From the Subway to Imlay: Trip Report and Reflections of a Fledgling Canyoneer.

[spinesnaper]

After many years of wondering when I would be ready to do Imlay, on May 25, my partner Jasper and I did the Imlay Sneak route in low conditions. We did it as a twosome. Neither of us had been down Imlay before. It was a perfect day. I am taking this opportunity to share some of the details of my trip and also reflect on the path we took to get to this point in our canyoneering.

Obviously we had access to vast amounts of beta, GPS waypoints into the Crossroads, and carried a GPS unit, topo maps, and written route description. I am under no delusions. Traveling this particular canyon conveys no special status other than it is a personal measure of progress and growth as a canyoneer, a member of a community of canyoneers. Without this community I would not have been able to make this journey. Help has come from a variety of sources including occasional emails from Ram and Tom, and private messages from a variety of canyoneers. I am making my comments because it seems to me that people entering the activity are understandably interested in progressing to more interesting canyons which are very often also more technically challenging. How is progress made and when am I ready are common questions. So I am sharing a bit of my story.

First and foremost I have the good fortune of having a very strong canyoneering partner, Jasper. I recognize that in this activity, you partner is very important and you get a bit of credit for the company you keep. We met perhaps 5 years ago at a dinner party. He was one of the caterers and I was a guest. We some how got on the topic of canyoneering. I had been down the Narrows as had he. I was interesting in seeing the subway and he had been down the subway. Unfortunately the hostess was not happy with our talking canyons and I suspect that I cost him this gig. I hope I have made up for that with the canyons we have done together.

In planning for Imlay I spoke with several potential partners some with vast experience and others with very little experience in the hope of having extra personnel to share the weight. In the end we went by ourselves comfortable that we were ready. What I can say is that over the past few years, doing almost all of the canyons on Tom Jones

[TommyBoy]

Awesome trip report, I'm about to do Imlay for the first time this Fri. and really looking forward to it. Its amazing how this canyon and Heaps can vary so much depending on the water levels. I did Heaps earlier this month on the 10th and because it was tip top full at the time I'd say that the rating would drop to a 3B under the conditions we had, maybe add an R as a warning for the exit. Not a single pothole escape in the whole canyon. It was a blast and so beautiful, I would like to go back though under more difficult conditions just once to get the full Heaps experience, but was glad to see it in such conditions for my first trip through.

[Iceaxe]

[ratagonia]

Awesome trip report, I'm about to do Imlay for the first time this Fri. and really looking forward to it. Its amazing how this canyon and Heaps can vary so much depending on the water levels. I did Heaps earlier this month on the 10th and because it was tip top full at the time I'd say that the rating would drop to a 3B under the conditions we had, maybe add an R as a warning for the exit. Not a single pothole escape in the whole canyon. It was a blast and so beautiful, I would like to go back though under more difficult conditions just once to get the full Heaps experience, but was glad to see it in such conditions for my first trip through.

Sweet! But just a few comments about how the rating system is used:

A rappel over 200 feet gets a "4" rating in any case.

There is nothing unusually risky about the exit, so it would not deserve an R for that. Any sequence of station to station raps, 60', 150', 290' requires focus and care; and involves considerable risk. Even if the last rap were only 200', it would perhaps get a "4" for this alone, being a station to station thing.

And in any case, the "rating" does not change with the condition of the canyon. The RATING is based on the "normal" conditions in the canyon, with some emphasis on the hardest conditions normally found. Heaps still is a 4B canyon, you just happened to find it in easy condition.


Yes, silly attention to nomenclature detail... I am a proud nomenclature nerd!

Tom

[Slot Machine]

Great report Ken! Nice telling of the tale. It gives me serious food for thought since we will attempt Imlay later this year.

*crossing my fingers, hoping it fills up with water*

[Byron]

Great report Ken! Nice telling of the tale. It gives me serious food for thought since we will attempt Imlay later this year.

*crossing my fingers, hoping it fills up with water*

Chicken Shit!

[Mountaineer]

Great report Ken! Nice telling of the tale. It gives me serious food for thought since we will attempt Imlay later this year.

*crossing my fingers, hoping it fills up with water*

Ha ha - let us know how it goes. Rolling the dice on wishing for full pots. We're gunning for a trip also this year.

[spinesnaper]

Great report Ken! Nice telling of the tale. It gives me serious food for thought since we will attempt Imlay later this year.

*crossing my fingers, hoping it fills up with water*

Bob

I suspect that many of those hook pothole would probably yield to potshots. Tom or someone would know for sure.

Ken

[Slot Machine]

Chicken Shit!

No, no... I'm simply hoping to get to Oscar's in 13 hours instead of 16.
'Lazy ass' would be much more correct name calling in this case.

Ha ha - let us know how it goes. Rolling the dice on wishing for full pots. We're gunning for a trip also this year.

Shoot... want to team up? We need more company to pray with us to the pothole Gods.

I suspect that many of those hook pothole would probably yield to potshots. Tom or someone would know for sure.

Good to know! We were planning on bringing 2 Potshots. Also, it appears that a couple of extra hooks would be handy. I have one Talon, and one G-hook.

Would you even suggest bringing the G-hook? Should I get a couple of extra Talons?

[Iceaxe]

FWIW- hooks are only part of the equation when hooking out of potholes. You need a hook hole, which means you need a method of drilling a hook hole.

One of the faults of Zion canyoneering is it teachs bad habits, like expecting the hook holes will always be there. I've been around long enough to remember when a lot of the Zion hook holes were drilled.

Anyhoo.... I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this other than there is more to real hooking then just carrying a couple Talons. Be prepared.

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[spinesnaper]

No, no... I'm simply hoping to get to Oscar's in 13 hours instead of 16.
'Lazy ass' would be much more correct name calling in this case.



Shoot... want to team up? We need more company to pray with us to the pothole Gods.



Good to know! We were planning on bringing 2 Potshots. Also, it appears that a couple of extra hooks would be handy. I have one Talon, and one G-hook.

Would you even suggest bringing the G-hook? Should I get a couple of extra Talons?

Bob

If you bring swim goggles with you, you could dive for the talon I dropped! We brought three pot shots but used one. I think Tom indicated somewhere that three potshots could defeat most any feature. But then I read that he needed 4 potshots to defeat one of the potholes in the squeeze! We also brought a BD rock hammer, a complete bolt kit just in case that was never used, and three different types of hooks including the talon. And yes, a bunch of those hook holes are blown out.

Ken

[ratagonia]

Bob

If you bring swim goggles with you, you could dive for the talon I dropped! We brought three pot shots but used one. I think Tom indicated somewhere that three potshots could defeat most any feature. But then I read that he needed 4 potshots to defeat one of the potholes in the squeeze! We also brought a BD rock hammer, a complete bolt kit just in case that was never used, and three different types of hooks including the talon. And yes, a bunch of those hook holes are blown out.

Ken

Imlay has a couple potholes that do not yield to potshots. Heaps has a LOT of potholes that do not yield to potshots, though it is rarely done when the water gets that low.

We used 3 Pot Shots in the Squeeze recently. Two is the usual set for Imlay or Heaps. If two don't work, three is unlikely to work, but...

Ice makes a good point. Those holes in Imlay are pretty durable, but they DO wear out, and are marginally usable now. I suggest carrying a sharpened drill bit and drill bit holder, but you can get by without a hammer. If swimming, will need a swimming assist to improve the hole.

Grappling hooks works great... for aid climbing on big walls I guess. I have never seen a place to use one in a canyon that my fingers did not work on... it is possible I suppose. Talons work on the drilled holes. Put floats on your hooks so if you drop them, you won't need to dive.

Less is more.

But, using hooks on drilled holes is a taint. Figure out some way to do it without applying steel to rock, then you can Ego-Blog it here on Bogley and the chicks will totally dig it! I think the new secret weapon will be the Supai micro-raft/pool toy. I'm using it on my next Imlay, then totally Ego-Blogging the sh** out of it!!!

[jman]

I think the new secret weapon will be the Supai micro-raft/pool toy. I'm using it on my next Imlay, then totally Ego-Blogging the sh** out of it!!!

Don't forget your redbull and gopro Tom.

[TommyBoy]

Sweet! But just a few comments about how the rating system is used:

A rappel over 200 feet gets a "4" rating in any case.

There is nothing unusually risky about the exit, so it would not deserve an R for that. Any sequence of station to station raps, 60', 150', 290' requires focus and care; and involves considerable risk. Even if the last rap were only 200', it would perhaps get a "4" for this alone, being a station to station thing.


Yes, silly attention to nomenclature detail... I am a proud nomenclature nerd!

Tom

Didn't know that about the rating system, thanks for the update. As for a canyon being rated by the hardest condition I did know that, I was just trying to convey how easy it was under those conditions, guess I should have found some other way of doing it.

[hank moon]

Ego-Blog it here on Bogley and the chicks will totally dig it!

quelles chiques?

[ratagonia]

Didn't know that about the rating system, thanks for the update. As for a canyon being rated by the hardest condition I did know that, I was just trying to convey how easy it was under those conditions, guess I should have found some other way of doing it.

Maybe I should have said "how the rating system is supposed to be used", because it is used in widely varying ways.

Tom