Who named each canyon and why?

[trackrunner]

This is great stuff.

I still think that the gunsight entrance to Heaps needs to be renamed "Not Behunin" in memory of the fellers that mistook it for Behunin and had to get rescued.

Didn't two of the guys complete it when more rope was lowered to them, and without wetsuits.

http://www.bogley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2650

Even a dog has made it through Heaps, what an easy canyon. Now I wonder why I haven't gone yet.

http://www.bogley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4446

[accadacca]

Awesome reading. . .I just spent 30 minutes. Keep em coming. I know stefan is outta town, but he'll prolly join in and others too.

[Scott Card]

This is great stuff.

I still think that the gunsight entrance to Heaps needs to be renamed "Not Behunin" in memory of the fellers that mistook it for Behunin and had to get rescued.

Didn't two of the guys complete it when more rope was lowered to them, and without wetsuits.

http://www.bogley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2650

Even a dog has made it through Heaps, what an easy canyon. Now I wonder why I haven't gone yet.

http://www.bogley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4446

One would be Behunin hiker was flown out and the other two would have died but for the extra equipment, clothes, food, etc. Sounds to me the two that were not flown out were merely saved but not rescued.

[Iceaxe]

Awesome reading. . .I just spent 30 minutes. Keep em coming. I know stefan is outta town, but he'll prolly join in and others too.

Actually I'm really happy to see this thread.... this is stuff that should be recorded for historical reason. I'm sure others have a lot more to add.

And I'm guessing others might have a different thought of where some names came from.

[Iceaxe]

Arscenic and Slideanide

Arscenic and Slideanide were named by Alicia Scotter, Sharon Talboys and Barb Meierhofer.

I stumbled onto these canyons by looking at satellite photo's of the area. Once I knew the canyons existed I started asking around among canyoneers who I knew frequented the area in the past and was given some rough beta to several Poison Springs area canyons. I asked what names they had used in the past for the canyons and was told #1 (Arscenic), #2 (Slideanide) and #3 (Constrychnine). The original guys had never bothered to name the canyons, which was often their practice.... remember, these canyons were first done by these guys before the term "canyoneering" even existed and only a handful of people were even doing technical slot canyons.

Anyhoo.... while hiking out after doing the routes I asked for name suggestions, which is my usual practice when I don't have a known name for a route. I suggested we name the routes after songs by the 80's metal band `Poison'... we kicked that around for a while and finally the girls started coming up with what I though twere awesome names for the routes that tied in nicely with a Poison theme. Constrychnine was named later by stefan and mentioned in one of the posts above.

.

[Iceaxe]

Black Hole

The Black Hole was named by Kelsey when it first appeared in his "Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau". That MK actually named it the Black Hole is really kind of amazing because he seldom/never names routes with his own colorful names. I do believe that MK was the first to use this name because he has told me since it was a mistake and he wished he had not given the route a "silly" name.

.

[Iceaxe]

I would think you were actually flirting with the cashier, who happened to be 17.

[Iceaxe]

Boss Hogg

This canyon was named by Dave Black, Charley ?? and Jim ??

This canyon also taught me an interesting personal lesson.....

I stumbled onto the Hog canyon system by looking at satellite photo's of the area. I mentioned this great canyon system I had found to Dave Black and said I'd be coming down to North Wash in two weeks to do the route if he was interested in joining in on the fun

[Iceaxe]

Moonshine Wash - Robbers Roost

The canyon was named after the illegal whiskey still that was located in the canyon during prohibition. The cement vats that the whiskey was brewed in are still in the canyon.

[ratagonia]

Arscenic and Slideanide

Arscenic and Slideanide were named by Alicia Scotter, Sharon Talboys and Barb Meierhofer.

I stumbled onto these canyons by looking at satellite photo's of the area. Once I knew the canyons existed I started asking around among canyoneers who I knew frequented the area in the past and was given some rough beta to several Poison Springs area canyons. I asked what names they had used in the past for the canyons and was told #1 (Arscenic), #2 (Slideanide) and #3 (Constrychnine). The original guys had never bothered to name the canyons, which was often their practice.... remember, these canyons were first done by these guys before the term "canyoneering" even existed and only a handful of people were even doing technical slot canyons.

Anyhoo.... while hiking out after doing the routes I asked for name suggestions, which is my usual practice when I don't have a known name for a route. I suggested we name the routes after songs by the 80's metal band `Poison'... we kicked that around for a while and finally the girls started coming up with what I though twere awesome names for the routes that tied in nicely with a Poison theme. Constrychnine was named later by stefan and mentioned in one of the posts above.

.

How quickly he forgets (the men, of course).

It even made The Rave:

http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/rave/0403roost/index.htm

Of course, no one but Shane had an intimate knowledge of Poison's repertoire, so we had to resort to various poisons. I believe I came up with Ar-Scenic, due to the scenic little arch on it's rim.

Tom

[Iceaxe]

How quickly he forgets (the men, of course).

I'm sorry Tom.... I certainly didn't mean to slight anyone.

Tom Talboys, Tom Jones and Jeff Meierhofer were all on the Posion Springs trip.


And Please feel free to correct any other errors.... I'm sure there are many errors in the info I've posted above. This is all from memory of things that happened over the past 10 years.

I was hoping Mr. Jones would add his knowledge of names to the thread. Tom or his group were responsible for naming Blarney, Shenanigan's, Not Mind Bender... and a bunch of other routes.



A lot of times I know which group named the route... but not who or why.

I'd like to also hear from Deserthiker... particularly in regards to Pandora's Box, which is a fantastic name for the route that wears it.

Edit: also need to add Gilles and Julie Wallace's names to this list.

[Iceaxe]

Swaseys Leap - Lower Black Box - San Rafael Swell

Local Legend: Swaseys Leap, shown on USGS maps as Swazys Leap, is named after Sid Swasey. Local legend has it that Sid bet his brother Joe that he could jump the gap on his saddle horse. According to the legend, Sid made the jump and won a herd of sheep from his brother. Several years later, Sheepherder Paul Hanson built a log bridge across Swaseys Leap for the purpose of getting his sheep across the flooded river. The log bridge fell into the river in 1997.

[Iceaxe]

Zero-G

One other slight I noticed after reading back over the thread...

Sam and Devon Gregory were part of the trip that named Zero-G. The naming was a group thing.

[accadacca]

Fantastic read here. I hope we can get more parties going.

[ratagonia]

I was hoping Mr. Jones would add his knowledge of names to the thread. Tom or his group were responsible for naming Blarney, Shenanigan's, Not Mind Bender... and a bunch of other routes.

Not Mindbender = I thought we had found Mind Bender, and held that belief for six months. But then I read the description (and maybe Kelsey's book came out) and realized - NOT!

Blarney - Shane and Hank had discovered and explored Leprechaun and (most of) Sandthrax, and Shane had spun me some yarns about fantastic canyons in the area with ruins and waterfalls and beautiful pools - which I bought hook line and sinker. So Alicia and I named Blarney in appreciation of Shane's gifts of the tongue, and to keep with the Leprechaun Irish theme.

Shenanigans - I don't remember the moment when the name came about, but it is one of my favorite names. To honor the Shenanigans involved in the first (of ours) descent. And keeping with the Irish theme.

Tom

[Iceaxe]

Eye of the Needle

This is my biggest regret in canyon names. I wish I had of just called the slot "South Fork of Oak Creek". Lots of reasons for the stupid name, and I do think it's a stupid name. This was named back in the days when I was still trying to make everyone happy about what was getting betaed. At the time the canyon had about half a dozen silly names among different groups who were all trying to hide the canyon from each other.... so what did I do? I gave it anther silly name.

Anyhoo... since the naming of this canyon I've learned a few important things....

1. With the internet, the life of a secret canyon is measured in dog years....

2. The only way three people can keep a secret is if two of them are dead...

And probably the most important item....

3. The first person to publicly beta the canyon get's to set the ethics, style and name for the route. Now I don't exactly agree with this last item, but it is a fact. The first time a route shows up in a guidebook or reliable website is like carving the ethics, style and name into stone.

[ratagonia]

A lot of times I know which group named the route... but not who or why.

I'd like to also hear from Deserthiker... particularly in regards to Pandora's Box, which is a fantastic name for the route that wears it.

And there's no reason to think there is only one version of each story...

Tom

[stefan]

... this is stuff that should be recorded for historical reason.

yes it should. i have been working on a database of this stuff and will be sharing it down the road
when it's a little more complete.

Boss Hogg

This canyon was named by Dave Black, Charley ?? and Jim ??

Dave Black and Jim Wright named the canyon and, i believe, the original spelling was Boss Hawg
as you can see from the original post (feb 03) on the Canyons Yahoo Group (LINK)


Music Canyon was named by Lloyd Bush, Henry Haurand, Kent Johnson, and Laurie Ness.
here's Lloyd Bush's original post (nov 02) on the Canyons Yahoo Group (LINK)

Two weeks later we came back with two other friends (Kent Johnson and Laurie Ness) to do the whole canyon. I had located what I thought was the canyon on the topo and we started from the top. It turned out to be every bit as good as we had hoped. When we got to the bottom, we turned around and went back up. At one point, there is a dark cavern with remarkable acoustics, and Laurie, who has a beautiful voice began to sing. This led to a discussion as to what to name the canyon. We narrowed it down to "Music" or "Melody", and Music finally won out.

[stefan]

as Tom Jones mentioned, he named Shenanigans, but he also named the other forks of west butler Foolin' Around and Monkey Business.


Reports of these trips:

Shenanigans (Link to Tom's Original story) which has been reprinted together with a follow up TR of the return to the canyon (originally posted on the Canyons Yahoo Group) on the following LINK to Canyon Tales. And of course there is Ram's report of the events which was originally posted on the Canyons Yahoo Group (LINK) and has been reprinted at the following LINK to Canyon Tales

Foolin' Around first posted in a TR by Tom Jones on the Canyons Yahoo Group (LINK) and has been reprinted at the following LINK to Canyon Tales

Monkey Business first posted in a TR by Ram on the Canyons Yahoo Group (LINK) and has been reprinted at the following LINK to Canyon Tales


Shillelagh was named by Barb Pollyea and Shane Burrows.


Icebox Canyon -- here is an old post of Scott Patterson's from the (now defunct) Canyoneer Yahoo Group regarding this canyon. (LINK)

Icebox was known as Waterfalls, and I don't know which name came first. Here's the story: I led the WMC trip through the canyon several years ago. In researching the area, we had the NPS search by phone all the previous "Black Book" entries. One very old one, said that there was a route to the rim from Lee Pass and it said you could look down into the "Eye Slots", or at least that's what I heard. When we did the canyon, it was partially filled with snow and the water was very cold (41 degrees to be exact). After the swim, Janet Curry asked "Scott are you sure that the ranger said Eye Slots; it should be Icebox", or something to that effect. Later, Stu Addler wrote or trip up in the Black Book as Icebox Canyon. Still later, we learned that the name Waterfalls Canyon has already been tagged to the canyon. We tried to find the old enrty that was read over the phone to find out if it was Icebox or Eye Slots, but after that it was lost. None of the rangers could find it after that. Strange, I know. So, the question still remains, is the canyon Eye Slots, Icebox, or waterfalls Canyon?

others to follow

[Iceaxe]

Dave Black and Jim Wright named the canyon and, i believe, the original spelling was Boss Hawg
as you can see from the original post (feb 03) on the Canyons Yahoo Group (LINK)

FWIW: The orginal TR's from both Jim Wright and Charlie listed the name and spelling as "Boss Hog" Dave Black apparently spelled it Boss Hawg?

I've seen the canyons listed as:

Boss Hog
Boss Hogg
Boss Hawg

The canyon was first publicly betaed under the name and spelling Boss Hog
http://climb-utah.com/Powell/bosshog.htm

No skin of my nose either way.... just though you would be interested. Now might be a good time for everyone to agree on a spelling.... or not....