A couple of friends and I descended Imlay this past weekend. We encountered a few snow obstacles in the upper and middle sections but none were dangerous and they looked like they would be melted away within a couple of weeks. The long wall rap in the upper section has plenty of water streaming down it and a large green algae stain that makes it prettier than it appeared in some of the guidebook photos I’ve seen. The canyon had plenty of water throughout its course, but hooking is still required to get out of 3 keepers in the last section. Given the high water, we were able to get out of each of these holes with a single etrier placement. We encountered two other obstacles that could be quickly overcome with potshots: the dead tree wedged between two potholes in the last narrows section that Kelsey’s book suggests you try to lassoo with your rope (very awkward technique, given that you are hemmed in by canyon walls at the preceeding rap station or in shoulder high water in the pothole below) and a small but very high-walled pothole just before the penultimate rap. Snagging a potshot on the timber in the next hole gave our first rappeller a fixed line from which to prusik out of the pothole. He could not find enough purchase to stem around that deep hole on his rappel.
Anyone entering Imlay in the next couple of weeks might want to bring extra webbing to replace the webbing on some of the anchors. We replaced the webbing on quite a few and saw that others had replaced webbing recently as well, but due to time constraints, passed by some webbing in the final section that hasn’t yet reached the deadly stage but definitely is in the autumn of its life. Luke Galyan will shortly have photos of all of the canyon’s major anchors in their current state posted on his www.bluugnome.com website.
A.J.
Yeah, working rope was 60′; or 140′. Used 60 on many; works nicely for most, and saves the weight of another rope bag. Mostly solo considerations….
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “Tom Jones” wrote:
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “A.J.” wrote:
I did Imlay last week in a 4/3 wetsuit, and was a little chilled.
Of course, I did it solo, so I had to swim a lot of places twice
(to make sure I could get out), and had to do the escapes twice
(the first time to see if I could get out, then swim back, pull
the rope, then escape again.) Thus, more water time than normal…
Not sure I understand, A.J. You could do the rap off a block, bring > the ropebag with you, swim to the exit, climb out, then pull up your > pack and the ropebag on a long leash, and pull the rope from there. > Unless your working rope was really, really short…
Tom >
Tom Jones
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “A.J.” wrote:
I did Imlay last week in a 4/3 wetsuit, and was a little chilled. > Of course, I did it solo, so I had to swim a lot of places twice > (to make sure I could get out), and had to do the escapes twice > (the first time to see if I could get out, then swim back, pull > the rope, then escape again.) Thus, more water time than normal… >
Not sure I understand, A.J. You could do the rap off a block, bring the ropebag with you, swim to the exit, climb out, then pull up your pack and the ropebag on a long leash, and pull the rope from there. Unless your working rope was really, really short…
Tom
A.J.
> Yeah, the extreme narrows tends to be the cold spot. The rest, on a > hot summer day is more manageable
I did Imlay last week in a 4/3 wetsuit, and was a little chilled. Of course, I did it solo, so I had to swim a lot of places twice (to make sure I could get out), and had to do the escapes twice (the first time to see if I could get out, then swim back, pull the rope, then escape again.) Thus, more water time than normal…
This trip, I switched away from the drysuit clan. (I did some canyone with wetsuits and some with drysuits.) Used to like the drysuits more, but after looking at the size/weight/benefit comparison; here’s what I came up with:
With a drysuit, you generally save weight; but not much. When you add your thermal layers in, and the coveralls I use to protect the drysuit; it’s pretty close.
Size; the drysuit actually takes up more space (because you need the thermal layers underneath; which take up space, and I used coveralls to protect the drysuit; again space and weight.)
Heat: The benefit is that you seem to warm up faster after getting out of the water in a drysuit (I found my wetsuit warmer in the water, but colder out of the water.) The other benefit is that as long as you don’t puncture the drysuit, you have warm thermals for a bivy. However, one puncture can become a large issue.
A big issue I ran into was if you wanted to pull out of some of the suit (finished Boundary, but didn’t want to spend all of the time getting out of the suit if I was going to need to put it back on when reaching the main Kolob canyon), the drysuit had more layers and thus was more hassle to get in/out of. Because of that, I wore it for a bit that became a decent bushwhack. That had the added risk of putting a hole in the suit…
For the risk to reward ratio; I’m back to using a good wetsuit. YMMV.
adkramoo
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “Ron Graham” wrote:
> No fixed ropes, but several rap stations were set where relatively > easy and short downclimbs existed. As you’ve suggested, perhaps many> of these holes became filled up with sand after the stations were set > up. We jumped past one because the drop was so short and the landing > was so soft.
That and many short drops were drilled back then. Full packs, different visions and less evolved techniques. I do remember a share of bolted 10-12 foot drops up high, now that you mention it.
> Luke will be able to provide the exact GPS coordinates of where we > stayed, but it was several raps before the watercourse took a hard, > flat right and the right-side sneak route came in. The campsite was > on a ledge above a 20-25 foot deep slot on the right. A large dead > tree lay the length of most of the ledge, offering a great place for > sitting and drying wet clothes. Someone before us had set up a stone > fire ring on the ledge and left a lot of wood piled up next to it.
I remember the spot. Kinda close quarters. I would hate to be a sleepwalker there. 😉 Someone should take apart the fire pit. It was there last June and I didn’t do it either, but it is in the park and as such illegal
e frogs sang like crazy all night, but for the > most part, it didn’t bother us, because the singing was so constant > it became white noise.
LOL! I remember once at crossroads that they all just stopped for a few seconds, as if by cue. The silence was deafening!
Regarding the cold: with the exception of a few spots in Imlay, I’ve > stayed pretty warm and flexible in wetsuits
Yeah, the extreme narrows tends to be the cold spot. The rest, on a hot summer day is more manageable
> Perhaps I should rent or invest in a drysuit, but I haven’t had great > experiences with them. My friends and I tried using them for > windsurfing right after the ice cleared off the lakes while I was > growing up in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, one puncture too often > turned them from an asset into a liability, something that became a > bit traumatic if we were a mile from shore and the wind had just died > down. Talk about long, cold swims! Other things I didn’t like about> them were the fact we always had to remove them in order to relieve > ourselves (encouraging us to become dehydrated in order to extend our > playtime) and the constrictions on our wrists and ankles caused a lot > of swelling if we spent full days wearing them. However, that was > dry suit technology 25-30 years ago. Perhaps they’ve gotten much > better since! I recently heard from a friend that some newer models > come with relief zippers. That would be a great feature, as long as > it never became stuck in the open position! (Yikes!)
I know what you mean. It seems the drysuit is more needed in may etc than high summer…or the low sun angle times in the later in the fall. My suit has one of those zippers. Priceless! Punctures can be serious. Minor breaches turn out to be not too serious most times.. I hate the way they wear, hanging on me as they do, but at certain times…..Great TR. Thanx for answering all the questions. R
Ron Graham
> Wild! You must have been worried that you were going to be in an > endless C canyon environ. I assume that the flow sunk into the dirt > quite soon after the big wall drop, perhaps even before that funky, > right, left, left turn was done? > The water followed the right, left, left turn all the way around the big platform below the big rap. It then continued to pop up a lot in the long bushwhacking trek beyond. We were surprised by how much vegetation we found within the watercourse of the upper section. It reminded me of the brushy stretch below the entrance to Behunin.
> We found it interesting that some raps had been set about 2/3 of the
way into the canyon on what were relatively short and manageable
downclimbs onto sand and mud bottoms.
Set as in fixed ropes? > No fixed ropes, but several rap stations were set where relatively easy and short downclimbs existed. As you’ve suggested, perhaps many of these holes became filled up with sand after the stations were set up. We jumped past one because the drop was so short and the landing was so soft.
> Were the frogs “getting off” that evening? Stay at the slab by the > where the left sneak comes in (side canyon on left LDC) or by the > entry of the right sneak, which is an overhang left LDC? Both nice > spots. Others around too. > Luke will be able to provide the exact GPS coordinates of where we stayed, but it was several raps before the watercourse took a hard, flat right and the right-side sneak route came in. The campsite was on a ledge above a 20-25 foot deep slot on the right. A large dead tree lay the length of most of the ledge, offering a great place for sitting and drying wet clothes. Someone before us had set up a stone fire ring on the ledge and left a lot of wood piled up next to it. Just up river from this area was a relatively clear pool from which to filter water. The frogs sang like crazy all night, but for the most part, it didn’t bother us, because the singing was so constant it became white noise.
Regarding the cold: with the exception of a few spots in Imlay, I’ve stayed pretty warm and flexible in wetsuits by using layers that start with 1MM neoprene shorts, a high-neck rash guard, and a 1MM long-sleeve neoprene top from NRS. I put over this a 6/3 suit (6MM on my core but only 3MM on my limbs) and finish it off with the 5/3 hood/vest combo Tom Jones sells. With only 4MM on my limbs, they stay pretty flexible and I don’t get the wrist and ankle swelling that some of my friends in 7MM suits have. The 10MM on my core usually keeps me pretty warm if I keep moving.
Perhaps I should rent or invest in a drysuit, but I haven’t had great experiences with them. My friends and I tried using them for windsurfing right after the ice cleared off the lakes while I was growing up in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, one puncture too often turned them from an asset into a liability, something that became a bit traumatic if we were a mile from shore and the wind had just died down. Talk about long, cold swims! Other things I didn’t like about them were the fact we always had to remove them in order to relieve ourselves (encouraging us to become dehydrated in order to extend our playtime) and the constrictions on our wrists and ankles caused a lot of swelling if we spent full days wearing them. However, that was dry suit technology 25-30 years ago. Perhaps they’ve gotten much better since! I recently heard from a friend that some newer models come with relief zippers. That would be a great feature, as long as it never became stuck in the open position! (Yikes!)
adkramoo
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “Ron Graham” wrote:
There was plenty of flow in the upper part of the canyon, enough to > get drenched coming down through the first rappels in the > watercourse. This flow into the canyon from the pond above probably > made the water warmer than it would have otherwise been given that > there were some large melting snow drifts in some of those first > holes.
Wild! You must have been worried that you were going to be in an endless C canyon environ. I assume that the flow sunk into the dirt quite soon after the big wall drop, perhaps even before that funky, right, left, left turn was done?
> We didn’t need to use our cheater stick to clip any bolts, but it > helped save the day when one of our rope silos with a 60M cord in it > got waterlogged and disappeared into a deep, dark, and very frigid > hole. We’re very glad our Happy Hooker helped us avoid the need to > draw lots for a diving mission! We took great care afterwards to > make sure no carabiners or other extra weight was attached into any > of the silos when we passed them from hole to hole.
Scaaary! Seems to happen to lots of people, of all skill levels, lots of times.
> We found it interesting that some raps had been set about 2/3 of the > way into the canyon on what were relatively short and manageable > downclimbs onto sand and mud bottoms.
Set as in fixed ropes?
We guessed that at one time > the holes below those raps were full of water and the folks setting > the raps couldn’t judge the rap distances well or determine what lay > beneath the water surface. I guess that means the canyon can be > found with even more water in it than we encountered.
Can’t say here for sure, but often sand or water levels will occupied the same height. In other words, if a flood comes thru and scours out sand, lets say a lot of sand, water often fills to the same height as the sand used to occupy. At least at first until evaporation can lower the level. Good theory on your part. Quite possible if not probable.
> We spotted a car at the Visitor Center Friday night, camped in > Mosquito Cove, drove up to Lava Point Saturday morning, started down > the West Rim Trail about 7:00am, and reached our campsite just before > the crossroads at about 4:00pm.
Were the frogs “getting off” that evening? Stay at the slab by the where the left sneak comes in (side canyon on left LDC) or by the entry of the right sneak, which is an overhang left LDC? Both nice spots. Others around too.
> We also took time to > warm up after one set of holes by firing up the Jet Boils. All of us > got cold in some of the holes, and it was easy to see how someone > could get into a life-threatening situation if they popped a hole in > a dry suit or couldn’t get quickly past some of the obstacles. All > of us wore thick wetsuits, and I had 10MM of layered neoprene over my > core.
My!! Not sure I could move with that much rubber on. I use drysuits in so few places. This is one of um!. 😉
Even so, I was a bit chilled toward the end, especially when > we encountered the gusts at the rap down to the Virgin River.
And slow and go with rap after rap and them getting bigger too. Thanx for the report. I read the Heaps report from Bonnie and saw the pictures too. It brings home just how physical the place is. I did get a chuckle out of the rafts. Bet they don’t make the trip next time! 😉 Great stuff. Those places are serious and unforgiving of error. R
Ron Graham
There was plenty of flow in the upper part of the canyon, enough to get drenched coming down through the first rappels in the watercourse. This flow into the canyon from the pond above probably made the water warmer than it would have otherwise been given that there were some large melting snow drifts in some of those first holes.
We did not need to drill any new holes or re-drill any of the old ones. We found plenty of holes coming out of each “keeper” that had sufficient edges to place a hook or a crimped finger to get out.
We didn’t need to use our cheater stick to clip any bolts, but it helped save the day when one of our rope silos with a 60M cord in it got waterlogged and disappeared into a deep, dark, and very frigid hole. We’re very glad our Happy Hooker helped us avoid the need to draw lots for a diving mission! We took great care afterwards to make sure no carabiners or other extra weight was attached into any of the silos when we passed them from hole to hole.
There was a lot of timber in some of the holes, but not so much that it made passage really difficult.
We found it interesting that some raps had been set about 2/3 of the way into the canyon on what were relatively short and manageable downclimbs onto sand and mud bottoms. We guessed that at one time the holes below those raps were full of water and the folks setting the raps couldn’t judge the rap distances well or determine what lay beneath the water surface. I guess that means the canyon can be found with even more water in it than we encountered.
We spotted a car at the Visitor Center Friday night, camped in Mosquito Cove, drove up to Lava Point Saturday morning, started down the West Rim Trail about 7:00am, and reached our campsite just before the crossroads at about 4:00pm.
Sunday, we started moving again about 7:00am and had the last guy touch down on the Virgin River at 4:40pm. We were lifting mugs and downing pizza in Springdale at 8:00pm.
Along the route, we took a lot of time to let Luke Galyan get photos of all of the anchors and most of the drops. We also took time to warm up after one set of holes by firing up the Jet Boils. All of us got cold in some of the holes, and it was easy to see how someone could get into a life-threatening situation if they popped a hole in a dry suit or couldn’t get quickly past some of the obstacles. All of us wore thick wetsuits, and I had 10MM of layered neoprene over my core. Even so, I was a bit chilled toward the end, especially when we encountered the gusts at the rap down to the Virgin River.
Tom Jones
Nah. I was thinking more of Luke’s TR:
http://www.bluugnome.com/treks_canyoneer_tripreports_trek0216.aspx
which is pretty entertaining. Not to say your wife’s isn’t… uh… OK, open mouth, remove foot.
T
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “Ron Graham” wrote:
You mean the one my wife wrote up last year?:
http://bkelso.wordpress.com/2007/10/05/heaps-canyon-part-1/#more-36
> That trip was definitely a big learning experience for us:
1.) Don’t listen when someone says, “There’s no reason to pack a > sleeping bag; you’ll be just fine sleeping in your wetsuit.” No you > won’t! If you don’t die of hypothermia in it, you’ll come pretty > close!
2.) Don’t take a bolt kit, hammer and more than 6 quicklinks on a > well-traveled route unless you want your partners to forever after > refer to your pack as “The Behemoth.”
3.) Get a truly alpine start to your adventure. Getting caught on > the West Rim trail in midday sun and 105 degree heat will slow you > down. WAY down! We felt like everything was happening in slow > motion during that part of the trip except the ticking of our watches!
Thankfully, we survived the experience, 3 out of the 4 of us want to > descend the canyon again (with better planning and execution, of > course!), and my wife painted a pretty memento of the trip for me as > a wedding present:
http://www.bkelso.com/0021_heaps.html
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “Tom Jones” wrote:
Nice. Thanks Ron.
Tom
p.s. are we going to see your interesting Heaps story over here??
>
Ron Graham
You mean the one my wife wrote up last year?:
http://bkelso.wordpress.com/2007/10/05/heaps-canyon-part-1/#more-36
That trip was definitely a big learning experience for us:
1.) Don’t listen when someone says, “There’s no reason to pack a sleeping bag; you’ll be just fine sleeping in your wetsuit.” No you won’t! If you don’t die of hypothermia in it, you’ll come pretty close!
2.) Don’t take a bolt kit, hammer and more than 6 quicklinks on a well-traveled route unless you want your partners to forever after refer to your pack as “The Behemoth.”
3.) Get a truly alpine start to your adventure. Getting caught on the West Rim trail in midday sun and 105 degree heat will slow you down. WAY down! We felt like everything was happening in slow motion during that part of the trip except the ticking of our watches!
Thankfully, we survived the experience, 3 out of the 4 of us want to descend the canyon again (with better planning and execution, of course!), and my wife painted a pretty memento of the trip for me as a wedding present:
http://www.bkelso.com/0021_heaps.html
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “Tom Jones” wrote:
Nice. Thanks Ron.
Tom
p.s. are we going to see your interesting Heaps story over here??
adkramoo
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, Ron Graham wrote: > A couple of friends and I descended Imlay this past weekend. We encountered a few snow obstacles in the upper and middle sections but none were dangerous and they looked like they would be melted away within a couple of weeks.
Graet to get a report from the upper part of the canyon
The long wall rap in the upper section has plenty of water streaming down it and a large green algae stain that makes it prettier than it appeared in some of the guidebook photos I’ve seen.
Was that the only place that was flowing? The area right above too? I love the wild feel that section still has. Done as a day trip? How long it take? Start at Lava?
The canyon had plenty of water throughout its course, but hooking is still required to get out of 3 keepers in the last section. Given the high water, we were able to get out of each of these holes with a single etrier placement.
Old holes used? you didn’t have to drill, did you? If i recall, sometimes these are done by clipping bolts with a cheater stick? Some by pot shot toss? Amazing that it has dropped in a little over a week, enough to require any escape technique. Dynamic environ.
We encountered two other obstacles that could be quickly overcome with potshots: the dead tree wedged between two potholes in the last narrows section that Kelsey’s book suggests you try to lassoo with your rope (very awkward technique, given that you are hemmed in by canyon walls at the preceeding rap station or in shoulder high water in the pothole below)
That log has been in there forever! surprising
and a small but very high-walled pothole just before the penultimate rap. Snagging a potshot on the timber in the next hole gave our first rappeller a fixed line from which to prusik out of the pothole. He could not find enough purchase to stem around that deep hole on his rappel.
Sometimes logs sit on top and make that one easy. No logs, a bit tougher
> Anyone entering Imlay in the next couple of weeks might want to bring extra webbing to replace the webbing on some of the anchors. We replaced the webbing on quite a few and saw that others had replaced webbing recently as well, but due to time constraints, passed by some webbing in the final section that hasn’t yet reached the deadly stage but definitely is in the autumn of its life.
Thanx fo the TR and the suggestion on the webbing. Cheers. R
Tom Jones
Nice. Thanks Ron.
Tom
p.s. are we going to see your interesting Heaps story over here??
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, Ron Graham wrote:
A couple of friends and I descended Imlay this past weekend. We encountered a few snow obstacles in the upper and middle sections but none were dangerous and they looked like they would be melted away within a couple of weeks. The long wall rap in the upper section has plenty of water streaming down it and a large green algae stain that makes it prettier than it appeared in some of the guidebook photos I’ve seen. The canyon had plenty of water throughout its course, but hooking is still required to get out of 3 keepers in the last section. Given the high water, we were able to get out of each of these holes with a single etrier placement. We encountered two other obstacles that could be quickly overcome with potshots: the dead tree wedged between two potholes in the last narrows section that Kelsey’s book suggests you try to lassoo with your rope (very awkward technique, given that you are hemmed in by canyon walls at the preceeding rap station or in shoulder high water in the pothole below) and a small but very high-walled pothole just before the penultimate rap. Snagging a potshot on the timber in the next hole gave our first rappeller a fixed line from which to prusik out of the pothole. He could not find enough purchase to stem around that deep hole on his rappel.
Anyone entering Imlay in the next couple of weeks might want to bring extra webbing to replace the webbing on some of the anchors. We replaced the webbing on quite a few and saw that others had replaced webbing recently as well, but due to time constraints, passed by some webbing in the final section that hasn’t yet reached the deadly stage but definitely is in the autumn of its life. Luke Galyan will shortly have photos of all of the canyon’s major anchors in their current state posted on his http://www.bluugnome.com website. >