Zion Canyoneering Rendezvous, Sept. 17-21

[Byron]

I'll be there on Wednesday evening. I haven't registered cuz I try to keep my CC # as exclusive as possible.

Just lettin' ya know so you bring enough food!

EDIT: After having now attended the event, food is the last thing I had to worry about.

[rick t]

check out the "Zion Weather" thread currently on bogley before heading down to the Rondy.more specifically-
[CENTER][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]WEDNESDAY



Chance
Thunderstorms

[COLOR=#EF3725][B]High: 82

[rick t]

Bringing a book, or two, some Mexican Dominoes, and planning for some practice on a rope inside the barn, ascending, passing a knot etc. And maybe some ping pong and pool. Doesn't look like a whole lot of canyoneering going to go on through at least Friday, and even saturday is iffy. Wonder if the hot tub is even open in a thunderstorm? Ten years or so ago when we had a couple days solid of biblically epic rains, we amused ourselves wondering how many days the groups that were foolish enough to have dropped into canyons were going to be benighted, and hoping that they had found high ground and were safe. They all eventually made it out, but it was not a given. Come prepared.

rick

[Byron]

Yeah...last night I was all jacked up for fun. Then today they start talking about a friggin' hurricane.
Sucks, man. I wonder if they'll still have it goin' on?

You can't even mt. bike in that crap.

[Spidey]

Yeah...last night I was all jacked up for fun. Then today they start talking about a friggin' hurricane.
Sucks, man. I wonder if they'll still have it goin' on?

You can't even mt. bike in that crap.

Too Late to be undone now. I'm headed to the gulf of Mexico tomorrow to try to reason with him. I'll keep you posted on my progress. It has a name it must be sentient. Right? At least I hope.

[Spidey]

We're going to have a ton of fun anyway.

[Scott Card]

I'm really looking forward to it. As I said in Don's thread, I actually welcome some Biblical rains. It is a spectacular event in Zion when that happens. You will find me wandering aimlessly with my gortex rain gear on and a smile cemented on my face. No one is going to tell me I can't have fun in the rain. I may not be in a slot but I will be out and about. Any short window of opportunity could mean a small peak bag or even 9 holes of golf in Mt. Carmel. It will be a lot of fun. BRING ON THE RENDEZVOUS rain or no rain!

And Spidey is persuasive. He may just blow that hurricane over to New Mexico.

[BKNorby]

I don't get to go up to Zion due to a sick cat. I had permit reservations for every day. I've given them to my friend, Douglas. If you have ropes, you can find him and have some fun!

[rockgremlin]

I don't get to go up to Zion due to a sick cat.

[Scott Card]

A huge thank you to Spidey, Clark and all the crew for an absolutely awesome rendezvous. They put in a ton of thought, planning and work to give us a great time. I believe 70 to 80 people attended. I had a blast meeting so many new canyoneering friends, seeing and experiencing the excitement of a bunch of new canyoneers in their first canyon, and mingling with a bunch of good people. I had to leave before the final drawing/giveaway Saturday night but I understand that there was a ton of swag, much of it expensive gear, given to just about everyone. In addition to the great time meeting new friends, canyoneering with wonderful people I had never met, having some crazy experiences in some familiar canyons, I have to give a shout out about the food that was provided. Prime rib dinner on Saturday night -- for everyone? Are you kidding? The food was just terrific!

A couple of fun times, I was able to do Pine Creek on Thursday and again on Saturday. Mystery was sandwiched in on Friday. As for Pine Creek, it is tippy-top full. On Saturday, while waiting for some incredibly slow canyoneers at the top of the second to last rap, it started to rain and rain hard. Water falls were starting to form and come into the canyon. There was no risk where we were waiting as we had plenty of high ground options but wow, were they slow. Two groups of four took well over an hour to descend that last rap. When we finally got to the last rap, Spidey and Clark set up two rap lines at each station (4 independent lines) and we were down in less than 15 minutes from set up to rope pull.

Friday was Mystery Canyon. I have done Mystery a hand full of times but the group I was with was awesome and we had an absolute blast. We also had the unique pleasure of about a 100 foot full swimmer. A lake has formed at the rock fall from the rains of a week ago. Crazy experience. Until Friday, I had only heard of this vanishing lake. The high water line was 10 feet higher than what we swam (thankfully it had gone down) or our swim would have been double what we had. A shout out to Byron, a fellow Bogleyite who I met and with whom I went through Mystery. Great guy and a lot of fun. (I can't believe he called me a showoff on the final rap into the narrows! hahaha)

A shout out to all the sponsors and there were a bunch. I got to meet TJ Cottam of Adventure Plus from this site. He was great and had a great selection of canyoneering equipment/clothing for us to see and buy at the event. Adidas had a bunch of their shoes for us to demo - for free from Zion Outfitters (I believe). I loved the fit of those shoes. I will hopefully post my review of my three days in the Adidas Hydro pro soon. And ZAC (Zion Adventure Company) taught great classes for two days. I heard nothing but good reviews of those classes from everyone I was with in the canyons. There were a ton more sponsors that I should mention but I can't remember them all. I know Imlay donated a bunch of swag for the drawings (thanks Tom and thank surrogate Tom - Hank Moon - for delivering it - good to see you again).

I hope others will post about their experiences at the Rendezvous. I am curious what everyone thought. Best thing for me was getting to know some really great people.

[jman]

Thanks Scott for the update!

I'm sure a lot of us are anxious to hear how it went.

Darn, sounded like a really good time held by all. I think we all are looking forward to their stories too. Next year...I gotta do this.

Oh - Its great that you experienced Mystery lake. It makes for a different experience in that canyon.

[ScottM]

A huge thank you to Spidey, Clark and all the crew for an absolutely awesome rendezvous. They put in a ton of thought, planning and work to give us a great time. I believe 70 to 80 people attended. I had a blast meeting so many new canyoneering friends, seeing and experiencing the excitement of a bunch of new canyoneers in their first canyon, and mingling with a bunch of good people. I had to leave before the final drawing/giveaway Saturday night but I understand that there was a ton of swag, much of it expensive gear, given to just about everyone. In addition to the great time meeting new friends, canyoneering with wonderful people I had never met, having some crazy experiences in some familiar canyons, I have to give a shout out about the food that was provided. Prime rib dinner on Saturday night -- for everyone? Are you kidding? The food was just terrific!

A couple of fun times, I was able to do Pine Creek on Thursday and again on Saturday. Mystery was sandwiched in on Friday. As for Pine Creek, it is tippy-top full. On Saturday, while waiting for some incredibly slow canyoneers at the top of the second to last rap, it started to rain and rain hard. Water falls were starting to form and come into the canyon. There was no risk where we were waiting as we had plenty of high ground options but wow, were they slow. Two groups of four took well over an hour to descend that last rap. When we finally got to the last rap, Spidey and Clark set up two rap lines at each station (4 independent lines) and we were down in less than 15 minutes from set up to rope pull.

Friday was Mystery Canyon. I have done Mystery a hand full of times but the group I was with was awesome and we had an absolute blast. We also had the unique pleasure of about a 100 foot full swimmer. A lake has formed at the rock fall from the rains of a week ago. Crazy experience. Until Friday, I had only heard of this vanishing lake. The high water line was 10 feet higher than what we swam (thankfully it had gone down) or our swim would have been double what we had. A shout out to Byron, a fellow Bogleyite who I met and with whom I went through Mystery. Great guy and a lot of fun. (I can't believe he called me a showoff on the final rap into the narrows! hahaha)

A shout out to all the sponsors and there were a bunch. I got to meet TJ Cottam of Adventure Plus from this site. He was great and had a great selection of canyoneering equipment/clothing for us to see and buy at the event. Adidas had a bunch of their shoes for us to demo - for free from Zion Outfitters (I believe). I loved the fit of those shoes. I will hopefully post my review of my three days in the Adidas Hydro pro soon. And ZAC (Zion Adventure Company) taught great classes for two days. I heard nothing but good reviews of those classes from everyone I was with in the canyons. There were a ton more sponsors that I should mention but I can't remember them all. I know Imlay donated a bunch of swag for the drawings (thanks Tom and thank surrogate Tom - Hank Moon - for delivering it - good to see you again).

I hope others will post about their experiences at the Rendezvous. I am curious what everyone thought. Best thing for me was getting to know some really great people.

The ZCR exceeded my expectations! The fellas at Dark Horse went out of their way to ensure everyone was taken care of. We also need to recognize Katie and the rest of the crew for all their hard work to prepare the meals.

The workshops were exactly what Elisha and I were looking for. Big thank you to BJ and Dave from ZAC, as well as Steve and Clark for hosting the workshops. The time spent in the workshops on Thursday provided enough training (combined with the expert leadership with folks like Scott Card) to feel confident enough to join a group on Friday and Saturday.

The trip down Mystery (Fri.) was awesome!!! I was initially reticent to apply for that last minute permit, but so glad we did and more so that we pulled the group together that we did. Big thanks to Scott Card, Ken, Byron and Greg for coming along on our first technical canyon experience - what an amazing canyon to start on!

Also, for the Friday Mystery group, let's all be glad that Byron didn't decide to go "in the "buff" on Friday like he purportedly did on Saturday. Now that really would have been a Mystery, at least to me anyway. Byron, your energy is great, I wish I could bottle it!

Thanks again to everyone for an epic weekend, it was so nice to meet so many great people who share a passion for exploring what is a stunning National Park!

We will definitely be back next year!!!

[Scott Card]

The workshops were exactly what Elisha and I were looking for. Big thank you to BJ and Dave from ZAC, as well as Steve and Clark for hosting the workshops. The time spent in the workshops on Thursday provided enough training (combined with the expert leadership with folks like Scott Card) to feel confident enough to join a group on Friday and Saturday.

The trip down Mystery (Fri.) was awesome!!! I was initially reticent to apply for that last minute permit, but so glad we did and more so that we pulled the group together that we did. Big thanks to Scott Card, Ken, Byron and Greg for coming along on our first technical canyon experience - what an amazing canyon to start on!

Also, for the Friday Mystery group, let's all be glad that Byron didn't decide to go "in the "buff" on Friday like he purportedly did on Saturday. Now that really would have been a Mystery, at least to me anyway. Byron, your energy is great, I wish I could bottle it!

Scott, you and Elisha were awesome and great canyoneering partners. One of my favorite moments was while we were getting rained on in Pine Creek waiting for the very slow group below us at the final rappel. Everyone is muttering and getting a bit nervous as the rain intensified and then your beautiful and sweet wife, Elisha, yells out to those below, "WHY ARE YOU SO SLOW!" That made my day. She said what we were all thinking. My second favorite memory was when we were walking in the lake and it was getting deeper and deeper and you and Ken started talking about worms that hibernate in dry times and then come alive in the water. All of a sudden Elisha turns into an Olympic swimmer and powers past everyone to dry ground. That was awesome. So many other wonderful memories.

As for Byron, thank the heavens above that he did not go in the buff in Mystery. That would have been a sight from below for the tourists to watch on the last rappel. If you remember, send me the link to the photos. scard at fslaw.com or contact me here.

[Scott Card]

And Spidey is persuasive. He may just blow that hurricane over to New Mexico.

Did any one notice that we had great weather every day until Saturday afternoon. It worked out perfectly!

[Byron]

Here ya go, Scott...the lake in Mystery. I'll post a few more pics with a trip report in a day or two.

[Scott Card]

Here ya go, Scott...the lake in Mystery. I'll post a few more pics with a trip report in a day or two.

Haha, nice. I look forward to it.