Who: Chris Brennan, Scott Smith, John Perry, Randi Poer, (and later) Steve Brezovec & Eli Meltzer.
Where: Lower Jump Trip, California
What: an 8-12 hour wet canyoneering trip, involving more jumping than rappelling, according to local style. Mixed anchors, some bolts, some natural, all fairly advanced. Not a good beginner canyon…though that doesn’t stop some of us more senseless leader-types from dragging our rookie friends through.
Eli & I headed left Berkeley at 5:30 AM, after making plans to leave @ 4. Chris & Co. expected us Friday Evening, so figuring us as no- shows, headed down canyon at about 9am. Eli & I arrive at the take- out at 10:30 am and leave a note & a radio on John’s car, begging him not to leave us if we don’t catch up. On the way down, I chatted with Paul M. of Fresno fame, asking him to refresh me on the particulars. Paul says we need 120′ of rope and 120′ of pull cord. I tell him we ain’t got it – can we cheat? He says you could cheat with 80′ and some downclimbing. “We have 80′” I say ignorantly. And off we go.
By close to 12:30, Eli and I are suited up and doing the first 45′ rappel (which we find out later from Paul is actually a jump, by tradition). This is Eli’s first rappel ever, essentially, and after four false starts he zips it with flying colors. Eli’s a quick study and learns rope bag and rigging techniques quickly. Thank goodness.
The next major falls was the site of perhaps one of my biggest blunders ever. Easily top five. From the top of this 50′ falls, I begin to downclimb a dry chute to the right of the watercourse, hoping to get a better view of the falls for a jump. I d/c about 10′ before hitting a patch where my chute gets slick. Used to the fairly sticky quality of wet sandstone, I was completely suprised to find myself hurtling down the rest of the chute like a waterslide, into the main flume, where I then was careened like a pinball sharply to the right, down another 5-10 feet, and shot off the falls 30-40′ to the water below. Fortunately for me, I landed squarely on my pack, which took most of the impact force, on water. Eli, who saw the whole thing from above, was (obviously) terrified to see his allegedlly experienced and safe guide to go careening down to certain death, and made me tell him three times that I was totally OK.
Soon we came upon the black hole, our first bolted rappel. Also a jump, by tradition, said Paul later. Daunting! I don’t remember the height of this one but certainly over 30′, perhaps 50′. Eli zips his second-ever rappel. While setting up, I can see the rest of our party who we’ve been trying to catch up to downcanyon. They’ve just finished the canyons longest rappel and are having lunch. Good thing, because when we reach the next rappel, we realize we don’t have enough rope. Not even close to enough rope. I inadvertantly had grabbed a 70′ length of rope that I was sure was 80′. That plus a a 30′ section meant we probably had about 100′ of rope, with only 50′ of pullcord and 40′ of webbing. So I rig a munter on the bolts & chains and lower Eli down on the first 30′ of rope where he begins his rappel below the knot on the second 70′ of rope – his 3rd rappel ever, mind you. Once he reaches the lip, he reports that there is a second set of bolts for our pleasure. Good thing, I think, but don’t say. Down Eli goes over the edge. What happened next I had to hear about from others – all I saw was the rope swing first right across the falls, then back to the left, then right again. “This fool is trying to cut my rope” I thought. Down to my last foot of rope on the 30′, I could lower him no more. It was up to Eli now.
The slope from this anchor, combined with the slickness of the rock, sucked Eli into the waterfall, where we got pummeled for a good 15-30 seconds before being able to push out to the side, and then got sucked in again. The rope was white, so he couldn’t tell how much he had left, and he had at least 30′ of drop to the pull below. Eventually he escaped the torrent, lowered to 15′-20′ off the water and cut loose, praying for the best. Fortune favors the brave, and the foolish, and Eli landed safely and paddled downcanyon giving me the high sign.
After rerigging off the second anchor and extending a sling, I was overjoyed to realize that the closest I could get to the bottom would be 25-30′ off the water, thanks in part to the fact that I had sent Eli down with the pull cord. So my pull cord consisted of 30′ of red rope and webbing which may not have reached the pool. At a angled ledge 30′ off the water, I ran out of rope; so I tied the pull cord webbing with a clove hitch to my cow’s tail, took myself off rappel, found a foothold pocket to launch from, and took the leap of faith, praying that the rope would pull smooth, else I’d be banging into the wall on the way down. Luckily I hit without incident and our rope dropped smoothly into the pool.
When we reached Randi, she said, “I thought that might be you, but then I thought, ‘These guys look really reckless and stupid, it must be someone else'”.
Well she was half right.
Eli to his credit, was relatively unphased.
Now our group of six proceeded to the next rappel, an 80′ LDC right of a falls, which Paul told me is OCCASSIONALLY jumped by the truly wild-eyed. I am a daring chap, and I don’t think I’d jump that thing on my best day. I’m not talking a bar-room 80′, I’m talking a real- life 80′, the kind that compresses spines and sprains ankles, even when you don’t hit any rock. Most of the group the rap down a short flume, a more reasonable traditional jump of about 15′.
Much jumping & swimming ensue, but time catches up to us and we are soon at risk of being benighted, with only four adequate headlamps between us. We skip numerous jumps and cave crawls and a 20′ slide/15′ freefall combo that may be one of the best of the trip, as we hopelessly try to outrun nightfall. Just as the true blackness settles, we spot the indicator at the bottom and set a rappel at a hand-over-hand rope that locals use to ascend what for us, in daylight, would be a jump, but in darkness is undoubtably a rappel. From here it’s a short scramble to the road and over the last obstacle – a barbed wire fence that really breaks your spirit when you’re this worn out. Back at the car at 9:30 pm – making a 12 hour day for Chris & Co. So my thanks to Scott & John for bringing adequate ropes (and letting us ride them), and to Eli for being such a good sport. I though for sure Eli would never do a trip with me again after this one – instead he asked me to take him to REI Sunday evening, where he blew $180 on canyoneering gear. If anyone has a pair of 9 1/2 5.10 canyoneers you want to sell him, please let me know. He’s got the bug bad.
And yes, for those of you wondering, I do recognize that I am a dumbass. My first order of business on return Sunday was to overhaul my gear inventory (no more going out caught underroped) and update my “personal policies” for bringing new people (one night of training at my house mandatory).
Photos to follow shortly at the Yo. Steve
John Perry
Great meeting you and Eli, Steve. Hope to meet you again out there sometime. John —– Original Message —– From: “Stevee B” SteveBrezovec@hotmail.com> To: Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2004 10:33 AM Subject: [from Canyons Group] ~TR~ Lower Jump Trip
> Who: Chris Brennan, Scott Smith, John Perry, Randi Poer, (and later) > Steve Brezovec & Eli Meltzer.
Where: Lower Jump Trip, California
What: an 8-12 hour wet canyoneering trip, involving more jumping than > rappelling, according to local style. Mixed anchors, some bolts, some > natural, all fairly advanced. Not a good beginner canyon…though > that doesn’t stop some of us more senseless leader-types from > dragging our rookie friends through.
Eli & I headed left Berkeley at 5:30 AM, after making plans to leave > @ 4. Chris & Co. expected us Friday Evening, so figuring us as no- > shows, headed down canyon at about 9am. Eli & I arrive at the take- > out at 10:30 am and leave a note & a radio on John’s car, begging him > not to leave us if we don’t catch up. On the way down, I chatted > with Paul M. of Fresno fame, asking him to refresh me on the > particulars. Paul says we need 120′ of rope and 120′ of pull cord. > I tell him we ain’t got it – can we cheat? He says you could cheat > with 80′ and some downclimbing. “We have 80′” I say ignorantly. And > off we go.
By close to 12:30, Eli and I are suited up and doing the first 45′ > rappel (which we find out later from Paul is actually a jump, by > tradition). This is Eli’s first rappel ever, essentially, and after > four false starts he zips it with flying colors. Eli’s a quick study > and learns rope bag and rigging techniques quickly. Thank goodness.
The next major falls was the site of perhaps one of my biggest > blunders ever. Easily top five. From the top of this 50′ falls, I > begin to downclimb a dry chute to the right of the watercourse, > hoping to get a better view of the falls for a jump. I d/c about 10′ > before hitting a patch where my chute gets slick. Used to the fairly > sticky quality of wet sandstone, I was completely suprised to find > myself hurtling down the rest of the chute like a waterslide, into > the main flume, where I then was careened like a pinball sharply to > the right, down another 5-10 feet, and shot off the falls 30-40′ to > the water below. Fortunately for me, I landed squarely on my pack, > which took most of the impact force, on water. Eli, who saw the > whole thing from above, was (obviously) terrified to see his > allegedlly experienced and safe guide to go careening down to certain > death, and made me tell him three times that I was totally OK.
Soon we came upon the black hole, our first bolted rappel. Also a > jump, by tradition, said Paul later. Daunting! I don’t remember the > height of this one but certainly over 30′, perhaps 50′. Eli zips his > second-ever rappel. While setting up, I can see the rest of our > party who we’ve been trying to catch up to downcanyon. They’ve just > finished the canyons longest rappel and are having lunch. Good > thing, because when we reach the next rappel, we realize we don’t > have enough rope. Not even close to enough rope. I inadvertantly > had grabbed a 70′ length of rope that I was sure was 80′. That plus a > a 30′ section meant we probably had about 100′ of rope, with only 50′ > of pullcord and 40′ of webbing. So I rig a munter on the bolts & > chains and lower Eli down on the first 30′ of rope where he begins > his rappel below the knot on the second 70′ of rope – his 3rd rappel > ever, mind you. Once he reaches the lip, he reports that there is a > second set of bolts for our pleasure. Good thing, I think, but don’t > say. Down Eli goes over the edge. What happened next I had to hear > about from others – all I saw was the rope swing first right across > the falls, then back to the left, then right again. “This fool is > trying to cut my rope” I thought. Down to my last foot of rope on > the 30′, I could lower him no more. It was up to Eli now.
The slope from this anchor, combined with the slickness of the rock, > sucked Eli into the waterfall, where we got pummeled for a good 15-30 > seconds before being able to push out to the side, and then got > sucked in again. The rope was white, so he couldn’t tell how much he > had left, and he had at least 30′ of drop to the pull below. > Eventually he escaped the torrent, lowered to 15′-20′ off the water > and cut loose, praying for the best. Fortune favors the brave, and > the foolish, and Eli landed safely and paddled downcanyon giving me > the high sign.
After rerigging off the second anchor and extending a sling, I was > overjoyed to realize that the closest I could get to the bottom would > be 25-30′ off the water, thanks in part to the fact that I had sent > Eli down with the pull cord. So my pull cord consisted of 30′ of red > rope and webbing which may not have reached the pool. At a angled > ledge 30′ off the water, I ran out of rope; so I tied the pull cord > webbing with a clove hitch to my cow’s tail, took myself off rappel, > found a foothold pocket to launch from, and took the leap of faith, > praying that the rope would pull smooth, else I’d be banging into the > wall on the way down. Luckily I hit without incident and our rope > dropped smoothly into the pool.
When we reached Randi, she said, “I thought that might be you, but > then I thought, ‘These guys look really reckless and stupid, it must > be someone else'”.
Well she was half right.
Eli to his credit, was relatively unphased.
Now our group of six proceeded to the next rappel, an 80′ LDC right > of a falls, which Paul told me is OCCASSIONALLY jumped by the truly > wild-eyed. I am a daring chap, and I don’t think I’d jump that thing > on my best day. I’m not talking a bar-room 80′, I’m talking a real- > life 80′, the kind that compresses spines and sprains ankles, even > when you don’t hit any rock. Most of the group the rap down a short > flume, a more reasonable traditional jump of about 15’.
Much jumping & swimming ensue, but time catches up to us and we are > soon at risk of being benighted, with only four adequate headlamps > between us. We skip numerous jumps and cave crawls and a 20′ > slide/15′ freefall combo that may be one of the best of the trip, as > we hopelessly try to outrun nightfall. Just as the true blackness > settles, we spot the indicator at the bottom and set a rappel at a > hand-over-hand rope that locals use to ascend what for us, in > daylight, would be a jump, but in darkness is undoubtably a rappel. > From here it’s a short scramble to the road and over the last > obstacle – a barbed wire fence that really breaks your spirit when > you’re this worn out. Back at the car at 9:30 pm – making a 12 hour > day for Chris & Co. > So my thanks to Scott & John for bringing adequate ropes (and letting > us ride them), and to Eli for being such a good sport. I though for > sure Eli would never do a trip with me again after this one – instead > he asked me to take him to REI Sunday evening, where he blew $180 on > canyoneering gear. If anyone has a pair of 9 1/2 5.10 canyoneers you > want to sell him, please let me know. He’s got the bug bad.
And yes, for those of you wondering, I do recognize that I am a > dumbass. My first order of business on return Sunday was to overhaul > my gear inventory (no more going out caught underroped) and update > my “personal policies” for bringing new people (one night of training > at my house mandatory).
Photos to follow shortly at the Yo. > Steve
> When you post, please change the Subject appropriately, to make reading and searching easier. You can use the following abbreviations: TRIP = Trip Report; BETA = Canyon Beta; PARTNER = Partner and/or Rides; ETHICS = Ethics; TECH = Technical Questions and Tips; BIZ = E Group Business; SALE = Stuff for Sale. Please use a Tilde ~ after the abbreviation, so we know you are coding for us, such as:
Subject: BIZ~ New Abbreviation List – working?
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