A Bad Day in Good Day Jim

[Iceaxe]

May 23, 2014


The following epic is the story of a flash flood that occurred in a slot canyon that feeds Lake Powell known as "Good Day Jim". Brian Reischl and Lee Katherine Goldstein have both provided their perspectives of the event for your reading pleasure. Enjoy...

A Bad Day in Good Day Jim
http://climb-utah.com/Powell/goodday1.htm

http://climb-utah.com/Powell/Files/gdj105.jpg

[Walden]

I don’t want to ridicule anyone, but this seems to becoming more common, groups taking a chance on bad weather. On this same day a group just narrowly missed a similar fate in Hogwarts, and I think another group actually got stuck in the canyon during the flashflood, if I remember correctly. What weather information do others use? I use the national weather service and I also like to look at the flash flood potential posted on ZNP website. ZNP lists the flash flood potential for each area in southern Utah, based on anticipated moisture in the sky, if I interpret it correctly.

If I remember correctly it was the national weather service had a 50% or 60% chance of rain, for the North wash area and on the ZNP website the flashflood potential for Glen Canyon National rec area was moderate.

I’m curios how others get there weather info and if maybe a link could be put on Bogley to highlight some of the better weather resources.

[hank moon]

Great story - thanks to the writers, and the writers/survivors :)

I only read about half of it - had to take a break from eyestrain due to merciless white-on-black.

Works great for AC/DC album covers, but maybe go with a kinder color scheme for the large blocks of text?

Will copy/paste the remainder for reading later.

Whew! Nervy moments.

hank

[Iceaxe]

I only read about half of it - had to take a break from eyestrain due to merciless white-on-black.

One of these days I'll modernize my website, but since it is just a hobby it's not real high on my priority list.


Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[hank moon]

One of these days I'll modernize my website, but since it is just a hobby it's not real high on my priority list.

I'll be sure to remember the "hobby" angle for future ref :naughty:

[qedcook]

Learning to say no is one of the hardest, but most important, things in outdoor adventures. If you never say no to a canyon, then it's only a matter of time until you die in a canyon, because you'll always do the current canyon, no matter the conditions. You haven't learned how to say no.


It's extremely lame and un-fun to say no at the top of a canyon. It's so hard to learn how to do. But it's better to learn to say no by not doing a canyon and later finding out it would have been safe, than to learn by saying yes and later finding out it was far too dangerous.


It's extremely difficult to say no, but when you do, you learn how to say no. You learn to be disappointed with not going, but still feeling right about declining. I've said no to a canyon four or five times, and only once did the canyon flash flood. But the other times of saying no taught me how to say no, so I had the power to say no when I needed to. Everyone always mentions the times that we could have safely done the canyons, but no one mentions the one time it was dangerous.


Don't count your trip as a loss or waste if you say no to a canyon. The trip isn't a waste, because you have learned how to say no.


Case in point, this story:


"We had nothing else to do, so we decided that we might as well hike to the drop-in point, as we could still change our mind there... We saddled up and hiked to the head of the canyon, still watching the weather."


This group had no intention of ever saying no. Unless it was raining directly overhead at the entrance, this group was going to do the canyon.


"We found the drop-in point... We were still a bit apprehensive, but decided that the weather looked good enough to descend the canyon."


The apprehension should have helped them say no, but they hadn't learned how to say no yet.


"I raged at the storm 'Really?! Are you serious?!'"


This is the point at which you learn that the storm will come at some point or another, in one canyon or the next. At some point, conditions will be bad enough to kill you. Period. What was lacking was the power to say no.


"Make better decisions next time."


Learn how to say no.

[Scott P]

If I remember correctly it was the national weather service had a 50% or 60% chance of rain, for the North wash area and on the ZNP website the flashflood potential for Glen Canyon National rec area was moderate.

When I checked it, it was actually 70% for that day and flash flood warnings were issued with plenty of advanced notice.

[Rick Demarest]

“Nature doesn't ask your permission; it doesn't care about your wishes, or whether you like its laws or not.
You're obliged to accept it as it is, and consequently all its results as well.”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground

[Mountaineer]

Good day Jim is a physical canyon, with few escapes. Poor choice when rain is in the forecast. Plan your canyon, and then canyon your plan.

Acceptable risk is typically higher for all of us that gravitate toward the more high adventure.

Glad everyone is OK.

[Rob L]

<snip>Fyodor Dostoyevsky</snip>

One of my favourite composers.:naughty:

Joking aside, I think it's to the credit of the perpetrators of the misdemeanour to open up and let Shane publish.

Rob

"Live to learn; learn by your own mistakes but be kind and open enough to allow others learn from them too. For we will not all be as fortunate to survive the learning undergone alone".

[Jolly Green]

Learning to say no is one of the hardest, but most important, things in outdoor adventures. If you never say no to a canyon, then it's only a matter of time until you die in a canyon, because you'll always do the current canyon, no matter the conditions. You haven't learned how to say no.

It's extremely lame and un-fun to say no at the top of a canyon. It's so hard to learn how to do. But it's better to learn to say no by not doing a canyon and later finding out it would have been safe, than to learn by saying yes and later finding out it was far too dangerous.

It's extremely difficult to say no, but when you do, you learn how to say no. You learn to be disappointed with not going, but still feeling right about declining. I've said no to a canyon four or five times, and only once did the canyon flash flood. But the other times of saying no taught me how to say no, so I had the power to say no when I needed to. Everyone always mentions the times that we could have safely done the canyons, but no one mentions the one time it was dangerous.

Don't count your trip as a loss or waste if you say no to a canyon. The trip isn't a waste, because you have learned how to say no.

Learn how to say no.

Great points made here. Very well said. That same day we were all set to do Choprock. When we dropped down from Egypt earlier in the week, there was a 0% chance of rain that Friday. All it took was 2 days for that to increase to 70%. We surveyed the sky early and started on the approach, it didn't take long before a light rain started. The clouds were sparse that far north but that was enough for us to call it a day. By time we got back to camp, the rain stopped and didn't come back at all as we hiked back to Egypt. However, looking down towards Powell, the clouds looked like death. Glad these folks were okay.

[Mountaineer]

... it didn't take long before a light rain started. The clouds were sparse that far north but that was enough for us to call it a day. By time we got back to camp, the rain stopped and didn't come back at all as we hiked back to Egypt. However, looking down towards Powell, the clouds looked like death.

Good call, even though discouraging. Live to Canyon another day.