Sierra Nevada Canyoneering and Last Rap in Heaps

I put some fresh webbing on it this summer, didn’t have enough daylight to remove the old cordelette though. I didn’t realize it was 10 years old Also cleaned the second to last anchor. TJ

— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “TomJones” wrote:

Interesting to note that the final anchor on Heaps is still rigged, I am pretty sure, with this elegant cordalette installed by Joe Wrona and friends in the year 2000.

— In Yahoo Canyons Group, Joe Wrona wrote:

I did a bunch of descents into the Kern trench about

11-12 years ago from both sides. The granite chutes

are long and have strong flow this time of year, but

the most enjoyable descent is down Golden Trout Creek

at the south end of the trench. The rock is basalt

and tuff and the ecology is quite unique. When the

volcanic flows cut off the local rainbow trout

population eons ago, the fish mutated into the Golden

Trout. These fish are completely unafraid and

practically swim into your hands in the pools below

the cascades.

The waterfalls tend to drop in sections that can be

handled with single and double rope raps, so there is

no major engineering that needs to be done. I remember

getting abraided pretty good by the rock, so wear your

chain mail. Lots of grottos, I think.

Flowers should be happening about now since that is

low country by Sierra standards and I seem to recall

that there were a lot of Blue Grouse running about in

the brush. The hens tend to ruffle their nape and

bluff charge when you encounter their brood.

Rattlesnakes are thick in the south end of the Kern

trench and tend to hang out along the side of trails

diurnally.

I saw no evidence of a prior descent when I did it, I

have never heard of anyone else descending it since,

and I have only spoken of it to my canyoneering

partner, Steve Allen. I am willing, however, to trade

this bit of info for some attention from canyoneers to

the condition of Heaps and Imlay Canyons in Zion Park.

I believe that someone referred to me in Zion last

month as a “No Bolt Nazi.” I am not sure what that

means, but Steve Allen, Bill Hatcher, Jim Finch and I

did collect two large plastic trash bags of

canyoneering garbage from Heaps and Imlay on May

24-26. If I understood the local buzz correctly,

several experienced groups had just been through those

canyons, but I have a hard time believing that

seasoned descenders would overlook so much trash,

particularly the 100′ of useless and swollen Blue

Water static line that was snarled in the Imlay slot.

The final rap from Heaps was also a mess with biners,

rings, and pulleys all tangled up together in a five

pound rat’s nest. I recognize that the Heaps rap is a

bit longer than some, but adding junk on top of junk

doesn’t make it any safer. It seemed to me that a

single equalized four point cordellette made from 20′

of 9mm static line was much more appropriate and I

hope no one minds that arrangement.

Anyway, enjoy the Kern trench.

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