Newbie to Canyoneering, from SoCal going to Zion in Sept!

Hello everyone. My name is Mike and I am new to Canyoneering, but very familar with Rappeling, ropes, knots, etc. I'm a Firefighter in Orange County, Ca and myjob requires me to be up to date on all my ropes/knots/systems skills. I have never been canyoneering, but I love exploring canyons when I go hiking and can't wait to get up to Zion for the Rendevous this Sept.

Hopefully I can get some guidance from this site to take with me on my first trip.

If anyone is in the Southern California area and would like to exploring around here, let me know. My schedule varies so just throw me a datea and I'll check.

Talk to everyone soon.

-Mike

Welcome to the fold. :cool2:

Hi Mike! I'm in SoCal too ~ and love Zion. Where you located?
You know, we have some canyons here too in the San Gabriel Mountains!
Welcome to Bogley - this is a great place to make friends, have fun discussions and learn/share with your peers.

Message sent! I am always looking for more partners to hit the San Gabriel's with. I am still a new canyoneer but my overwhelming mindset of self-preservation tends to keep me away from "Bad" things.

i am also from so cal and rather new to the sport.. i have been trying to hit up the local mountains at least once a week. i did classic canyon a couple days ago. pretty nice in there..
two years ago was my first time out without a guide in zion and we went through middle echo canyon.. it is not that technical and a pretty good first time canyon.. in my opinion..

Welcome! I'd say check out Iceaxe's site it has great descriptions of all the main canyons. Then pick a few out and go for it. I think it will probably be a bit hot still so pick ones with water flowing and you can't go wrong. Definitely plan a Keyhole/Pine Creek day. That one is a "can't miss". :2thumbs:

http://climb-utah.com/Zion/index.htm


Also check out Dave's Candition site. That should give you a feel for what people are doing that time of year and what canyons to avoid. Depending on time of year some are better than others.

http://www.candition.com/