Bogleyfest Saturday - Englestead Canyon

[Deathcricket]

What a day, what a day! So I had the privilege of getting to tag along with the englestead crew. It was Tom Jones, Jaxx, Desert Nomad, Chabidiah, Jaxx's BIL, and myself. I was definitely the most inexperienced guy there, but I made up for it slightly by taking lots of pictures to share, hehe.

We started at the Mean Bean then carpooled up to the trailhead. Once at the trail we divvied up ropes and took off. Jaxx ended up getting the heaviest pack. By my estimation it weighed 60-80 pounds! I can't believe he carried that thing all day. I woulda died I think. We hiked down what I suspect was an old logging trail but it was so overgrown at this point I doubt you could get anything but a quad down it. Saw some really pretty red flowers and yellow butterflies, and even some ancient logging equipment. I think Tom said it might have been there since the 1920's.

We get the first big drop. Wow it's a doosie! There was another group there so we set up on the other side. I then found out they were rappelling off the same side we were, but the guy was just strapped in so he could hang off the end and get some good video footage of his group. So we get everything setup and guess who gets to go first? That's right the Cricket of Death :P I had this cool little toy a wanted to test out (Petzl STOP http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/descenders/stop ) but it has an auto brake built in, so technically I should be able to let completely go of the descender and rope and stop immediately. So I lock in and off I go. Now technically I was expecting this to be the scariest rappel of my life. So mentally I was prepared for the worst. But to be honest it wasn't that scary at all. And I think the main contributing factors are the slope is not so bad, the approach is a simple graduated rock face, and there is no free hanging aspects. For me the hardest rappels are the ones with hard starts, once I get fully weighted on the rope and committed, I'm pretty comfortable, but your mileage may vary. I believe if I recall Tom correctly, he said it was 85% most of the way down. So I get half way down and I figure I will let go of the device and see if it brakes properly and take a couple pictures from the view. Well due to the thickness of the rope (8.5 I think) it doesn't stop but slows to a slow walk down the rock face. Oh well, no half way down pictures, haha. Then I get about 70% down and my fear kicks in hardcore. I detect a burning smell coming from the descender (no smoke though). Holy $#!+ I'm gonne melt through my rope and fall to my death AHHHH!! So I decided to speed up my descent and calculated that the less time the hot metal spends in contact with the rope, the better off I'll be ( I later discovered a burning smell was no biggie, but I admit the smell did send me into a small state of shock, hehe). I reach the bottom without incident and help belay the other guys down. One of our group did get a little fatigued coming down, and another time I was belaying the rope I came down on and someone was coming down the other one, but nothing significant happened on what was the hardest drop of the trip.

So then Englestead turns into drop after drop after drop. It was definitely the hardest canyon I've done to date. Tom turned the group into a discussion on almost every rappel, which I really really really enjoyed. And gave me so much information I'll be lucky to retain 15% of it. I couldn't believe the amount of tricks this guy has, truly an expert in his field. He's a tough critic but that was also appreciated since a person can die making a single mistake and that just shows he cares. For instance I was using a quick draw with 4 feet of webbing to hang my pack off when needed, which I guess is a big "no-no", lesson learned. We inspected each rappel and the webbing. We re-tied anything that looked "fishy" and removed loads of webbing from the canyon and left it better or improved in some way. We learned to use a body anchor or a "meat anchor" and tie "stone knots". At pretty much every rappel he would encourage us to examine the situation and make assessments, not just jump on the rope and go. Then after a bit he would just sit at the back of the group and let us figure the entire thing out ourselves and give pointers if needed.

Eventually we dropped into Ordeville and starting walking the dry rock bed, after about a mile it started flowing. First a trickle then enough to actually make some pools to splash in. The water was actually very nice! Chilly but no wetsuit needed. The 4 of us made a game of jumping every pool deep enough calling it the "full meal deal" and trying to navigate staying ONLY in the waterways. Tom and Bill made a game of navigating only on dry land and avoiding the chilly water unless absolutely required. It was a blast.

Then we came to a little cliff towards the end or Orderville where everyone had to jump. Probably an 8-foot drop into 8 feet of water. There was a group in front of us who could use a rope and verified there were no rocks or roots hidden in the pool to jack us up. I actually have a cool video I took while treading water I will try to add later. I made a critical error though and recorded it in 320x240! Ugh I should have checked my settings before and feel like a total retard now. Maybe with a little "manipulation" I can increase the size to decent youtube standards. We'll see. If anyone has any advice on that it would be truly appreciated.

At long last we reached the Narrows. The 4 of us floated for 30-200 foot intervals while Tom and Bill booked it to make the dinner gathering. My throat is still sore from yelling "wooohooo" so much as we jumped in rapids after rapids and let the current beat us to a living pulp. My pack got soaked and gained about 20 pounds. I think it was the rope probably. But I didn't care, feeling weightless for short intervals and having tourists stare at us was so worth it.

Got back to the cars, I went home since I've been in Vegas for 2 weeks and missed the family, rest of the crew went to the dinner and hopefully there was still some grub left when they got there. Jaxx deserves a 2nd or 3rd helping for carrying that huge ass pack!

Special thanks to Tom for being patient and teaching me so much. It was really appreciated. Rest of the crew, I also TOTALLY enjoyed meeting each and every one of you, and will go again with you ANYTIME. It was soooo much fun.

Lessons learned.
1. Gotta get a bigger pack. My camelpack just not cutting it. I might be able to get a separate rope bag and avoid this but we'll see. Tom lent me one of his Imlay packs and it was really great (except for no hidden zipper to keep my car keys safe safe safe :). Especially loved the quick drain holes built in the bottom and oversize shoulder straps with extra padding.
2. Learn to tie stone knots, and join webbing together. practice practice practice!

[Sombeech]

props on the first bogleyfest report.

[devo_stevo]

Alright, I am going to have to get down there for this thing next year. I've been threatening my wife that I was going to get into this whole climbing/rappeling/canyoneering thing. That looks like a great time.

[Cirrus2000]

Looks great! Wish I coulda been there! Nice, DC!

[moab mark]

Great T.R.

Looks like the snow is about gone.

[Boots]

Hey DeathCricket, thanks for all the sweet pics! (i'm jaxx's BIL) That was an awesome canyon! One of my favorites by far, just think how amazing it would have been if we had some blue and green tubes to race with through the narrows!! haha! How many pictures did you end up taking in that canyon?

[moab mark]

Hey DeathCricket, thanks for all the sweet pics! (i'm jaxx's BIL) That was an awesome canyon! One of my favorites by far, just think how amazing it would have been if we had some blue and green tubes to race with through the narrows!! haha! How many pictures did you end up taking in that canyon?

Let me tell you about tubes in the narrows, we brought blow up neon tubes with the scouts one time to float from orderville on down. Got to the sidewalk and a nice ranger was waiting for us. Politely explain to us tubing were not allowed in the narrows.

[Boots]

Let me tell you about tubes in the narrows, we brought blow up neon tubes with the scouts one time to float from orderville on down. Got to the sidewalk and a nice ranger was waiting for us. Politely explain to us tubing was not allowed in the narrows.

Ya, I know that it's frowned upon...We just gave deathcricket a hard time the whole trip because he was going to bring some blue and green ones but ended up forgetting them. Ha ha!

[Deathcricket]

Heyya Boots! Man that was a total blast, I ended up with over 100 pics. After I deleted the ones that were super blurry or didn't make sense. About 300M total including vids so not as large as I originally thought. I'll still send you guys a CD instead of DVD or maybe set up an FTP to get them to ya.


+++ Also just FYI everyone, I have edited the thread to now include youtube vids that weren't there before. They are kinda crappy quality but still fun. the one with the Emperor jumping while I tried to tread water and film is the best IMO. ++++

[Scott Card]

Nice Job! Thanks for the TR. I was going to meet up with ya'll but my Heaps plans got nixed by the permit system. Looks like everyone had a great time.

[Jaxx]

Thanks for posting the TR DC. I had a blast in that canyon! Super cool group to go through a canyon with. Tom is an awesome guide. I even got 2 "good jobs" from him
He did mention that we were one of the slowest groups he could remember though. I guess we need to work on that.

I will post my pictures up sometime this week.

[Ryebrye]

Tom is an awesome guide. I even got 2 "good jobs" from him

He may very well be an awesome guide - but careful how you throw that "g" word around when referring to going through a canyon with Tom in Zion.

He may have been leading your group, but he was not "guiding" it. Rangers hear the word "guide" and they freak out.

Sounds like a fun trip.

[Scott Card]

Just a couple of translations....

"You are one of the slowest groups" = "I am old and I can still blow you away in a canyon.... rookies "

"Good job" = "Thank the heavens above you didn't die"



As for Tom's gear. Best stuff out there for this sport. I know. I own plenty.

[Iceaxe]

"Good job" = "Thank the heavens above you didn't die"

[tanya]

Great trip report and pictures guys!

[Ryebrye]

Lessons learned.
1. Gotta get a bigger pack. My camelpack just not cutting it. I might be able to get a separate rope bag and avoid this but we'll see. Tom lent me one of his Imlay packs and it was really great (except for no hidden zipper to keep my car keys safe safe safe :). Especially loved the quick drain holes built in the bottom and oversize shoulder straps with extra padding.

I've never owned one of Tom's packs, but I can see how they are easily worth their money. Pay the price once and be happy with it for a long time versus paying the price over and over again on replacing packs that don't quite cut it. My next pack will probably be one of his.

If you can last the season with the pack you have now, a good place to look for packs is at the BD Gear Swap every spring and fall. (The current pack I use canyoneering is a Marmot pack I picked up for $5 and put grommets in the bottom of it to let water drain. The pack has been awesome for canyoneering and it will be a sad day when it dies)

I got that pack a few years ago, and have tried to go around snagging a similar deal a couple times since then and haven't been as lucky - but you can get a very nice pack for between $30 to $50 at the gear swap without much difficulty. The downside to this is you have to wait until October and there's no guarantees you will find anything.

[Felicia]

Great trip report!

The videos are fun - but I don't think you would have gotten me to jump. I do not like to jump.

I have not been disappointed by any purchase that I have made from Tom. Of all the packs I own for various activities, I like my ICG packs the best - it is the most comfortable.

Sorry I did not get to meet everyone in your group. Next year?

[Deathcricket]

I've never owned one of Tom's packs, but I can see how they are easily worth their money. Pay the price once and be happy with it for a long time versus paying the price over and over again on replacing packs that don't quite cut it. My next pack will probably be one of his.

If you can last the season with the pack you have now, a good place to look for packs is at the BD Gear Swap every spring and fall. (The current pack I use canyoneering is a Marmot pack I picked up for $5 and put grommets in the bottom of it to let water drain. The pack has been awesome for canyoneering and it will be a sad day when it dies)

I got that pack a few years ago, and have tried to go around snagging a similar deal a couple times since then and haven't been as lucky - but you can get a very nice pack for between $30 to $50 at the gear swap without much difficulty. The downside to this is you have to wait until October and there's no guarantees you will find anything.

Great tip, thank you.