Joe Furedy's Canyoneering Adventures - joescanyoneering

Willow/Bear Canyon 01
The bulk of the clan pretty much ready to go.

Willow/Bear Canyon 02
Jason and G leading the way.

Willow/Bear Canyon 03
The group making its way over the boulders.

Willow/Bear Canyon 04
Jason and G preparing for a big leap!

Willow/Bear Canyon 05
Even Kus came along.

Willow/Bear Canyon 06
And the water avoidance begins!

Willow/Bear Canyon 07
The canyon starts to get more interesting.

Willow/Bear Canyon 08
View down our first rappel.

Willow/Bear Canyon 09
View up from the middle of our first rappel/climbing problem. Below here we had to climb down a crack under a huge choc

Willow/Bear Canyon 10
Mike as he starts out on his first rappel, under the watchful eye of Jason.

Willow/Bear Canyon 11
Here Mike is trying to figure out how to get from one rock face to the other without swinging too far on the rope.

Willow/Bear Canyon 12
And he made it!

Willow/Bear Canyon 13
Here comes Jason with the rope bag dangling.

Willow/Bear Canyon 14
Mike contemplates a precarious walk across our log bridge.

Willow/Bear Canyon 15
Jason is equally leery.

Willow/Bear Canyon 16
The huge chockstone is right in the middle of this shot. We downclimbed/slid down the dark slot below the boulder.

Willow/Bear Canyon 17
Our first view of the road near the Seven Cataracts Overlook.

Willow/Bear Canyon 18
Here comes Jason down our second rappel. This one was about 100' with a nice misting waterfall to keep you cool.

Willow/Bear Canyon 19
And now it's Mike's turn.

Willow/Bear Canyon 20
Mike doing his best to keep his footing on the slimy cliff.

Willow/Bear Canyon 21
Here's our little snake friend that we found perched on a ledge at the base of the falls.

Willow/Bear Canyon 22
I scooped him up and moved him to a more snake-friendly location out of the barren alcove. I still don't think he liked

Willow/Bear Canyon 23
Here comes Joel. He missed the snake adventure.

Willow/Bear Canyon 24
Jason supervising Joel's descent of rappel 3. Since we couldn't see the bottom when we dropped the rope we had to exten

Willow/Bear Canyon 25
Mike making his way down rappel 3, fighting the rope's pull into the groove.

Willow/Bear Canyon 26
Joel on a nice downclimb.

Willow/Bear Canyon 27
Mike is starting to look a little bit tired in this more open section of the canyon.

Willow/Bear Canyon 28
Joel. . . in the canyon.

Willow/Bear Canyon 29
Joel starting out on the final rappel (#4). This one was about 125'.

Willow/Bear Canyon 30
Mike on his way down, again trying to avoid the slippery spots.

Willow/Bear Canyon 31
And here comes Jason.

Willow/Bear Canyon 32
Those long legs help Jason stay out of the wettest bits.

Willow/Bear Canyon 33
I just liked this shot of everyone downclimbing at the same time.

Willow/Bear Canyon 34
All we need to do is work our way up Bear Canyon until it intersects with that road!

Willow/Bear Canyon 35
Minor upclimb obstacle.

Willow/Bear Canyon 36
Interesting pattern of insect burrows in a fallen log.

Willow/Bear Canyon 37
Aha! The sign that we have reached the road!

Willow/Bear Canyon 38
Mike crossing under the road.

Willow/Bear Canyon 39
And here we are, all happy to be back to the car. Now where's dinner?!?

Punch Bowl Canyon 01
Here we are doing our final preparations before we enter the forbidden zone.

Punch Bowl Canyon 02
I guess I should have taken at least one picture of someone riding a bike, but it was over so quick! Here's a view of t

Punch Bowl Canyon 03
Here's a sample shot of the kind of bushwacking that we had to do in the early part of the climb to the top of the butte

Punch Bowl Canyon 04
Nice cliff

Punch Bowl Canyon 05
Joel on one of the upclimbs we had to negotiate.

Punch Bowl Canyon 06
Treewacking?

Punch Bowl Canyon 07
Losing sight of the river as we ascend...

Punch Bowl Canyon 08
Some pretty spring flowers.

Punch Bowl Canyon 09
The big horn sheep that watched us as we approached its cliffband perch. When we got up to this level there was no sign

Punch Bowl Canyon 10
Once out of the canyon and up on the cliffband we got a nice view of the Salt River again.

Punch Bowl Canyon 11
That giant chasm behind Joel is where we'll be later in the day. I couldn't wait to get in there.

Punch Bowl Canyon 12
Another view of Punch Bowl Canyon from above.

Punch Bowl Canyon 13
Joel all geared up and ready to do battle.

Punch Bowl Canyon 14
Joel on our first rappel, which was literally 75 feet from where we stopped to gear up in the shade. It was foreshadowi

Punch Bowl Canyon 15
Interesting spotted rock.

Punch Bowl Canyon 16
Joel doing some fancy footwork in order to stay dry.

Punch Bowl Canyon 17
Joel on rope again, for rappel #3

Punch Bowl Canyon 18
Joel dropping down through a hole to get under the boulders blocking his path (#3).

Punch Bowl Canyon 19
A nice narrow section of canyon.

Punch Bowl Canyon 20
I like how the canyon walls frame the water stains on the opposite canyon wall.

Punch Bowl Canyon 21
Joel thoroughly enjoying himself on rappel #4.

Punch Bowl Canyon 22
Believe it or not, he actually stuck this move and didn't get wet. I was so ready to get the shot of him falling on his

Punch Bowl Canyon 23
Joel on one of the longer rappels in this canyon, #5. In these dark narrow sections I was starting to get cold!

Punch Bowl Canyon 24
The narrows at the base of the rappel.

Punch Bowl Canyon 25
Joel rerigging this anchor to be something that we would be willing to tie into. You should have seen the size of the r

Punch Bowl Canyon 26
With little cascading pools like this, this canyon would be beautiful when it was flowing.

Punch Bowl Canyon 27
Several of the pools we rappelled into had nice green slime in them like this one. Long, stringy, smelly green stuff.

Punch Bowl Canyon 28
Surrounded by cliffs with water stains.

Punch Bowl Canyon 29
More sequential pools.

Punch Bowl Canyon 30
This is the last of the three pools in the previous picture. Joel is tossing the rope over the pool and down the drop o

Punch Bowl Canyon 31
This is yet another rappel (#9), down into a very nice grotto area.

Punch Bowl Canyon 32
And yet another rappel (#10) that curves around so we could not see the bottom. I hate rappelling when I can't see the

Punch Bowl Canyon 33
Joel at the bottom of rappel #10.

Punch Bowl Canyon 34
In addition to the many rappels in this canyon, there were some pretty daunting downclimbs as well. Fun stuff.

Punch Bowl Canyon 35
Joel rigging for yet another rappel (#12).

Punch Bowl Canyon 36
Joel carefully picking his way down #12.

Punch Bowl Canyon 37
At long last, the top of the final rappel, #13. Note the Salt River in the background.

Punch Bowl Canyon 38
Joel making his way down the final rappel.

Double Play Canyon 01
The whole group starting off on the approach trail climb.

Double Play Canyon 02
Some nice rock formations, and a view of the grade of the trail at some points.

Double Play Canyon 03
Evidence of the relatively recent fire. I thought it was interesting how there was a hole burned clear through the tree

Double Play Canyon 04
Making our way down into the pretty part of the canyon! Just beyond this point we stopped to suit up.

Double Play Canyon 05
All suited up and making our way down the narrow canyon.

Double Play Canyon 06
They look so small in front of that huge cliff wall.

Double Play Canyon 07
You can see the nice pink rocks and the tilted layers of rock.

Double Play Canyon 08
Traversing and downclimbing around what would have been a nuisance rappel.

Double Play Canyon 09
This little pool was surprisingly deep for its location in the canyon.

Double Play Canyon 10
Throughout the canyon there were clusters of lady bugs perched on rocks. It was rather odd.

Double Play Canyon 11
Ted negotiating the first rappel. This rock was surprisingly slippery!

Double Play Canyon 12
Lars and Ted looking on as Bill prepares for his first rappel of the day, and Connie waits her turn.

Double Play Canyon 13
Lars making his way down stage 2 of the first rappel.

Double Play Canyon 14
And here is Bill taking on stage 2.

Double Play Canyon 15
From here you can see both stages of the first rappel as Connie rigs up for her descent.

Double Play Canyon 16
Bill and Lars taking in some warm rays of sun while waiting for the rest of the group to complete the rappel.

Double Play Canyon 17
Lars spotting Connie on a tricky downclimb.

Double Play Canyon 18
Ted and Connie approaching the next drop in the canyon.

Double Play Canyon 19
Everyone preparing for the first descent using our deadman anchor. Lars is doublechecking his gear while Connie and Bil

Double Play Canyon 20
Lars about halfway down this really nice rappel.

Double Play Canyon 21
The view down canyon from the top of the rappel.

Double Play Canyon 22
Bill on rappel.

Double Play Canyon 23
Ted taking pictures from the top while Connie begins her descent. It was a very pretty rappel, but it was slicker than

Double Play Canyon 24
Here you can see the last big rappel in the background, and Ted posing by the big log. Seeing logs wedged like this alw

Double Play Canyon 25
Connie going over the lip on a short rappel with a swimming disconnect. I hate swimming disconnects in cold water!

Double Play Canyon 26
Ted posing for the camera.

Double Play Canyon 27
I liked this shot because it shows the contrast between the blue/green rocks and the pink rocks right next to each other

Double Play Canyon 28
Is he dead, or is he just a canyoneer worshiping the warmth of the sun-soaked rock? You decide.

Double Play Canyon 29
Another geology shot - blue/green on the left, pink on the right.

Double Play Canyon 30
This is what happened to Lars' leg when his canyoneering knife spontaneously opened without him noticing it. (It was a

Double Play Canyon 31
Right through the shorts (blood stains and everything). . .

Double Play Canyon 32
And a significant amount into his leg!!! Ouch! Luckily it happened after all of the technical stuff, and with only a s

Double Play Canyon 33
The group disappears into the brush for the thankfully short bushwack back up to the trail.

Parallel Play Canyon 01
Here are Ted and Connie Gartner near the beginning of ~2,000 ft climb in elevation to get to our entry point.

Parallel Play Canyon 02
There is a pretty good sized waterfall in the center of this picture. Maybe next spring we'll check this one out.

Parallel Play Canyon 03
A burned tree stump.

Parallel Play Canyon 04
This is our first view of the waterflow in our drainage. Apparently it's quite a bit higher flow than we expected.

Parallel Play Canyon 05
A pretty little waterfall.

Parallel Play Canyon 06
Ted and Connie contemplating which side of the creek to head down.

Parallel Play Canyon 07
My shadow in a pool of sunbeams.

Parallel Play Canyon 08
Some interesting rock formations. The angled layers of rock reminded me of Christopher Creek Gorge.

Parallel Play Canyon 09
Ted all suited up and approaching the first short rappel.

Parallel Play Canyon 10
Even though it doesn't look like much, that's about a 30 foot drop over the falls.

Parallel Play Canyon 11
Ted and Connie cooperating on rigging our anchor.

Parallel Play Canyon 12
Ted discussing the best method to avoid getting pummeled by the falls on rappel.

Parallel Play Canyon 13
Ted obviously enjoying his first rappel of the day.

Parallel Play Canyon 14
Ted on the lower portion of the rappel, right between two waterfalls. Just beautiful. And we had no idea this would be nothing in comparison to what was coming up.

Parallel Play Canyon 15
Connie on her first rappel of the day.

Parallel Play Canyon 16
Connie between the falls.

Parallel Play Canyon 17
The view as we approached the next big drop.

Parallel Play Canyon 18
The nice horsetail fall at the top of the big drop. None of us could see the bottom of this drop.

Parallel Play Canyon 19
Here is Ted dropping the 200' of rope that turned out to be too short for this drop.

Parallel Play Canyon 20
Ted still trying to see the bottom of this drop to confirm whether or not the rope is touching bottom.

Parallel Play Canyon 21
It's tough to see, but Ted has ascended back up the rope to the gray ledge in the middle of the picture. We had to rappel to here, rig another anchor, and then rappel to the bottom of the falls.

Parallel Play Canyon 22
Even from the midway ledge we still couldn't see the bottom of the falls. But it was still amazing!

Parallel Play Canyon 23
This is the portion of the falls above the midway ledge.

Parallel Play Canyon 24
Connie descending to the midway ledge.

Parallel Play Canyon 25
At the bottom of the big falls was a small chamber, which had another 20-30' fall at the exit. This is the base of the big falls in the alcove.

Parallel Play Canyon 26
This is the view at the chamber exit, over the next falls. It was amazing how loud it was in this narrow alcove.

Parallel Play Canyon 27
Here is a view that attempts to capture the upper falls, the alcove, and the short falls at the exit. From this vantage point you still can't see the bulk of the big drop, but you can see how narrow the alcove was.

Parallel Play Canyon 28
Connie dropping down into the chamber.

Parallel Play Canyon 29
Ted photographing Connie as she drops what turned out to be rappel #4 of the day.

Parallel Play Canyon 30
Connie "enjoying" the nice cold water.

Parallel Play Canyon 31
After dropping ~100' making a 90 degree turn, and dropping another 30' the rope would just not pull from the midway anchor. So Ted had to search really hard for an acceptable anchor in the scoured alcove. He eventually found a small rock in a crack that he was pretty sure would work. Here he is doing his best to gently load the anchor as low as possible. He's either very brave or very talented. . . or maybe both!

Parallel Play Canyon 32
Some impressive fungus growing in the wet canyon.

Parallel Play Canyon 33
That is the top of the big falls that you can see dropping behind the ridge of rocks. With all of the problem solving required, it took us 2-1/2 hours to get from the top of those falls to this vantage point!

Parallel Play Canyon 34
Just a couple hundred feet down from big falls, we find this large drop. We realize we are starting to get short of daylight, so we look for a way to downclimb this.

Parallel Play Canyon 35
We manage to find our way down the bulk of this drop, but decide that rappelling the rest of the way down the loose scree is safer than dropping rocks on each other. Connie dropping into another icy pool.

Parallel Play Canyon 36
Here is a view from the bottom of at least most of the falls that we just made our way down.

Parallel Play Canyon 37
I just liked this shot of the water finding three different ways down the canyon.

Parallel Play Canyon 38
This was a fun downclimb right in the rushing water. It wasn't too difficult, but the frothing water made it rather hard to know where to climb.

Parallel Play Canyon 39
Here is the last usable shot before it got too dark. Shortly after this we took off our wetsuits, put on dry clothes (yeah!), donned our headlamps, and headed off for the car.

Minnow Canyon 01
Joel and I documenting the start of the hike at the Tortilla Trailhead.

Minnow Canyon 02
Dropping in to the unassuming drainage.

Minnow Canyon 03
John climbing down a small ledge while trying not to get caught up in one of the many nasty catclaws in the canyon.

Minnow Canyon 04
Eric on his first foray into canyoneering.

Minnow Canyon 05
The first sign that the canyon may have something interesting to offer.

Minnow Canyon 06
Joel is fishing thorny branches out of the space between Jason's pack and his back while we take a quick break.

Minnow Canyon 07
Jason negotiating the first of MANY downclimbing problems in this canyon.

Minnow Canyon 08
Here is Joel taking his turn at the first downclimb.

Minnow Canyon 09
John is so fast I can't even catch him on film!

Minnow Canyon 10
Jason getting ready to crawl into the dark unknown below the boulders.

Minnow Canyon 11
There are Joel's legs as he tries to climb down through a crack between two HUGE boulders.

Minnow Canyon 12
Jason giving Joel a spot as he lowers himself safely to the ground.

Minnow Canyon 13
Eric posing for me in one of the narrow spots of the canyon.

Minnow Canyon 14
Here Jason is contemplating a sketchy downclimb just for the challenge of it.

Minnow Canyon 15
Here is everyone else watching intently to see if Jason will do the sketchy climb or not.

Minnow Canyon 16
Wow! A picture of me! Thanks, Jas.

Minnow Canyon 17
Everyone watching John as he negotiates the climb.

Minnow Canyon 18
Joel making the big stretch that Jason made look easy.

Minnow Canyon 19
Jason crawling down through yet another small hole.

Minnow Canyon 20
A view of Joel from below s he crawls through the same small hole.

Minnow Canyon 21
A nice shot of everyone together.

Minnow Canyon 22
Me on another cool little downclimb.

Minnow Canyon 23
Eric lowering himself down the climb.

Minnow Canyon 24
An action shot that also shows how pretty everyone could choose their own way to get down this canyon. Their were choices everywhere.

Minnow Canyon 25
The camera just doesn't do the cliffs justice. It's just so hard to capture the scale of the cliffs surrounding us.

Minnow Canyon 26
Joel contemplating whether to jump or to climb.

Minnow Canyon 27
One of the few shots that kind of shows the elevation change as we come down canyon.

Minnow Canyon 28
Jason and John approaching the one and only rappel in this canyon.

Minnow Canyon 29
John and Jason contemplating the fast way down??? I honestly don't know what they're thinking or talking about.

Minnow Canyon 30
I wish I had a wider angle lens to be able to capture them AND the huge cliffs beyond.

Minnow Canyon 31
Beyond John is the Apache Trail as it drops down into Fish Creek Canyon.

Minnow Canyon 32
With all this gear at the anchor, you'd think we were trying to do a rope rescue or something.

Minnow Canyon 33
There goes Jason.

Minnow Canyon 34
There goes John.

Minnow Canyon 35
Here is Jason, climbing just for the challenge of climbing.

Minnow Canyon 36
Jason having a great time crawling through another small hole.

Minnow Canyon 37
Here's Joel on the downclimb right on the other side of the hole.

Minnow Canyon 38
Nice windowed shot.

Minnow Canyon 39
Everyone lined up to drop down between yet more boulders.

Minnow Canyon 40
I liked the 3D look of this shot.

Minnow Canyon 41
Jason making a long stretch of a downclimb.

Minnow Canyon 42
Interesting shot that kind of illustrates the convoluted path that we sometimes have to take to stay dry - up, down, and across.

Minnow Canyon 43
More of Jason climbing just to test himself. . .

Minnow Canyon 44
Unfortunately he didn't fall into the water. :) The shuttle vehicle is parked up next to the bridge in the background.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 01
Here we are just before taking off on our hike. Pay no attention to the sign.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 02
Here we are getting ready for the one and only rappel in these canyons. The tricky part is that we'll have to ascend back up this rope when we're done.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 03
Here is a shot of Jason while I was hanging above him, about half way down the rappel.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 04
The rappel from the bottom.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 05
The view down Ladder Canyon.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 06
Here I am traversing a crack to avoid the water and earn some extra "style points."

Ladder-Micro Canyon 07
A longer shot of the traverse.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 08
A nice split waterfall that I thought was pretty.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 09
A typical view of Fish Creek Canyon.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 10
A good example of rock hopping to avoid the cold water while simultaneously trying to avoid the dead tree branch debris.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 11
An interesting section of very green rock in the creek.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 12
A geode exposed in the canyon wall.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 13
Another nice waterfall.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 14
And here is Jason earning a few extra "style points" trying to stay dry.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 15
Showing some nice form.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 16
Fish Creek Canyon

Ladder-Micro Canyon 17
The "long" icy hallway of doom (at least it felt long). This water was surprisingly, painfully cold and got to be as deep as our waist/chest.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 18
Here is Jason making his way towards Micro Canyon while enjoying the warm sunlight.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 19
Here is the start (bottom?) of the narrows in Micro Canyon.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 20
Here is Jason wading from the sandy island in the previous picture to the waterfall in the next section to scope it out.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 21
Jason showing the lengths that you'll go to in order to get out of the cold water.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 22
Jason after stripping down to keep his clothes as dry as possible, striking a pose.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 23
Check out those muscles!

Ladder-Micro Canyon 24
Super stemming.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 25
Jason struggling to pull off the MEGA stemming.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 26
Another very nice waterfall.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 27
More of the narrows of Micro Canyon.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 28
More stemming to stay as much out of the water as possible.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 29
And all too soon you can see the end (beginning?) of the Micro Canyon narrows.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 30
Here is Jason crossing the makeshift bridge made from the tree that we dragged up from the previous pool. Anything to stay warm and dry!

Ladder-Micro Canyon 31
Here is a view back down Micro Canyon while Jason tries to measure the water temperature - he says it got down to 56F.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 32
Here is the bushy climb up and over the saddle to get back to Fish Creek Canyon.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 33
View of Micro Canyon to the East of the saddle.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 34
View of Fish Creek Canyon to the West of the saddle.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 35
I honestly don't know why he's chimneying here.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 36
After stripping down to shorts and shoes and getting wet up to your chest, a little wading on the way doesn't seem to be a big deal anymore.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 37
More waterfalls.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 38
Jason obviously enjoying himself.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 39
Jason starting back up Ladder Canyon to where we left our rope.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 40
Jason all rigged up for his ascent.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 41
And off he goes.

Ladder-Micro Canyon 42
Half way there. . .

Ladder-Micro Canyon 43
On the final section of free hanging ascent, right before the hardest part, getting up over the lip.

Barney Spring Canyon 001
Our gracious taxi driver dropping us off in the morning near the end of East Buzzard Point.

Barney Spring Canyon 002
Jason getting prepared for our first rappel down into the canyon.

Barney Spring Canyon 003
Jason at the bottom of the big downclimb right after our side canyon meets up with Barney Spring Canyon proper.

Barney Spring Canyon 004
Jason at the narrow hallway that contains our first two real canyon rappels.

Barney Spring Canyon 005
Jason checking out how he's going to negotiate the awkward start that will turn out to be typical of most of the rappels

Barney Spring Canyon 006
Notice the odd angle of his feet against the rock.

Barney Spring Canyon 007
Notice the body wedged into the narrow crack.

Barney Spring Canyon 008
And here he is trying to get some space between himself and the rock that his feet are on before his body swings underne

Barney Spring Canyon 009
Here I am getting ready for the same rappel, only viewed from the bottom this time.

Barney Spring Canyon 010
This is where I try not to bang my head into the boulder when I swing under it.

Barney Spring Canyon 011
Success! Now a short free rappel.

Barney Spring Canyon 012
Boy this stuff really is fun!

Barney Spring Canyon 013
Our next rappel.

Barney Spring Canyon 014
Interesting dissolution holes.

Barney Spring Canyon 015
Jason on rope.

Barney Spring Canyon 016
The canyon closing in on us.

Barney Spring Canyon 017
Me contemplating a downclimb that ends in a shallow pool of water.

Barney Spring Canyon 018
Jason having some fun.

Barney Spring Canyon 019
Here is the downclimb from a more meaningful angle.

Barney Spring Canyon 020
Jason's shoulders and hips wedged into the downclimb. He was controlling his descent by flexing his shoulders.

Barney Spring Canyon 021
More beautiful narrow canyon.

Barney Spring Canyon 022
A beautifully contoured rappel location, with green moss everywhere.

Barney Spring Canyon 023
Jason starting his descent.

Barney Spring Canyon 024
Jason managing the rope bag.

Barney Spring Canyon 025
More mossy green canyon downstream of the big rappel.

Barney Spring Canyon 026
Jason in an icy swim.

Barney Spring Canyon 027
Here is a view of the swim back up-canyon.

Barney Spring Canyon 028
Here is the evil keeper pothole that stymied our progress for quite some time. Jason spent over 15 minutes in the 57F w

Barney Spring Canyon 029
This is the rappel at the overflow from the keeper pothole.

Barney Spring Canyon 030
Jason silhouetted on rappel.

Barney Spring Canyon 031
This is the last picture I got because the camera freaked out on me and my 1GB card shrunk to 110MB!

Sundance Canyon 001
I had to get up at 4:30 am, and we only got started at about 9 am.

Sundance Canyon 002
Our first sign of canyon sandstone.

Sundance Canyon 003
Green overgrowth.

Sundance Canyon 004
A cute little mushroom.

Sundance Canyon 005
Our first narrow, wet obstacle.

Sundance Canyon 006
This tree fell down at the edge of the canyon, crushing the sandstone. (Note the lighter colored, freshly exposed stone

Sundance Canyon 007
Joel stemming to avoid getting into the cold water.

Sundance Canyon 008
My reflection as I stem over the water.

Sundance Canyon 009
Joel coming down the first little rappel in the canyon.

Sundance Canyon 010
A very nice, narrow green section of canyon. This green moss is on everything at the bottom of the canyon.

Sundance Canyon 011
Approaching another pretty narrow section.

Sundance Canyon 012
Joel at the bottom of a downclimb.

Sundance Canyon 013
Joel wading through a pothole.

Sundance Canyon 014
Contemplating how we're going to get down this chute. Trust the poorly placed rotten log, or take a chance that it's de

Sundance Canyon 015
Even more great narrows.

Sundance Canyon 016
A nice reflection in the pothole.

Sundance Canyon 017
A look back upstream where you can see a drop from one pothole to the next.

Sundance Canyon 018
Joel rigging the rope to drop into a potential keeper pothole whose exit is a rappel into another pothole.

Sundance Canyon 019
Joel getting ready to drop the rope into the first pothole of the two-stage rappel.

Sundance Canyon 020
Dropping into the first pothole - you can see the rope bag at the exit of this pothole into the next.

Sundance Canyon 021
This is the view back up from the second pothole to the exit of the first.

Sundance Canyon 022
Joel getting ready to start the huge 180 foot rappel! (Note the trees between his feet.)

Sundance Canyon 023
Joel at the beginning of a very long rappel...

Sundance Canyon 024
See that dark spot at the bottom? That's Joel. Now I have to get down there.

Sundance Canyon 025
The view straight back up the big rappel.

Sundance Canyon 026
A composite photo of the full rappel. (Neither of our cameras could capture the full height in a single shot.)

Sundance Canyon 027
Another composite of the cliff from a slightly different angle.

Sundance Canyon 028
The final view down Sundance Canyon towards West Clear Creek.

Sundance Canyon 029
I just liked the shape of this rock cliff.

Sundance Canyon 030
Starting the climb up and out of West Clear Creek.

Sundance Canyon 031
The "trail" back up to the car at the top of the canyon.

Bear Canyon 001
Joel ready to head out on our second canyon of the day.

Bear Canyon 002
A view down Bear Canyon as it starts to get narrower, deeper, and more cluttered with huge logs.

Bear Canyon 003
A better shot of the clutter of dead trees in the canyon.

Bear Canyon 004
Joel getting his nature shots.

Bear Canyon 005
A little downclimb.

Bear Canyon 006
A nice little section as the canyon starts to get narrower.

Bear Canyon 007
Joel getting ready to swing down under the chockstone anchor. It was a small drop, but the anchor location made it fun!

Bear Canyon 008
Wading through more cold water. There was a lot more water in Bear Canyon than in Sundance Canyon.

Bear Canyon 009
Things are really starting to slot up.

Bear Canyon 010
DSCF3019_edited.JPG 2008-07-27

Bear Canyon 011
A view of the pothole we just went through. Downclimb the chute, swim across the pool, and clamber up and out the other

Bear Canyon 012
A view of the successive potholes in this canyon.

Bear Canyon 013
Rappelling.

Bear Canyon 014
Note the logs jammed in the canyon. They don't look that big from here, but. . .

Bear Canyon 015
Joel shimmying along those logs puts them into perspective.

Bear Canyon 016
A gorgeous view of the green canyon walls.

Bear Canyon 017
More green canyon. (Can you spot the anchor for the next rappel?)

Bear Canyon 018
A brightly colored and very knotty piece of wood.

Bear Canyon 019
I liked the angle of this shot. It gives you a good sense of the scale of the canyon.

Bear Canyon 020
Odd spiral formation in a rock.

Bear Canyon 021
Joel wading upstream in West Clear Creek on our way to the exit point.

Bear Canyon 022
Pretty section of the babbling creek.

Bear Canyon 023
Joel looking much less chipper after 2 canyons and 8 straight hours of canyoneering.

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Hog Canyon 01
Jason running down to check out how interesting the small side canyon that we saw is.

Hog Canyon 02
It looks pretty cool from the edge here. Now we just need to find a way down in.

Hog Canyon 03
We can rappel in from here. Since we're planning on doing a down and back up we'll have to leave our ropes in place.

Hog Canyon 04
This is the view down canyon from the top of the rappel.

Hog Canyon 05
Here comes Joel down the first rappel.

Hog Canyon 06
View down the second rappel.

Hog Canyon 07
Jason rigging an unnecessarily long piece of webbing, just so we don't have to cut it.

Hog Canyon 08
Joel posing. How cute.

Hog Canyon 09
Jason fireman belaying Joel down the second rappel.

Hog Canyon 10
Joel showing off his flexibility.

Hog Canyon 11
The view from the top of the next obstacle, which we decided would be a downclimb with a body belay.

Hog Canyon 12
I was the first one to go down. Half way down the boulder that I grabbed onto shifter and was ready to fall down right

Hog Canyon 13
After I asked for a ton of slack from Jason I jumped down and back the last 6 feet or so and the boulder crashed down.

Hog Canyon 14
View of the freshly cracked boulders from the bottom. Scary!

Hog Canyon 15
Some very bright green moss.

Hog Canyon 16
Jason trying to go upstream on a side canyon we ran into. He couldn't quite get to the top. :-(

Hog Canyon 17
Now it's my turn to show my flexibility trying to get back up the second rappel!

Hog Canyon 18
Jason using the ascenders getting up the first rappel.

Hog Canyon 19
Joel's turn to practice with the ascenders.

Bike Canyon
Ready to set out after dropping off the bike shuttle at the canyon outlet.

Bike Canyon
Nice scenery, including the odd lime green lichen.

Bike Canyon
Setting off down the trail.

Bike Canyon
Descending the canyon.

Bike Canyon
Nice views...

Bike Canyon
Nice reflection

Bike Canyon
Dad doing some stemming to stay dry!

Bike Canyon
Nice overhang...

Bike Canyon
A bit of a tricky traverse...

Bike Canyon
Dad ALMOST falling into the water. :)

Bike Canyon
No it's Jason's turn to avoid the water.

Bike Canyon
Not too bad.

Bike Canyon
Here is Jason removing the CRUSTY OLD webbing from the anchor.

Bike Canyon
From the top of the cliff at the end of the canyon we can almost see the bike.

Bike Canyon
More nice views of Fish Canyon.

Bike Canyon
More nice views of Fish Canyon.

Bike Canyon
Climbing out of the canyon after deciding not to rappel the unknown distance.

Bike Canyon
A view back down Bike Canyon after climbing part way back out.

Bike Canyon
Jason on the top of the ridge.

Bike Canyon
Here we are after our failed attempt to do Minnow Canyon.

Bike Canyon
Here is a picture of the RIGHT drainage to get to Minnow Canyon...for next time.

Bike Canyon
Since we missed out descending Fish Creek, we checked it out from the bottom.

Bike Canyon
View from the bridge down to Fish Creek.

Bike Canyon
The flow in Fish Creek was pretty high so there were some nice little falls.

Bike Canyon
More running water. (What can I say, I live in a desert!)

Bike Canyon
Some nice churning water.

Bike Canyon
Here's a shot of the cliff we didn't descend (see Dad in the middle of the pic).

Bike Canyon
Vertical cliffs in Fish Creek Canyon.

Bike Canyon
An odd waterfall that runs across the the rock and then off the front face.

Bike Canyon
Jason climbing up through some boulders.

Bike Canyon
Jason inside the boulder pile.

Bike Canyon
These waterfalls are actually in the lower part of Minnow Canyon.

Bike Canyon
More falls..

Bike Canyon
Bigger falls that make up part of the rappel in Minnow Canyon.

Bike Canyon
Interesting waterfall that makes a right angle turn.

Bike Canyon
After climbing up and around the falls I found the midpoint anchor station.

Bike Canyon
Jason at the bottom of the rappel.

Bike Canyon
After a little more exploration I found the top? anchor station.

Bike Canyon
Jason chilling out while waiting for me to come back down.

Bike Canyon
More waterfalls on the way back down Fish Creek after exploring Minnow Canyon.

Bike Canyon
Jason climbing on the wall with an ominous background.

Bike Canyon
Jason traversing under the Fish Creek bridge.

Bike Canyon
Reflection of the cliffs in Fish Creek.

Bike Canyon
Another shot of the rappel we didn't do, right at the top of the dark stripe.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Here we are getting ready to go, and cold already!

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Dropping down into the canyon.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
A sneak peak of where we're going.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
A sneak peak of where we're going.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad


Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Contemplating our first obstacle.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Evidence of just how cold it has been here, and how cold the water still is.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
A cool reflection of Jason in the icy water.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Dad preparing himself for the first of many tough situations. . .

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Dad leaping over the gap to avoid the freezing water.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Just a sample of the ice covering the water in various places.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Just a sample of the ice covering the water in various places.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Jason trying everything in his power to avoid getting into that water!

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
There was no way to climb around, so we decided to rappel off of this baby tree.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
This is the drop that will become Dad's first rappel! (About 40 feet.)

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Dad starting over the lip. . .

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Nervously doublechecking his gear. . .

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
And he's on his way!

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Looking up for a photo op.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
A view of the beautiful canyon.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Proof that Dad is still pretty flexible!

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Joe downclimbing one of many "unnecessary" climbs, just to avoid the ater!

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Joe downclimbing one of many "unnecessary" climbs, just to avoid the ater!

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Victory pose.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
More scrambling along the edge of the creek to avoid getting wet.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Dad dropping off another of the countless steps in this canyon.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
The sun makes it look warm, but believe me, it wasn't!

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Prepared for a potentially chest deep wade.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
An old piece of webbing coated in ice.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Nice canyon shot.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Jason rappelling a short waterfall.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Jason rappelling a short waterfall.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Jason rappelling a short waterfall.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Dad's turn. . .

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Dad rappelling a short waterfall.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Dad rappelling a short waterfall.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Dad bailing out of the rappel to avoid the water spray.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Joe on rappel.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Everything seems to be going well.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
He drops off at the bottom just fine. . .

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Then slips into the pothole at the base. Notice the chin at knee level.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
More scrambling across the tilted layers.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Joe using any means necessary to avoid the big swimming pool.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Jason making the big jump commitment.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
A rock resting on top of the "water."

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Dad resting before the climb out of the canyon.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Jason reviewing our escape route options.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
This is where we stopped. Notice the ice at the bottom and the long swim ahead.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Jason starting the long climb out after getting into some warm, dry clothes.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Dad clawing his way up and out of the icy canyon.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Nice views.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Nice views.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Dad, not happy about having to drop down into and back out of another ravine.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Jason's toe laceration.

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
From here on it's just an easy walk back to the car, except for. . .

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
The most dangerous part of Christopher Creek Gorge - The traffic!

Christopher Creek Gorge w/ Dad
Everyone happy to be back in warm, dry clothes!

Pine Creek Canyon
Getting ready for a COLD, wet canyon. It was about 27F as we geared up.

Pine Creek Canyon
View of canyon just before going under the bridge.

Pine Creek Canyon
Joel actually still looking happy (notice that he's still dry).

Pine Creek Canyon
Jason's first dip in the water. (The water was actually warmer than the air!)

Pine Creek Canyon
Jason rigging the first rappel (a two stage rappel).

Pine Creek Canyon
Cool reflection of Jason working.

Pine Creek Canyon
Jason tidying up the rope for the second stage of the first rappel.

Pine Creek Canyon
Preparing for the side-swing at the start of the first rappel.

Pine Creek Canyon
Others making the awkward transition to the rappel station.

Pine Creek Canyon
View of the second stage of the first rappel.

Pine Creek Canyon
View down the canyon from the top of the first rappel.

Pine Creek Canyon
One of MANY wades through COLD water!

Pine Creek Canyon
Jason and Joel making their way to the next rappel.

Pine Creek Canyon
An example of how deep and narrow this canyon is.

Pine Creek Canyon
The top of The Cathedral rappel (about 50 feet).

Pine Creek Canyon
View of one of the arches in The Cathedral.

Pine Creek Canyon
View of the rappel station through an arch.

Pine Creek Canyon
View of the rappel station through an arch.

Pine Creek Canyon
Swimming out of the cathedral. This area collected a lot of debris.

Pine Creek Canyon
Some decent light in a slightly wider section of the canyon.

Pine Creek Canyon
Narrows

Pine Creek Canyon
This shows how deep and dark some sections of the canyon are.

Pine Creek Canyon
Enclosed narrows.

Pine Creek Canyon
Beautiful canyon.

Pine Creek Canyon
An example of what a flash flood can do.

Pine Creek Canyon
Photo op!

Pine Creek Canyon
Jason and Joel down climbing into yet another wade.

Pine Creek Canyon
Deep, dark narrows.

Pine Creek Canyon
Precarious chocksotne.

Pine Creek Canyon
Jason looking a little bit haggard.

Pine Creek Canyon
More deep dark narrows.

Pine Creek Canyon
Joel on the second to last rappel (50'), with a view of Jason waiting below.

Pine Creek Canyon
Vew of second to last rappel from the bottom.

Pine Creek Canyon
Window into the Mount Carmel tunnel in the cliff above the final rappel.

Pine Creek Canyon
View from the top of the final rappel.

Pine Creek Canyon
View of a portion of the final 100' rappel (most of this one is free hanging).

Pine Creek Canyon
Coming down the final rappel.

Pine Creek Canyon
Coming down the final rappel.

Pine Creek Canyon
Coming down the final rappel.

Pine Creek Canyon
Coming down the final rappel.

Pine Creek Canyon
Coming down the final rappel.

Pine Creek Canyon
Coming down the final rappel.

Pine Creek Canyon
Coming down the final rappel.

Pine Creek Canyon
Beautiful canyon feature on the hike out of Pine Creek.

Keyhole Canyon
The early morning light on the rocks as we head out.

Keyhole Canyon
A short walk along the road to the correct drainage.

Keyhole Canyon
A view of the saddle that we need to climb up before we can drop into the canyon

Keyhole Canyon
Keyhole Canyon upstream of our entry point also looks interesting.

Keyhole Canyon
The view back down to the road from the top of the saddle.

Keyhole Canyon
Dropping down into the canyon.

Keyhole Canyon
The start of the narrows (usually this part of the canyon is dry).

Keyhole Canyon
Joel entering his first Zion slot canyon.

Keyhole Canyon
Joel doing some stemming to try to stay dry, and warm.

Keyhole Canyon
Narrow sandstone

Keyhole Canyon
Joel in the slot.

Keyhole Canyon
Making our way down the canyon.

Keyhole Canyon
Making our way down the canyon.

Keyhole Canyon
Downclimbing one of the many chockstones in this canyon.

Keyhole Canyon
Downclimbing one of the many chockstones in this canyon.

Keyhole Canyon


Keyhole Canyon
The canyon opens up right before the first rappel.

Keyhole Canyon
Jason taking a short break

Keyhole Canyon
Jason taking a short break

Keyhole Canyon
The anchor for our first rappel (only about 20').

Keyhole Canyon
Joel making the first drop.

Keyhole Canyon
Jason and Joel packing the rope.

Keyhole Canyon
A huge tree wedged in the narrows.

Keyhole Canyon
Narrow sandstone

Keyhole Canyon
A glimpse of the sky from the deep slot canyon.

Keyhole Canyon
Jason descending a short rappel while Joel stays out of the water.

Keyhole Canyon
Another descent down the short rappel.

Keyhole Canyon
Jason negotiating an awkward slanted narrow section.

Birch Hollow
Joel gearing up for the first rappel (100'). It was VERY cold at this point.

Birch Hollow
Jason gearing up for the first rappel. It even snowed just a little bit.

Birch Hollow
The upper geology is a hard, rough stone. It changes dramatically below.

Birch Hollow
Anchor rigging by committee.

Birch Hollow
With 17 people it took us over an hour to get everyone down the first rappel.

Birch Hollow
The first man goes over the edge. . .

Birch Hollow
and waves goodbye as he goes.

Birch Hollow
Jason on his first big drop since the rope burn.

Birch Hollow
Jason on the free-hanging portion of the rappel.

Birch Hollow
Fall colors.

Birch Hollow
There were some BIG trees here.

Birch Hollow
More fall colors.

Birch Hollow
Jason getting ready for the second rappel (60').

Birch Hollow
Jason going over the second rappel.

Birch Hollow
Joel excited about his second rappel of the day.

Birch Hollow
Joel starting his second rappel.

Birch Hollow
After the second rappel the geology changes to a soft sandstone, conducive to narrow slots.

Birch Hollow
Jason in the narrows.

Birch Hollow
Joel coming down a short awkward rappel.

Birch Hollow
Joel on rope on a 25' rappel.

Birch Hollow
Jason waiting for his turn.

Birch Hollow
The scenery changes abrubtly just before the next big rappel (100').

Birch Hollow
Joel rigging the rope.

Birch Hollow
The top half of a beautiful fluted wall.

Birch Hollow
Rappelling down the flute.

Birch Hollow
A nice silhouette of a canyoneer on rappel.

Birch Hollow
This anchor is about 30' from the base of the previous big rappel!

Birch Hollow
Jason on his way down.

Birch Hollow
Jason at the bottom of yet another rappel!

Birch Hollow
A nce view of the party stringing out up the canyon.

Birch Hollow
Another rappel. About this time it started sprinkling on us.

Birch Hollow
A beautiful rappel in a tight bend of the canyon. Note the chockstone above.

Birch Hollow
Joel and Jason obviously enjoying themselves.

Birch Hollow
Jason coming down the final rappel (60').

Birch Hollow
A gorgeous view from the bottom. That is the same chockstone noted above.

Birch Hollow
The start of the long hike out.

Birch Hollow
Hiking up an old, dried-out mudslide.

Birch Hollow
The party stringing out on the climb out of the canyon.

Birch Hollow
Joel with the ominous weather behind him.

Birch Hollow
More very ominous clouds.

Birch Hollow
It is actually SNOWING on us in this picture!

Water Holes Canyon 01
My first view of the beautifully shaped slot.

Water Holes Canyon 02
The interesting cross-bedded layers of sandstone that make up the cliff walls.

Water Holes Canyon 03
Sun-bleached bones at the edge of the canyon - is this an omen?

Water Holes Canyon 04
A little snake friend I found on my way down into the canyon.

Water Holes Canyon 05
I just love these flowers. Anybody know what this is?

Water Holes Canyon 06
I liked the contrast between the straight lines of the bridge and the natural lines of the canyon.

Water Holes Canyon 07
A nice view in the slot. This is the stuff I canyoneer to see.

Water Holes Canyon 08
This is what used to be a car.

Water Holes Canyon 09
Here is the car from the bottom. I wonder what kind of car this used to be.

Water Holes Canyon 10
Another cool slot.

Water Holes Canyon 11
I just love the shapes that the canyon gets carved into. Sometimes straight, sometimes curvy.

Water Holes Canyon 12
Can you see the wood stuck in the canyon? Hopefully I'm never in a canyon when there's that much water!

Water Holes Canyon 13
This is the first rappel that stopped my progress while scoping out this canyon.

Water Holes Canyon 14
The view downstream from the first rappel.

James/Kelly Canyon 01
The herd of deer (or elk?) that stormed past me on my way to the canyon entry point. It was both scary and exhilirating

James/Kelly Canyon 02
It didn't take very long at all be funneled down into the water.

James/Kelly Canyon 03
Interesting carved features right at the first downclimb.

James/Kelly Canyon 04
Overhanging rock at the first swim.

James/Kelly Canyon 05
Beautiful view in the canyon.

James/Kelly Canyon 06
The morning light hitting the sandstone.

James/Kelly Canyon 07
A nice series of narrows with three successive potholes at the bottom of the first rappel (only about 20').

James/Kelly Canyon 08
This is the view back upstream at the sequential pour-offs.

James/Kelly Canyon 09
A nice narrow section.

James/Kelly Canyon 10
As you can see, there were a lot of logs in this canyon. Some of them helped, and some of them hindered.

James/Kelly Canyon 11
This downclimb was pretty tough with nothing to hold onto and a serious undercut. I unded up slinging a handline around

James/Kelly Canyon 12
Yet another swim through some narrows.

James/Kelly Canyon 13
The view down the green "waterfall" at the second rappel.

James/Kelly Canyon 14
This is the face that I rappelled down for #2. It was about 40'.

James/Kelly Canyon 15
Here's what the green "falls" look like from the bottom. Very scenic.

James/Kelly Canyon 16
A little snake friend that I found along the way.

James/Kelly Canyon 17
This was a long, narrow, and very cold swim. I'm very glad I had my shorty wetsuit on for this portion.

James/Kelly Canyon 18
Interesting eroded sandstone.

James/Kelly Canyon 19
Sandstone layers in the cliffs above me.

James/Kelly Canyon 20
Art shot.

James/Kelly Canyon 21
If you look closely you can see a plane in this shot. There goes my last chance of rescue if I should get stranded! :)

James/Kelly Canyon 22
It's hard to get the perspective, but the canyon makes a 180 degree turn around this column of rock that was just a few

James/Kelly Canyon 23
Another, not quite so cold swim.

James/Kelly Canyon 24
An interesting holey rock.

James/Kelly Canyon 25
This is the first obstacle after heading upstream in Pumphouse Wash on my way to the Kelly exit canyon.

James/Kelly Canyon 26
Just 3-4 miles of rock hopping in this to go to get back to the car!

James/Kelly Canyon 27
An oddly multi-colored rock.

James/Kelly Canyon 28
Another snake friend. I thought for sure he was going for the tadpoles, but he had no interest in them.

James/Kelly Canyon 29
A closeup of a nice shroom.

James/Kelly Canyon 30
I thought it was odd how many different water paths had been eroded here.

Barney Spring Canyon 01
The view from Buzzard Point down the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon.

Barney Spring Canyon 02
An interesting rock finger.

Barney Spring Canyon 03
This is the end of Barney Spring Canyon as it enters Oak Creek Canyon.

Barney Spring Canyon 04
Me out on the rock finger, with an amazing backdrop.

Barney Spring Canyon 05
The first view of the sandstone slot.

Barney Spring Canyon 06
Joel helping Jason down a very slippery slide.

Barney Spring Canyon 07
Our first short rappel.

Barney Spring Canyon 08
Me backing up the questionable anchor while Jason rappels and Joel watches the anchor for signs of movement.

Barney Spring Canyon 09
The end of our reconnaissance trip.

Barney Spring Canyon 10
Our early start the next morning.

Barney Spring Canyon 11
Checking the map to make sure we are in the right drainage.

Barney Spring Canyon 12
A good shot of the type of obstacles that we found in this canyon. There were dead trees everywhere!

Barney Spring Canyon 13
Some more interesting narrows.

Barney Spring Canyon 14
Photo opp!

Barney Spring Canyon 15
Enjoying myself.

Barney Spring Canyon 16
Joel taking a picture of an odd rock.

Barney Spring Canyon 17
Sometimes the dead trees make things easier. But it's rare!

Barney Spring Canyon 18
This is more often what the dead trees do for us.

Barney Spring Canyon 19
Beautiful mossy green rocks. . . with more dead trees in the background. :)

Barney Spring Canyon 20
Our first technical obstacle in Barney Spring Canyon proper.

Barney Spring Canyon 21
Jason on rope.

Barney Spring Canyon 22
Jason at the mid-point on the two stage rappel.

Barney Spring Canyon 23
Jason rigging a retrievable anchor for our second rappel.

Barney Spring Canyon 24
Jason on rope again.

Barney Spring Canyon 25
Me getting ready for my turn on rope.

Barney Spring Canyon 26
Jason and me untying knows and collecting our rope after the rappel.

Barney Spring Canyon 27
On our third rappel I ended up going down in a different spot than Jason and Joel. This was my rock.

Barney Spring Canyon 28
This is where they rappelled from.

Barney Spring Canyon 29
Here I am starting a very awkward undercut rappel about 80 feet off the ground. It's scarier than it looks!

Barney Spring Canyon 30
After several false starts, Jason gave me some pointers from his vantage point and I got down well.

Barney Spring Canyon 31
Here's a shot of Jason descending his rope while I'm still hanging 30 feet above the ground taking his picture!

Barney Spring Canyon 32
This is the nice narrow hallway where we ended our trip. We just knew we weren't going to have enough time to do it all.

Barney Spring Canyon 33
Jason and me getting ready to head back up canyon to out secret side canyon escape.

Cibecue Canyon 01
At the start (which is actually the outlet) of Cibecue Canyon it is wide, and not terribly interesting.

Cibecue Canyon 02
Here is the rattlesnake that was on the trail that our guide pointed out. Nice snake.

Cibecue Canyon 03
One of many crossings on the approach to the technical portion of the canyon. But since it was June, it was actually quite nice to get wet.

Cibecue Canyon 04
A nice little scenic pool being filled by a small waterfall.

Cibecue Canyon 05
The nice shady alcove at the base of the first of four sizable waterfalls in this canyon.

Cibecue Canyon 06
This is the first waterfall in the canyon. You can get to here without a guide, but to get above this point you need to hire a guide.

Cibecue Canyon 07
Here is our guide leading the way up to the top of the first fall. He dropped a rope down to belay us as we climbed this portion.

Cibecue Canyon 08
A nice windowed shot of the canyon.

Cibecue Canyon 09
A pretty section of river as it scours down through the rock.

Cibecue Canyon 10
Another river crossing.

Cibecue Canyon 11
And all of a sudden, the canyon gets narrow. Yeah!

Cibecue Canyon 12
Yep, still narrow.

Cibecue Canyon 13
From a different perspective.

Cibecue Canyon 14
I thought this long straight hallway was the most fun part of the canyon.From here you can make out waterfalls 2 and 3. You start out swimming against the current. . .

Cibecue Canyon 15
Then you start climbing up the walls to get out of the strong current. . .

Cibecue Canyon 16
Unless of course you're Jason, and then you just start climbing from the word go. :) His goal was to get all the way to the top of the next falls without getting wet.

Cibecue Canyon 17
Here is everybody making their way along the corridor.

Cibecue Canyon 18
All three of them stemming at the same time. I just liked these shots. :)

Cibecue Canyon 19
Jason silhouetted. I asked him to please not fall on me.

Cibecue Canyon 20
A little bridging for the wider spots. And you can see the other guys waiting at the top of fall #2.

Cibecue Canyon 21
Here is our guide making his way up fall #3.

Cibecue Canyon 22
Now it's Joel's turn.

Cibecue Canyon 23
Looks good. . .

Cibecue Canyon 24
Hey, that's not the way the guide did it!

Cibecue Canyon 25
On Joel's next attempt he makes the tough move over the top of the boulder.

Cibecue Canyon 26
Unfortunately I don't have any picture's of Jason climbing this one because I did video instead. But I am coming up over the boulder!

Cibecue Canyon 27
Me, happy to have conquered the boulder.

Cibecue Canyon 28
Here is the fourth and final falls of this trip. We'll be coming down these falls shortly.

Cibecue Canyon 29
Climbing up and around to get to the top of the falls. This doesn't look too bad from this angle, but there's a later shot of this from above that makes it look scary. (Sorry about the water droplet on the lens.)

Cibecue Canyon 30
The view of fall #3 from directly above. I hear that a recent flood has changed the position of these boulders.

Cibecue Canyon 31
In this shot you can see falls 2 and 3 from above.

Cibecue Canyon 32
The canyon above the fourth falls.

Cibecue Canyon 33
Jason as he starts making his way back downstream to the top of fall #4.

Cibecue Canyon 34
Cool frothing waterfall.

Cibecue Canyon 35
Joel looking a little bit beleaguered. (I just like the angle and look of this shot.)

Cibecue Canyon 36
Nice little ribbon falls.

Cibecue Canyon 37
This was a kind of sketchy traverse and slippery sloped rock.

Cibecue Canyon 38
Joel just decided to swim it since it was so warm anyway.

Cibecue Canyon 39
This is the view down from the top of fall #4. From here you can see the boulders at the top of fall #3 in the slot, and to the right of that you can see the cliff that we climbed up to get to the top of the falls.

Cibecue Canyon 40
Here is Jason checking the anchor that our guide setup (a guy none of us had ever met until that morning).

Cibecue Canyon 41
Joel getting pummeled by the falls. I have no idea why he's under there.

Cibecue Canyon 42
Joel making his way back down the stemming corridor.

Cibecue Canyon 43
Jason considering climbing the cliff . . . just because.

Cibecue Canyon 44
Joel trying to slide. Unfortunately it didn't work very well.

Cibecue Canyon 45
Walking back down canyon towards fall #1. It looks a lot like walking up the canyon.

Cibecue Canyon 46
Joel waiting for his turn to rappel down fall #1.

Cibecue Canyon 47
Our guide setting up another anchor.

Cibecue Canyon 48
And here we are at the bottom of the first falls again.

Cibecue Canyon 49
On the way out I decided to check on our new snake friend. He's still in there.

Cibecue Canyon 50
Flood gauge station, including a cable ferry to cross the river at high water levels.

Cibecue Canyon 51
Here we are back at the car getting all of our gear put away.

Meadow Canyon
Joel checking to make sure he has his keys. . . for the third time.

Medow Canyon045.jpg
Joe ready to start the hike.

Meadow Canyon
Typical view of the upper drainage.

Meadow Canyon
Typical view of the upper drainage.

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Meadow Canyon
Tree growing over the top of overhanging rock.

Meadow Canyon
Our first disconcerting sign of the frigid water.

Meadow Canyon
Pretty scene.

Meadow Canyon
Joel stopping to take in the beauty of the canyon.

Medow Canyon049.jpg
A nice eroded alcove that looked like someone had spent the night in.

Medow Canyon047.jpg
Interesting eroded groove.

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Medow Canyon053.jpg
Joe stopping to take pictures of the rock formations.

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Medow Canyon048.jpg
Giant slab of rock that used to be horizontal.

Meadow Canyon
Interesting eroded rock in a tight bend of the canyon.

Meadow Canyon
Another large pool of water that worried us a bit. But we did find a way around.

Medow Canyon055.jpg
Joel's view of the same pool.

Meadow Canyon
Stair steps down the canyon.

Medow Canyon056.jpg
Joel's view of the steps.

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Meadow Canyon
Typical scene of Joel descending the middle canyon.

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Meadow Canyon
Interesting sandstone formation.

Medow Canyon060.jpg
Joel's view.

Meadow Canyon
Yet another pool of water. We are REALLY hoping we don't have to swim here.

Meadow Canyon
More beautiful rock formations.

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Meadow Canyon
Gorgeous view down the canyon.

Meadow Canyon
Joel stopping to take some artistic pictures.

Medow Canyon061.jpg
Joel's artistic pictures.

Medow Canyon062.jpg
Joel's artistic pictures.

Meadow Canyon
This looks bad. . .

Meadow Canyon
Joel climbs down to survey the freezing pool.

Meadow Canyon
Can we get around on the right? Nope.

Meadow Canyon
How about on the left? Maybe. . .

Meadow Canyon
Joe goes out to investigate.

Meadow Canyon
It sure looks a lot harder from here! We ended up having to swim this one.

Meadow Canyon
The bottom of the first rappel.

Meadow Canyon
Here comes the pull cord bag!

Medow Canyon063.jpg
Joel's view of the bottom of the first rappel after we cleared our gear.

Medow Canyon064.jpg
Joe after the rappel.

Medow Canyon065.jpg
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Meadow Canyon
A nice narrow section.

Meadow Canyon
A nice little slot cut in the sandstone.

Meadow Canyon
Joel stopping for a photo op.

Meadow Canyon
Is this poison ivy? (After Joel and Jason got it, we were being very careful!)

Meadow Canyon
Interesting root structure.

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Meadow Canyon
Joel rigging an anchor.

Meadow Canyon
The view directly down the second rappel.

Medow Canyon010.jpg
Joe coming down from a rappel.

Medow Canyon011.jpg
Joe looking back up the cliff where he just came from.

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Meadow Canyon
Nice canyon view.

Medow Canyon001.jpg
Joel's shoes.

Medow Canyon002.jpg
Joe climbing down the canyon.

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Medow Canyon004.jpg
Joe climbing down some boulders.

Medow Canyon005.jpg
A little frog that we disturbed.

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Meadow Canyon
Jagged cliff walls.

Meadow Canyon
Large pine tree growing up out of the canyon.

Meadow Canyon
The long, sloping chute.

Medow Canyon012.jpg
Joel's view of the chute.

Medow Canyon013.jpg
View back up the chute.

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Medow Canyon017.jpg
Rocks captured by a trees roots.

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Medow Canyon020.jpg
Joe starting a very short rappel. So short it's almost a shame we had to rig it.

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Medow Canyon023.jpg
Joe completing the short rappel.

Medow Canyon024.jpg
Joel's shot of the narrows.

Meadow Canyon
The beginning of some narrows.

Medow Canyon025.jpg
Joe climbing down into the narrows.

Meadow Canyon
Overhead cliffs.

Meadow Canyon
A view of the canyon wall through a section of narrows.

Meadow Canyon
Joel descending through the narrows.

Meadow Canyon
More narrows. . .

Medow Canyon026.jpg
Joel's view of the narrows.

Meadow Canyon
The canyon starts to open up.

Meadow Canyon
Oh wait, is THIS poison ivy?!?

Medow Canyon027.jpg
Overhanging rock.

Meadow Canyon
Upside down tree?

Medow Canyon029.jpg
Joel's view of the upside down tree.

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Meadow Canyon
Interesting rock formation jutting out from the canyon wall.

Meadow Canyon
Silhouette of the canyon walls against the blue sky.

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Meadow Canyon
Crawfish remains.

Meadow Canyon
Serene view of West Cleer Creak at the confluence with Meadow Canyon.

Medow Canyon031.jpg
Joel's shot of West Clear Creek.

Meadow Canyon
Joel contemplating our strategy to exit the evil West Clear Creek.

Meadow Canyon
We were somewhat sruprised to come upon The Hanging Gardens of West Clear Creek.

Meadow Canyon
A strikingly lush scene compared to most of Meadow Canyon.

Meadow Canyon
Another view of the falls and the underside of the rock.

Meadow Canyon
Water cascading down the green carpeted rock.

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Joe enjoying the view while resting up for the climb out of the canyon.

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Medow Canyon040.jpg
View of West Clear Creek Canyon from the south rim after climbing 1,100 feet up.

Medow Canyon042.jpg
Joe trying to get the sand out of his shoes before the walk back to the car.

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Parker Canyon
First Down Climb

Parker Canyon
First Down Climb

Parker Canyon
First Down Climb

Parker Canyon
First jump into the COLD water!

Parker Canyon
Feel the Burn!

Parker Canyon
First Down Climb

Parker Canyon
First Down Climb

Parker Canyon
First Down Climb

Parker Canyon
Jason dropping into the frigid water

Parker Canyon
Jason descending the first rappel

Parker Canyon
Jason descending the first rappel

Parker Canyon
Jason descending the first rappel

Parker Canyon
Jason descending the first rappel

Parker Canyon
Jason descending the first rappel

Parker Canyon
Jason's turn in the icy water!

Parker Canyon
Beautiful red rock spires against the blue sky

Parker Canyon
Joel enjoying himself, despite the minor abrasion

Parker Canyon
The big canyon making Jason look small

Parker Canyon
More red cliffs

Parker Canyon
Interesting conglomerate rock that looks like concrete

Parker Canyon
Interesting contrast between different kinds of rock

Parker Canyon
The calm water before the falls. . .

Parker Canyon
What we THOUGHT was the biggest rappel in the canyon

Parker Canyon
Jason contemplating the dropoff

Parker Canyon
The view from the the top of the "big" rappel

Parker Canyon
View to the bottom of the "big" rappel

Parker Canyon
Joel documenting the "big" rappel

Parker Canyon
The anchor for the "big" rappel

Parker Canyon
Jason starting his rappel

Parker Canyon
Json descending. . .

Parker Canyon
Jason making his way down the slimy rock face

Parker Canyon
Joel preparing for his turn on the rope

Parker Canyon
Contrasting red and black cliffs

Parker Canyon
Joel tossing the pull cord down

Parker Canyon
The pull cord floating in the pool

Parker Canyon
Joel doing the final check of his gear

Parker Canyon
Joel beginning his descent of the "big" rappel

Parker Canyon
Joel transitioning to the free section of rappel

Parker Canyon
Joel hanging free

Parker Canyon
Jason emerging from the COLD water

Parker Canyon
Jason watching Joel pull our gear

Parker Canyon
View of the red cliffs above the rappel

Parker Canyon
Joel straining at the pull cord

Parker Canyon
Joel taking advantage of a ledge to clear our gear while dry

Parker Canyon
View from the rop of the REAL big rappel. This one was almost twice as high

Parker Canyon
View to the bottom of the big rappel

Parker Canyon
Despite the bright sun, the wind and mist from the falls made it quite cold

Parker Canyon
Rigging the redundant anchor for the big rappel

Parker Canyon
Rigging the redundant anchor for the big rappel

Parker Canyon
The existing anchor for the big rappel

Parker Canyon
Doing the final checking and adjustment of the redundant anchor

Parker Canyon
Joel checking to make sure the rope is untangled all the way to the canyon floor

Parker Canyon
Joel cautiously surveying his route past the falls

Parker Canyon
Joel trying to stay dry by straddling the falls

Parker Canyon
Joel beginning his descent in earnest

Parker Canyon
Another interesting narrow section and pool

The Jug of Salome Creek 01
Getting ready for our second canyon of the day.

The Jug of Salome Creek 02
Unfortunately, since our intrepid photographer was too lazy to remove his camera from his dry bag, this is the closest/o

The Jug of Salome Creek 03
Here we are taking a break for a snack after coming up the steep slope at the end of the canyon. The rest of the hike i

The Jug of Salome Creek 04
Look, there's the car! We're sooo close.

The Jug of Salome Creek 05
All of those cuts down the back of his leg, ankle and foot were inflicted by a single falling/rolling rock!

The Jug of Salome Creek 06
This is what happens when the rock you're standing on moves and you swing your leg right into another rock while trying

Christopher Creek Gorge 01
Camp on the Friday night before.

Christopher Creek Gorge 02
Jason excited about the day ahead of us.

Christopher Creek Gorge 03
Getting geared up with our somewhat improvised canyoneering gear.

Christopher Creek Gorge 04
Joel on our first real obstacle in the canyon.

Christopher Creek Gorge 05
Jason spotting me as I downclimb.

Christopher Creek Gorge 06
Here I am on my first rappel ever!

Christopher Creek Gorge 07
Do I look happy about that first rappel or what??

Christopher Creek Gorge 08
Jason getting ready for his turn on rappel.

Christopher Creek Gorge 09
Swimming while pulling the rappel line down.

Christopher Creek Gorge 10
This is where we had to ascend back up the short, awkward rappel to retrieve our anchor, since we rigged it wrong! We h