Heaps: October 1, 2015

[bhalvers2002]

This canyon has been in planning for many months and included a few wrinkles. First, the original plan was for mid-September, which included my canyoneering partner, Brett (brother in law), Gordon (25 year canyoneering veteran and chief medical officer for Zion National Park) and long time friend Jeff Logan. The remnants of the hurricane moved into the area and with such a forecast, I reluctantly cancelled the trip. A lot of time, effort and planning goes into pulling this off, especially living out of state. But it was the right call. The day we were supposed to be in Heaps was the fatal day for 7 canyoneers in Keyhole Canyon.


Back to the drawing board, I reworked my schedule to make it out on Oct 1. Unfortunately, Brett was unable to get work off and so the team would go without him. The choice of partners is critical in the most demanding of situations because everyone has to know their stuff. I enjoy canyoneering because it is very much a team activity and when things get difficult, problem solvers, climbers and favorable personalities are a premium. Brett's presence would be missed.
Gordon had done Heaps several times over the years and having his experience was key for the rest of us in the group.


Jeff and I arrived in Las Vegas Wednesday evening and drove to St. George, arrived at Brett's, sorted and repacked our gear getting to bed at 12:30 am. I don't remember sleeping when the alarm went off at 3:30. We were at Gordon's leaving at 4 am. We arrived at the Grotto parking started hiking at 5:30 am, up 3000 feet past Angel's Landing to the top of the West Rim Trail. The bad news is after 1 minute of hiking I was developing hot spots on the heel of my foot. Unfortunately, in the process of packing my gear, I grabbed an identical pair of canyoneering shoes I had given to Brett last year because they shrank. I was looking at 4 hours of hiking up in the wrong shoes. After some gerrymandering with duct tape, inserts and mole skin I conjured up something that would at least prevent a hole developing in my feet.


The video should give a flavor for the rest. The trek turned out as well as my best expectations. Lots of swimming, jumping and defeating obstacles. Frankly much of it was a frolic. Hard to capture how amazing this place is. Water was cold but plenty of neoprene was appropriate. The final rappel sequence requires tremendous rope management, especially when all four of us were on a 2x2 sq ft. ledge 300 feet above emerald pools preparing for the final descent. We landed on the deck around 6:30 pm and arrived back at the car in the dark at 7:30 pm - a rewarding 14 hour day.


Comparing to Kolob and Imlay (multiple trips) Heaps was warmer (on this occasion). Air temps had been in 80/90s for previous couple of weeks though doubt that had much impact. Most in group wore 5mm full w/ 5mm booties and never got cold. Had 3 mm vest as well, but never used it. Group traveled with 2 200 footers, 1 50 and 1 75 as working ropes through technical and stashed 300 footer at Emerald Pools. To save time at bird perch I would carry the 300 footer instead on next trip. Anchors in good condition.


Editorials: amazed at devil's pit, really not hard to find exit (was looking for it as well), but guess other times the log jam there must have been a much different configuration to disguise the exit. Also, off camber "jump" in second narrows really not too bad, but optically a little more challenging for everyone but first guy (had a dry take off spot) while others eye what appears to be a slick slant. This is a canyon for prepared, strong partners and good team work. A favorite.


For those who just like pictures, I've included a few below. I apologize for a bit lower quality but these are screen shots from compressed video.


For those who care to see a summary of highlights in video...



For those who care to study the canyon and conditions a bit more, a bit more lengthy video...
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I make these videos so I can capture the adventure and then delete all the footage and be done with it. Fun way to keep track of these places and see how they are in different seasons and years.



looking at top of first rap into Phantom Valley



1st rap 1st narrows. Pools close to full.



1st narrows - out of a pothole into another pool



2nd Narrows - doing the "jump" with a partner assist



Leaving the crossroads area. Up to the right in the picture a lot of people rappel down into this area. We just went through the watercourse and skipped the rap. I also filtered water in the pool - didn't look great, but I was thirsty. Little crystal lite worth a lot here.



Love this section



Lots of pools, swimming and jumping. We always had one member into pool checking it out before jumping. But it was fun.



Devil's pit. View is me sitting on top of log leaving the pit looking back and watching Jeff jump into following pool

[Bo_Beck]

HEAPS! Super awesome TR and job of editing! Lots of water on that trip! Love it!
Bo

[Sombeech]

Excellent report!

[jman]

X3. Like Bo, that is a quite a bit of water.

Great pics and vid.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ratagonia]

Sweet Video. Really does a good job of grokking the feel of the canyon.

Tom