Bogley Family Fest - Zion - May 2010

What a HUGE bummer about the road construction. :ne_nau: I do like driving in from that direction. I will be keeping an eye on it. Anyone recommend a website of up-to-date Zion road conditions?

The plan is to be there Thursday by mid afternoon. We do have to leave on Sunday, most likely in the morning to head back home. :(

I am bringing my full crew- 6 year old, 15 year old and possibly the husband. Both kids are great hikers and can go the distance. BUT my youngest maxes out at about 3-4 hours. This will limit us from doing the bigger or more technical hikes. Emerald Pools is definitely on the list. I am going to bring my gear just in case something works out where I can squeeze in a canyon. I do think my oldest and the husband will bring their bikes and could be very interested in mountain biking if anyone else is??

I will do my research on hikes that could work for us and let you all know. :popcorn:

We should arrive mid-afternoon on Thursday and will have all day on Friday and Saturday to play. Sunday we can do something that's a "half day". I would want to be finished by early afternoon to give time to clean up, travel to LV and eat some dinner.

It is unfortunate that we're limited by the snow pack and now by the road. But I'm sure it will be lots of fun no matter what we do. It would be awesome to do Mystery but like you say it's probably not going to happen.

Of the canyons left we'd be interested in Birch or maybe Telegraph on Friday.

Then I've never done Subway and would love to spend a day there but I don't think Sunday would be a good day for it as I don't want to have to rush through.

I wasn't paying enough attention to the permit window and just now there were no Friday and only 3 Saturday permits for Subway. I grabbed the 3 so if someone else gets some walk-in permits we could team up. Or if Pine Creek/Keyhole work out we can swap permits around and offer these ones up for others.

Anyway, even if we're just doing some hikes it will be great to have a group to enjoy them with!

OK, I also grabbed 6 Telephone for Friday... We can all mix and match. Hey, a $5 investment, how can it go wrong? :ne_nau:

Hey Kev - thanks for the warm welcome. I really do not know what to expect from the hikes, but the emerald pools sounds nice. I am just excited to explore another part of UT other than Arches and Canyonlands.

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Originally Posted by ststephen

Of the canyons left we'd be interested in Birch or maybe Telegraph on Friday.

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Watch out for the "snow bridges" in Telephone! I loved that canyon with snow in it, but the bridges were a bit tenuous and freaky! :nod:

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Originally Posted by Bo_Beck

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Originally Posted by ststephen

Of the canyons left we'd be interested in Birch or maybe Telegraph on Friday.

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Watch out for the "snow bridges" in Telephone! I loved that canyon with snow in it, but the bridges were a bit tenuous and freaky! :nod:

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Seems like there was one anchor in telephone that was just a small chockstone stuck in a crack? Wasn't much else around as I recall. That would be very hard to find if there was any snow. But I could be nuts. :ne_nau:

Just an update on permits: I got 12 Keyhole for Friday and 12 Keyhole for Saturday. Whatever else is done those days, a quick tour through Keyhole (depending on road line-ups) can be done before or after... And I'm kind of keen to try a moonlight Keyhole trip...

I am getting excited for this trip! First camp trip of the year and the start of a month long vacation for me. Woot woot!

I'm also getting excited. I should be walking by then - camping will be my reward!

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Originally Posted by Cirrus2000

OK, I also grabbed 6 Telephone for Friday... We can all mix and match. Hey, a $5 investment, how can it go wrong? :ne_nau:

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Are you planning on taking your kids down Telephone Kevin?

Also, I thought Keyhole was going to be inaccessible due to the road construction.
The plan is to bring my youngest daughter, her boyfriend & 1 or 2 of her girlfriends, and none of them have canyoneered before except Rachael so I was planning on keeping things mild-mannered.
If Keyhole is accessible, we'd probably want to do that one on Sat. (guess I better pick up a permit) +/or a short hike.

Or, depending on the mood of the crew, we might opt for hiking instead of canyoneering. I've always wanted to hike the forks of Taylor Creek

http://www.americansouthwest.net/slo...lor_creek.html


I plan to take them through Kannarra Creek on our way home Sunday.
Anyone want to join us for this?

http://www.americansouthwest.net/slo...ek/canyon.html

Kevin, are you heading to Boulder the following w/e? My girls are coming with me!!! I'm so excited!
This will be my first mommy/daughter trip with the both of them in 2 or 3 years at least!

Heads Up.... Permits for Keyhole just went on-line for the weekend of Family Fest. If you want to canyoneer Keyhole I'd reserve a couple permits.

Backcountry Permit Reservations
https://zionpermits.nps.gov/backcoun...m?TripTypeID=3

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Originally Posted by Iceaxe

Heads Up.... Permits for Keyhole just went on-line for the weekend of Family Fest. If you want to canyoneer Keyhole I'd reserve a couple permits.

Backcountry Permit Reservations
https://zionpermits.nps.gov/backcoun...m?TripTypeID=3

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Thanks Shane! I just got a res. for 12 for Sat. - I'll just cancel or change the number if we don't do it or don't have that many folks.

I don't know how keen these kids will be on rappelling - I've got to get them out here locally & see how they like it. Are you coming? :mrgreen:

Is it too soon to start thinking about pot lucks and such? Which night(s)? Anyone planning to bring a gas BBQ? Or will we just use the campground BBQs?

I grabbed 3 permits for Subway on Friday. That's all there was. I think there was/is more for Sunday but I can't do such a long canyon that day. It would be cool if we could get some walk-in Subways but that may be too hard. Probably my wife would give up her slot if some other adult wants to come with my son (13) and me.

I know Kev has a bunch of Keyhole permits too.

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Originally Posted by Randi

I plan to take them through Kannarra Creek on our way home Sunday.
Anyone want to join us for this?

http://www.americansouthwest.net/slo...ek/canyon.html

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We might be up for that. We do have to get back to Vegas that evening, but there should be plenty of time for a decent hike and I don't think this significantly adds to the mileage back in that direction does it?

I think Robin is quite happy to do more hiking/exploring than swimming/downclimbing :haha:

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Originally Posted by Randi

Are you planning on taking your kids down Telephone Kevin?

Also, I thought Keyhole was going to be inaccessible due to the road construction.
The plan is to bring my youngest daughter, her boyfriend & 1 or 2 of her girlfriends, and none of them have canyoneered before except Rachael so I was planning on keeping things mild-mannered.
If Keyhole is accessible, we'd probably want to do that one on Sat. (guess I better pick up a permit) +/or a short hike.

Or, depending on the mood of the crew, we might opt for hiking instead of canyoneering. I've always wanted to hike the forks of Taylor Creek

http://www.americansouthwest.net/slo...lor_creek.html


I plan to take them through Kannarra Creek on our way home Sunday.
Anyone want to join us for this?

http://www.americansouthwest.net/slo...ek/canyon.html

Kevin, are you heading to Boulder the following w/e? My girls are coming with me!!! I'm so excited!
This will be my first mommy/daughter trip with the both of them in 2 or 3 years at least!

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I might be interested in Kannarra too. Depends on E and how long his weekend already felt for him.

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Originally Posted by Randi

Are you planning on taking your kids down Telephone Kevin?

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Well, it does sound a little bit tough for them (I've never done it, so don't know for sure.) I think I'd do it if it were with a group that was not much more newbie-heavy than we'll already be with my two kids. I like the idea of hitting Angels Landing on the way up, or on the way back. But I have reservations, so... :ne_nau:

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Originally Posted by Randi

Kevin, are you heading to Boulder the following w/e? My girls are coming with me!!! I'm so excited!
This will be my first mommy/daughter trip with the both of them in 2 or 3 years at least!

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That's really cool! Definitely going to be in Boulder - can't wait. See you there, too! :2thumbs:

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Originally Posted by ststephen

Is it too soon to start thinking about pot lucks and such? Which night(s)? Anyone planning to bring a gas BBQ? Or will we just use the campground BBQs?

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I know nothing of pot lucks - I don't generally socialize when camping, cuz I usually do it alone... :haha: But Saturday is a birthday for a couple of us - I'll be four and a half freakin' decades old! - sounds like a good night for celebrations! I do plan on having lots of alcohol and snacks with me, and I can share.

So here's my thinking so far: We will be getting in on Thursday late afternoon. On Friday, depending how many people there are, and who's interested, I'd like to do a popular, but non-permit-stricken trip like Angels Landing, and maybe Telephone if it isn't super tough - it would be better than doing it on the Saturday or Sunday, I'm guessing. Later in the day, an early evening romp through Keyhole would be fun, for folks who have arrived Friday afternoon?

Saturday, how about some easier canyon like Yankee Doodle, early, then back to the park for something else later. Keyhole for people like me (those who love it), or a hike somewhere.

Sunday, I've got my Mystery permit in my back pocket, so if the Narrows cooperates, I'll definitely do that with the kids, and up to 3 others who would like to join in. If not, well, we'll see what comes up. I'd be willing to do Kanarra, too...

We're staying Sunday night, too, and leaving Monday mid-morning.

:popcorn:

Saturday night pot luck sounds fun! And Kev, you need to come to Freeze Fest; that whole week was a big food-share fest. Fun stuff.

Cody was looking yesterday and apparently Watchman is all booked up.

I am up for anything as long as my kids are not overly tired and driving me nuts. Actually last hike we took Sarah on (Hidden Canyon) she was a little trooper. She started to get a little complainy on the way back out but I lit a fire under her cute hind end and she smoked us down the trail. As I slowly made my way off the trail she being the smart alec she is says "I have been sitting her for 15 min waiting, what took you so long." So maybe we are entering a new era of childhood. Where I can take them on longer hikes and they are dragging me off the trail instead of the other way around. At this point I am not sure Spencer will be with us. He doesn't think it necessary to do homework.

I have only been through Subway so I am super excited to do another canyon. I still need to hike Angel's landing and pretty much I am just looking forward to celebrating and hanging out with friends.

I can probably bring a gas grill. It is a nice one too. I have to move it south anyway. Why not that weekend. I don't make any promises because it depends on how it would ride in the back of that little trailer that gave me so much grief in October when I drove down to Gooseberry Mesa. I am not going to lie to you.... I am a bit nervous about towing now.

I've been up there a few times but after those two falling deaths last year I'm not so sure about taking E up there. How do you all feel about kids up there?

I guess I go as far as I feel safe with them. If it gets to where I am freaking out becasue they are to close to the edge, then I stop and go back. Or hang out for those who want to go all the way and wait and rest with the kids. My kids are pretty good about not doing anything that scares them. So if they don't like it they won't do it.

Having never been up there I really don't know how scary it is. I have only heard.