Upper Imlay with a Emergency Escape out of the Sneak Route.

[Kuya]

Upper Imlay Canyon

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A little over a month ago I received a message from a fellow canyoneer from Alabama. I was thrilled when I read that he was inviting me to come canyoneering with him during his vacation to Utah. One of the best things about being an active member of the online canyoneering community is that you get to meet amazing people in some of the earths most beautiful places. I was excited to meet up with my new friend Kuenn. I was also very happy to run a canyon with Mark and Tyler. They are a rockstar, Father-son canyoneering team. I hope to be like them when I grow up and get big ;) really though.


This trip started off awesome! We were dropped off at the Lava Point trail so we could do the trip without coming back later! It was so nice to not have to worry about a shuttle vehicle! Thanks Kuenn! It wasn't long after we arrived at the TH till we were on the West Rim Trail heading to the Head of Imlay canyon. The approach is about 5 miles, but it goes by fast. The trail is easy and downhill.





Once we arrived at the Head of Imlay, I had one of the best bivvy experiences ever. For this overnighter I actually had a sleeping bag, hammock, pad, and warm clothes. For the first time, my bivy experience was actually pleasant!


Morning came quickly. We left at first light hoping to get through the canyon before the afternoon rains came. The morning was perfect and Upper Imlay proved to be a great canyon, again.


Unfortunately once we got to the crossroads, we were scared by the looming clouds and the thunder they created. Instead of risking our lives to chance in the extreme narrows of Imlay, we decided to bail. None of us had ever hiked out of the Sneak route (an alternate route to get into Imlay canyon), but we kinda knew where it was and decided to hike up and out of it.


The exit proved to be a very worthy, but very difficult venture. Fortunately Mark and Tyler brought a map with them that helped us navigate a bit easier. If it wasn't for them, we might have had a much more difficult time getting out of that place. The trail up the Sneak Route was pretty steep at times. It was pretty slow going. However, I was happy to see some different places in the park. One of the highlights was when I came down upon Scout Lookout and was able to see Zion Canyon and Angles Landing from the top again. I hadn't seen that view in the daylight for 6 years! What a view! I also enjoyed seeing Telephone canyon and the its surrounding area. So Pretty!


To complete my experience, I was able to see a Tarantula spider on my hike down from Angels Landing. I had heard and read that they existed in the park, and had always wanted to see one for myself. I was so happy when I did!


All in all, even though we didn't get to see the better parts of Imlay, the trip was a good one. It was great to be out with friends and it was wonderful to see new parts of Zion!

[spinesnaper]

Fun pictures. Any self-rescue is still a good trip! Good job!

Ken

[Kuya]

It was a great trip. It was nice to see some other scenic sections of Zion. It had been a while since I had seen the Zion Canyon from above Scouts Lookout. Very nice!

[accadacca]

Awesome.

[french_de]

Awesome! Your pictures are amazing, keeps me motivated. Everyone one of them would make a great desktop wallpaper by the way!

[Kuya]

Thanks @french_de ! Your comments are very kind. I personally think some are a bit over-the-top HDR (looks different on my phone when I edit them) but still, I think the effects are kinda cool.

[nelsonccc]

We had the same thing happen to us quite a few years ago. Very scary. We actually arrived at the crossroads in some pretty heavy rain and thunder. We initially tried to wait it out but after watching the water rise in the canyon with a good 8-12" of flowing water we decided to just hike out the sneak route. It turned out to be a major pain and took forever. We'd been in through the sneak route before it was no fun hiking back out.

[Kuya]

We had the same thing happen to us quite a few years ago. Very scary. We actually arrived at the crossroads in some pretty heavy rain and thunder. We initially tried to wait it out but after watching the water rise in the canyon with a good 8-12" of flowing water we decided to just hike out the sneak route. It turned out to be a major pain and took forever. We'd been in through the sneak route before it was no fun hiking back out.

Dang! we had it easy compared to that. It was sunny and beautiful for the first 1/2 of the day for us. It didn't start raining until we were about an hour into the Sneak Route. Either way, It was a brutal hike up and out.

[iflycr500]

Very nice pictures.

[Kuya]

Finally! The MUCH ANTICIPATED video! haha

Enjoy.

[jman]

Nice Blake! The video edit was nice, although the last 40seconds was a trip!!

It's nice to see some video of upper Imlay. It's scarce.

Thanks for sharing!

[Kuya]

Haha :) thanks!

....yeah, gopro cineform studio takes all the photos and smashes them into a very fast video file. I kind of liked the fast overview it provided at the end.

[dsw2925]

To each their own but that HDR is a way over the top.

[Kuya]

To each their own but that HDR is a way over the top.

I actually agree with you! haha... its what I get for editing things on my phone.....

ah well.... if I wasn't so lazy I would go back and fix em