Better late than never: Sept Escalante/Zion Trip

[Erik B]

Kind of a late post but here goes...

youtube.com/watch?v=bLZ16WTPv-4

(apparently I cant post a link until I've posted several times....hence you'll have to add the http buisness yourself.)

See link below that trackrunner graciously posted on my behalf.


Flew into Vegas late September

Day
1: Driving and Keyhole Cyn...X 2 We ended up lapping a group on the
second try through. Drove to Egypt TH out in Escalante
afterwards.

Day 2: Backpacked down to the confluence of Fence
+ the Escalante R. Pounded out Neon in a couple hours. Passed a ZAC
guided group. Potholes COMPLETELY full. We finished up pretty early
and decided to go for Ringtail too! 2 keepers in keeper mode were
easily overcome. We emerged from Ringtail RIGHT before dark which is
pretty crappy given the deep/dark/tight/slotty conclusion to that
canyon. Back at camp FAR after dark following a long slog up
river.

D3: Awoke at 5AM with the intent of nailing choprock.
Concerns about the high water levels causing us issues. Departed in
the dark upriver....again. when day broke it was clear that the
weather wasnt going to permit a day in choprock...threatening
thunderstorms. It seems that choprock is not one to play around with.
We packed out and pounded out Egypt 2 then trucked back to Zion due
to HORRIBLE weather forecasts in Escalante. Strangely we actually got
some 3G coverage half way down the Egypt Rd.

D4: Spry Cyn +
Keyhole at night. (i'm keyholed out....)

D5: Das Boot/Subway:
6.5 hrs total car to car. We smoked it!

D6: Heard water
conditions in Imlay were high, making the potholes quite easy to
overcome. We had never hit a Class 4 canyon but decided to try the
sneak route. With all of our potty escape tools we slogged through
the slickrock forest. Imlay was a breeze. 10hrs for the sneak. (bus
to bus). We had to hook out of the last pothole before the drop into
the narrows. Should have done the full meal deal. It probably wouldnt
have been much longer given the tedious approach for the sneak. I
cant wait to try it in low water conditions.

D7: Echo
Cyn.....Back to Vegas. :(

I'm DYING to come back....sadly
probably not until May. SRS? Roost? I totally need to hook up with
some folks to adventure with! Right now I've been canyoneering with a
select few groupe of folks from washington. It is a miracle when our
schedules align.

[trackrunner]

(apparently I cant post a link until I've posted several times....hence you'll have to add the http buisness yourself.

attached it for you

[Sandstone Addiction]

Video is awesome. Looks like y'all had a great time. Thanks for sharing.

[Eric Holden]

Great trip report boys! Great video as well, that was definitely quite the adventure. You came and went hard for a week! Also 6.5 hours car to car on Das Boot/Subway... wow.

[Mountaineer]

Looked like a great time. Great video & nice job!

[Slot Machine]

Nice TR! Sounds like a great trip!

Holy crap you guys are fast (on ALL of your times)! 6.5hrs for the Boot/Subway?? I spent that much time wrestling my wetsuit on/off when we went through last summer. Nice job!

Bob

[Erik B]

Once the suit went on...it stayed on until the end. That's the beauty of fall. Another good one was our night run in Keyhole: 30 minutes car to car. Though, it was borderline raining when we entered and lightning started literally seconds after we took our victory picture so we were VERY motivated to get in and out.

Spry: 4.5 hrs car to car
Echo 3.25 hrs bus to bus.

We completed the classic subway approach this last May with the ladies and some newbies (total party = #5) and it took us over 10.5 grueling hours.