker makes its way home. > R >

At the beginning of the first technical section there was thick log soup and nasty water. The water became less thick the farther we went but was black up until the pool right before the final drop into the narrows. The water was quite frigid in a few of the pools.

We had to use hooks on 4 of the potholes and potshots on 2 others. There were a few others that we had to help eachother out of. The water level was about 3 feet below the lip on most of the keepers, and on only one of them could we stand on the bottom of the pool. That was enough to make them quite difficult for me and my group.

I wore a 5mm wetsuit with a 2mm vest. Another wore a 7mm, and the other wore a 3mm with a 4mm farmer john. I was never cold and probably would have been okay without the vest. All of us get cold pretty easily though, those who are more cold tolerant than could could probably get by with less.

From the time we left my car at the grotto until we returned it was 12.5 hours. I imagine most groups doing Imlay will be through it faster than that. (It took us 5 hours to drop into the canyon. None of us had done the sneak route before. We’ll be able to do the approach faster the next time we go.)