TR: Oak, Holy Sh@t!, Mystery

[CarpeyBiggs]

We had a good weekend in Zion. I hooked up with the Ram Clan and Team Spidey for S.F. Oak on Friday. Then Bruce Newman and Kip joined us on Saturday. Sunday I tagged along on the last day of the Bakefest to do the huge rappel at the end of Hidden, which ended with a core shot that was two inches long. Topped it off Monday with Aaron Ramras in Mystery. All were excellent canyons.

Here are the TRs and pics -

Eye of the Needle - http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/?p=91

Holy Sh@t - http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/?p=97

Mystery - http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/?p=101

Enjoy.

[Jaxx]

Great TR and pics as always. Did you guys run into any water between the last 2 raps in Mystery? all the beta I read there was supposed to be a pool at the bottom of a small cliff/rock jam thing. It was filled with sand when we went through.

That rope on the 400 ft rap is SCARY! how much does that weaken the rope? I'm glad we didn't hear about you guys on the news.

[CarpeyBiggs]

Yep, the pool is still filled in. We got knee deep at the springs, and that was it.

Not sure the details on the rope, as it happened after I left. I'll wait for Tom to post some details on that. Pretty wild, as it wasn't even there when I went down.

[Iceaxe]

So I guess now might be a good time to mention that Eye of the Needle (Oak Creek) is closed and you were trespassing....

I attempted to point this out on the Yahoo Group to those who should know better but it appears I have been banned/moderated/muzzled for pointing out that shared access is a reasonable solution..... or maybe it was because I called a moderator a dumbass..... the reasoning is kinda lost on me either way..... :ban:

Anyhoo... probably not a good idea to do the route until the problems have been straighten out.

[rockgremlin]

:roflol: Whoops!!

[Scott Card]

Fantastic photos. Nice to see by buddies in the Eye of the Needle. That is a fun, cold canyon. That shot of Mav is priceless. The night time photo is cool. Great stuff as always. :2thumbs:

[tanya]

Excellent photos! Loved the report. :nod:

[adrians]

Shane, what is the reason for the closure of Oak? Will this be for long...do you think?

[Iceaxe]

All reasonable access is currently across private property that is posted No Trespassing.

I'm not exactly sure which parts of Oak Creek are on BLM land and which are on private land, but I'm not sure it matters because it appears all of the reasonable access crosses private property.

I believe Zion Adventure Company currently has permission to cross the private property and guide Eye of the Needle. I believe several others (Tom Jones and the ZCC) have attempted to get land owner permission to cross the private property. I know at least one fella has looked into getting access through some type of historic right-a-way.

I really don't have a clue what will happen with this canyon...... its a sweet canyon and I hope something can be worked out. My current thoughts are respecting the land owners current wishes will yield the best future results. Its not like there is a shortage of canyons to do until this gets worked out.

:cool2:

[tanya]

Just a wild guess.... but guides sometimes try to work with private land owners - who offer to pay the landowner and thus no one besides that guide is allowed to visit the canyon. A guide tried that here with Red Cave, but luckily they could go around and use the Thunderbird property instead. The land owner on that claims that he still owns some property, but I cannot imagine how?

[montanablur]

I like the slipping in under the cover of darkness... Good work.

[Brian in SLC]

So I guess now might be a good time to mention that Eye of the Needle (Oak Creek) is closed and you were trespassing....

Huh, that's funny, 'cause this doesn't say anything about it being closed...

http://www.climb-utah.com/Zion/oc-sf1.htm

-Brian in SLC

[Wasatch]

So I guess now might be a good time to mention that Eye of the Needle (Oak Creek) is closed and you were trespassing....

Huh, that's funny, 'cause this doesn't say anything about it being closed...

http://www.climb-utah.com/Zion/oc-sf1.htm

-Brian in SLC

That might be true, but if you were a member, you would see that there is a warning that the canyon is considered close.

All things considered, a buddy and I did it back on 15 Jul 05, we talked to the owner I believe, just when we were leaving the truck at the water tank. He said we were welcomed to go thru the camp at anytime, no problem, as long as we were polite and curtousy to people within the camp area. What happened after that, I have no idea.

[Brian in SLC]

That might be true, but if you were a member, you would see that there is a warning that the canyon is considered close.

If I had some ham, I could have ham and eggs, if I had some eggs.


He said we were welcomed to go thru the camp at anytime, no problem, as long as we were polite and curtousy to people within the camp area. What happened after that, I have no idea.

Kinda one of those things... Out of sight, out of mind. But, when folks get pushy and ask in the wrong way...

Kinda like making a deal out of this in the first place. What purpose did that serve?

Bad enough when folks piss in their own cheerios....

Great pictures, though. Great canyon and a fun gig.

-Brian in SLC

[tanya]

So I guess now might be a good time to mention that Eye of the Needle (Oak Creek) is closed and you were trespassing....

Huh, that's funny, 'cause this doesn't say anything about it being closed...

http://www.climb-utah.com/Zion/oc-sf1.htm

-Brian in SLC


:chairshot: :kicknuts: :numchucks: :rifle: :scared: :wedgie: :wallbash: :2gun: :2guns: :boxing: :cold: :cripple: :bash: :duel:

:vader:

:ne_nau:

[bodhijoe]

:chairshot: :kicknuts: :numchucks: :rifle: :scared: :wedgie: :wallbash: :2gun: :2guns: :boxing: :cold: :cripple: :bash: :duel:

:vader:

:ne_nau:

Tanya - As a member of the smiley face police, I'm going to have to issue you a citation for exceeding your quota for the day! :haha:

[tanya]

:oops:

Oh no Joe! I am innocent! Really :nod:

:friday:

PS.... we yahoo users like Quotes, but Summit will say you are worse than just about anything if you use them! I still intend to use quotes since I like them and feel like I am neglecting people when I do not and they can get sort of artsy even.

Most of the people here are nice though and let you be you. I am glad you are posting here so there is another friendly face. :2thumbs:

For those that don't know Joe! Here he is.... with Bo and I on Lady Mountain :popcorn: oh... actually think this is when we did Bridge Mountain?

http://www.zionnational-park.com/images/albums/images/lady-mountain-l_jpg.jpg

[Bo_Beck]

:oops:

Oh no Joe! I am innocent! Really :nod:

:friday:

PS.... we yahoo users like Quotes, but Summit will say you are worse than just about anything if you use them! I still intend to use quotes since I like them and feel like I am neglecting people when I do not and they can get sort of artsy even.

Most of the people here are nice though and let you be you. I am glad you are posting here so there is another friendly face. :2thumbs:

For those that don't know Joe! Here he is.... with Bo and I on Lady Mountain :popcorn: oh... actually think this is when we did Bridge Mountain?

No, you were right the first time! Lady Mountain :five:
http://www.zionnational-park.com/images/albums/images/lady-mountain-l_jpg.jpg

[Alex]

:

Most of the people here are nice though and let you be you.

Bah, how come no one has told me that! :frustrated: Here I am trying to be not me to please everyone....

*takes off his trousers, puts on a robe, plunges onto a couch and scratches his crouch*

Ahhh, that's better, thanks tanya! :lol8:

[montanablur]

Dan-

How did the new water housing work out?

The shots look great...

[gonzo]

*takes off his trousers, puts on a robe, plunges onto a couch and scratches his crouch*

Ahhh! The googles! They do nothing!

[CarpeyBiggs]

Dan-

How did the new water housing work out?

The shots look great...

It wasn't bad, but there are a few modifications I'll have to make. I think the lens port needs to be coated with some sort of water-beading repellant, to keep it drier. I think I will carry a chamois to clean the port off occasionally, my bandana wasn't great. And I need to mask off some of the internal port to prevent stray light from creating double reflections. Other than that, I was pretty happy with it.

[montanablur]

Try RainX, we use it on movie camera filters all the time when shooting in the wet and soggy...

[tanya]

:

Most of the people here are nice though and let you be you.

Bah, how come no one has told me that! :frustrated: Here I am trying to be not me to please everyone....

*takes off his trousers, puts on a robe, plunges onto a couch and scratches his crouch*

Ahhh, that's better, thanks tanya! :lol8:


Much better. :lol8:

[Iceaxe]

I hear Eye of the Needle will be in MK's next book (undoubtablly with a new name). I'd be curious to know how he intends to deal with the current access issue?

[rockgremlin]

So Dan --

For being really shaky around the big raps, you sure made these look EZ! Once again, very cool shots!!! My favorite was this one:

http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/startrails.jpg

That's a wallhanger fo sho!!

[Iceaxe]

That's a wallhanger fo sho!!

Agreed! :2thumbs:

[CarpeyBiggs]

For being really shaky around the big raps, you sure made these look EZ! Once again, very cool shots!!! My favorite was this one:


Thanks man. I think it is very safe to say my skills are ALOT better since we went through high spur. Not as big a wuss with the ropes, though I will be honest, I didn't look down the 450 footer until there was only 100 feet left or something. Otherwise, the guy on the fireman belay mighta had some unpleasantries splat upon his face...

Ice - will be interesting to see what MK does. It should be noted that we didn't approach anywhere near Camp Kolob, but it made for a long bushwack. Wonder what his route will be.

[Iceaxe]

Ice - will be interesting to see what MK does. It should be noted that we didn't approach anywhere near Camp Kolob, but it made for a long bushwack. Wonder what his route will be.

From my current understanding.... which might or might not be correct... Eye of the Needle is Camp Kolob property. There is no way you can do the route without tresspassing.

I know several folks have been working on getting this clarified.... its hard to ask the landowners in the area because as far as they are concerned its theirs as far as the eye can see....

:popcorn:

[asdf]

PS.... we yahoo users like Quotes, but Summit will say you are worse than just about anything if you use them! I still intend to use quotes since I like them and feel like I am neglecting people when I do not and they can get sort of artsy even.

Dear lord... let me apologies yet AGAIN.
I said "I don't like it when people post quotes of quotes of quotes of quotes of quotes" THIS WAS NOT A PERSONAL ATTACK AGAINST YOU TANYA! ... I said NOTHING about you. I even deleted the post not to offend anyone, yet you feel the need to post all over you uutah little things like this.