Imlay via Shortcut

[hike2kolob]

Three times is the charm. Two weeks ago I was turned away due to fire. Two days ago I was turned away due to rain. Yesterday I finally did Imlay. That is a great canyon!

Thanks to Tom and Greg for leading Chapin and me through. I promise to work on my pack toss and throw skills.

5:15 trailhead start. Finished in a pouring rain. Great day!

Also check out our float out of the Narrows:
http://uutah.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2952

Pics below (please forgive the bandwidth usage).

[Iceaxe]

Cuttin' the safety margins a little thin

Happy you guys made it out alive

It was great to finally put some faces with names..... but it would be much easier for me if everyone just used their internet handles. I knew exactly who Hike2kolob was.... but I had no clue who this Jason fella was I was talking too....

[rockgremlin]

I love Imlay. Imlay is a great canyon!! Looks like you guys had some fun hooking and scrambling out of potholes.

[Scott Card]

Guided raps? Hooking? A bit more detail would be appreciated!!!! It is on my list for the end of the month and I want to go in prepared.

[hike2kolob]

Guided raps? Hooking? A bit more detail would be appreciated!!!! It is on my list for the end of the month and I want to go in prepared.

Among the group this is what we brought in our bag of tricks:

1-2 BD tri-hooks (bat hooks) with slings;
3 Imlay pot-shots;
1 Imlay Happy Hooker; and
1 bolt kit.

Most of the keepers (other than the two with guided rappels to avoid them) looked like they could be partner assisted or be bat hooked out with the numerous hooking holes chiseled. I was new to the whole pothole escape thing so it was fun to see a variety of techniques.

There were only 4 keepers that I remember using any other technique other than a partner assist.

The first (no pictures) had water but you could stand at the lip. Chapin and I raised Greg to where he could use a bat hook to hook a high hole and pull himself out. Greg then lowered a rope and anchored one end (meat). Tom and I ascended out using Tiblocs and then we pulled Chapin out with the rope.

The second was a really, really deep hole with no water. There is a log jammed on the other side of the keeper. This is were Tom put one end of the rope through the rapide and let out enough rope to rappel to the log. He then blocked of this rappel with a biner and backed up the block with the end clipped into the anchor. Next, he pulled out and hand coiled enough rope to throw the rope bag over the jammed log on the other side of the keeper. He tied off the rope to the bag so that the excess rope would not come out of the bag. After a couple of tries Tom was able to catch the rope bag on the other side of the log. We cinched up that line with a Munter hitch and locked it off with a mule.



Tom used the line caught on the log as a guided rappel to the log, never descending into the keeper.




After Tom had safely rappeled over, we cleaned up the rigging. Tom freed the caught rope bag and more securely anchored one end of the rope. We tightened the rope and biner blocked it so that there was a taught guide line. The lose end of the rope on the other side of the biner we clipped to our descenders and rappelled over to the log while clipped into the guide line. When all were successfully over, Tom unwrapped the anchor on the log and we pulled the rope by pulling on the rappel side of the rope. This was very secure and was surprisingly quick.

I think many people rappel halfway into the pothole and while on rappel lasso the log and pull themselves over, never descending in.

The third keeper I remember, was fully a swimmer.



I tried five times to fling a pot shot over the other lip but each time my shot was blocked by the lip of the pothole. After a couple of tries Chapin was able to fling a potshot over the lip, but when he droped in to test the catch, the potshot pulled over and did not support his weight. Tom and Greg were really just humoring us in our feeble attempts. Greg jumped in and using the Happy Hooker, hooked the anchor hanging at the lip, and pulled himself up with the rope attached to the Happy Hooker. Greg set up a rappel at the top for the other side and we used one end of the rope to handline out, while the people in front used the other end of the rope to rappel down.

The last keeper, we again used a guided rappel catching the logjam on the other side.



More info than you needed, but it was good to review in my head for future reference. Enjoy your trip!

[Scott Card]

More info than you needed, but it was good to review in my head for future reference. Enjoy your trip!

Absolutely not. That is exactly the info I need. Now off to my yard to dangle from some ropes and practice rope bag tosses into the limbs. Great stuff.. thanks!!!

[snatch]

great photos. looks like some of tom's crafty rope work. what the hell is that cluster of rope and knots?

[Iceaxe]

what the hell is that cluster of rope and knots?

I agree.... I look at this mess and is all I see is an accident waiting to happen. The first rule of canyoneering should be KISS

Keep
It
Simple
Stupid

[Scott Card]

I agree.... I look at this mess and is all I see is an accident waiting to happen. The first rule of canyoneering should be KISS

Keep
It
Simple
Stupid

Well, it looked pretty basic to me. Single rap line with biner block backed up for all but the last person, guided rappel backed up. Only one configuration I couldn't quite make out at the top with two(?) biners. Help the Village Idiot out here. Is there something else going on that I am missing that is over done or bad form?

Just trying to learn.

[Scott Card]

Upon further review, It appears that if you unclip the top biner, you can pull the whole mess with the pull cord. Brilliant actually. Cleans right up nicely. Or am I seeing this wrong? Tom, if you are lurking, please stoop to help the poor Village Idiot out here.

[Iceaxe]

KISS = How about a clove hitch on a biner. You rig one line for the guide and one line to rappel on.

Of course using the KISS method you don't get to show off the skills you learned at knot tying school.

Or we could rig anther 100 ways that are just as simple. I picked this method to demo because I had a picture of a clove hitch on my computer.

[hike2kolob]

If you look at it, it is merely a biner block (to rappel) backed up and clipped into the anchor, and a munter (to tighten a guided rappel) locked off and clipped into the anchor. The extra biners were just to separate the rigging and keep it clean. If we had a canyon quickdraw handy we would have used that.

This was just for the first guy and after that we quickly cleaned it and reversed it so that it was just one biner for the pull. It was surprisingly quick and easy.

[Mtnbiker]

yeah blah blah blah...

no bikinis! what's up with that?

j/k, looks awesome J, keep 'em coming!

[bruce from bryce]

Another great canyon and TR Jason. You are obviously the star of our class. The skills you are learning are great. Super photos.

[hike2kolob]

yeah blah blah blah...

no bikinis! what's up with that?

j/k, looks awesome J, keep 'em coming!

Hey Ian, I would have posted all the pics I had of me in my bikini, but they came out blurry.

[hike2kolob]

Another great canyon and TR Jason. You are obviously the star of our class. The skills you are learning are great. Super photos.

Thanks Bruce. Uh.. if star means, schedule a week off, attend a Toms fest, have some experienced folk drag your butt through some cool canyons and shamelessly post pics...yea, I'm a star alright!

Good to see you in Zion. Looked like you had your own fest going.

[Iceaxe]

if star means, schedule a week off, attend a Toms fest, have some experienced folk drag your butt through some cool canyons and shamelessly post pics...yea, I'm a star alright!

Tom makes stars of us all

[ratagonia]

KISS = How about a clove hitch on a biner. You rig one line for the guide and one line to rappel on.

Of course using the KISS method you don't get to show off the skills you learned at knot tying school.

Or we could rig anther 100 ways that are just as simple. I picked this method to demo because I had a picture of a clove hitch on my computer.

I thought I'd get it tighter with a Munter-Mule, but I didn't. Three days later, did the same rig with a Clove hitch. The second biner helps hold the knot off the rock. The clipped-in fig 8 secures the rope for the ropebag-toss, and could be cleaned before rapping, should one want to.

The important rigging point, Scott, is to reverse the roles of the lines after the first person goes. The END of the rope is tied off securely and becomes the guideline. That goes back through the ring, and then BLOCKED, so that the guideline is blocked. The "wrong" side of the block then becomes the rappel line. (For all but the last person, it is probably better to tie this off to the anchor).

It is obviously important that the bottom anchor be absolutely 100%. By reversing the roles, the rig can be cleaned by pulling through the short end of the rope, after untying the anchored end of the guideline.

Clear?

Tom

[Scott Card]

Clearer than the sky you had at the last rap Surprisingly to those that know me, it is clear and sounds quick and efficient. Seems like the trick is to get a good throw of the pot shot and a good placement for the first guy or else he/she goes in the drink or in deep. Then out come the bat hooks or happy hooker. Thanks for the explanation.