Family Fest Tertiary Canyon

[mmac]

I had planned to go to the Bogley Family Fest with my Mom, but due to her injuries, she wasn't able to go :(
She still had a campsite though, so I invited my girlfriend Lydia and offered to share the site with whoever wanted to drop by.

Lydia and I drove out separately on Wednesday because she needed to be back home earlier to attend a writers workshop. I'm an early riser, so I set off for Utah at around 5AM and decided to swing by St. George to visit Bo's shop The Desert Rat and possibly meet up with Mike Schasch. I met Mike at The Desert Rat and browsed for a bit while discussing plans. We gathered up some gear and drove out to Zion to do a later afternoon Pine Creek. After the canyon, I found Lydia at camp. She had checked into the campsite a few hours ago and went for a walk along the Pa'rus trail, arriving back at camp at about the same time we did.

The next morning we got up early, packed our packs and drove out toward the East entrance to do Fat Man's Misery. It was a really great hike. The early start meant a mild walk into the canyon, and a very warm day. Mike and Lydia wore wetsuits, while I chose to leave mine in the pack. I think the thing I liked best about Fat Man's was that the canyon is like a sampler of all the stuff near by. It's got a great section of narrows, a few decent rappels, fun skinny down-climbing, and the East Fork is like a mini version of the Virgin Narrows (which has been closed for some time). The one miscalculation we made was water-related. At the top of the up-climb out of the canyon, Lydia ran out of water. Trying to be the charitable bf, I pulled out a gatorade bottle I had unopened in my pack and told her to drink half of it. My plan was to refill the other half and return it to her, however in my clumsiness, I ended up spilling the bottle not once but twice in an attempt to elevate my pack enough to let gravity feed from my camel-back hose to refill the bottle. With lowered spirits and a sticky leg, we continued on our way. I ended up running out of water as well about half way through the exit hike. I had been sharing with Lydia and it was hot! We eventually made it back to the car and enjoyed some cold beverages from the cooler. Lesson learned: carry the pump

[Sombeech]

Wow, awesome report.

[Jaxx]

Sweet! I knew that I knew you. We saw you guys in line in front of us on Saturday morning. We did Spry on Sunday without wetsuits and I am pretty sure we were in the first stages of hypothermia. Our new rule is don't trust conditions of a canyon if you don't know the person! Looks like you guys had a full weekend, SWEET!

[Felicia]

Wow - nice trip report!!!!

I sure missed a great trip.

You guys made the best out of your time and I have enjoyed all the pictures, videos and well wishes. Thanks!!!