Bogley

[Randi]

Matt Brejcha, Adrian Schmotolocha, Steve Kazakos and
myself were all set to descend Heaps on Memorial
weekend, but due to rain, had to adjust our plans
accordingly. With wishful thinking that the weather
would clear up, Matt and I went ahead and stashed a
300’ at the Emerald Pools on Friday, even though it
seemed we only had a 50/50 chance of doing Heaps
tomorrow.

We then decided to hike up Echo canyon as far as we
could go, maneuvering up and over precariously
undercut snow bridges, under and through melted out
chasms and ice caves.
It was wonderful and surreal and beautiful but became
less feasible to continue once we were confronted with
a 60’ ice bridge that completely blocked further
progress. Unless, you didn’t mind the possibility of
falling through an unstable area to the canyon bottom,
uhhhh, which we both did.

After goofing around in there for a while, we made our
way back out and headed off to meet up with our
friends who had gone on a mountain bike ride today.

We had planned to meet them over at Mesquito cove, but
as we neared, got a phone call from Adrian to meet
somewhere else. He gave us directions & we found
ourselves a secret little camp spot (thanks to
Adrian), which had an absolutely spectacular 360 deg.
view of the surrounding mountains. With our rope
stashed, seemingly clearing weather conditions, and
wishful thinking still in tact, we planned for a
two-day descent of Heaps, come tomorrow morning.

Sorting gear, making dinner, listening to music,
drinking booze, playing “rock paper scissors” to
determine who was gonna carry the 200’ rope, we had
such a great night. Since there was room in the van, I
slept in there with Steve and Adrian, while Matt
bivied outside. It had misted off and on, but the
serious rain didn’t start until we were all in bed.
And rain it did, aaaaalllll night long. Morning dawned
cloudy, drizzly, and cold, with weather predictions
deteriorating even further over the next couple of
days according to NOAA.

Disappointing for sure, but certainly not the end of
the world or our desire to have some righteous fun! We
headed over to Spotted Dog for breakfast and coffee,
then off to the VC to get a permit for something else.
Mystery became our canyon of the day. Repacked and
ready to roll we decided on the shuttle route. Matt
and I lay on pillows in the back of the van listening
to music and viewing the Zion cliffs outside the ample
windows for a unique perspective. I loved riding in
the back like that. It reminded me of when I was a kid
(always the passenger never the driver ~ nothing to do
but kick back and take in the scenery). It was soooo
relaxing and sweet.

Mystery had been my 2nd Zion canyon back in 2003 and
I’d never repeated it. I was excited to see what my
recollection of it would be. Behunin had been my first
Zion canyon, and I recalled liking it better than
Mystery. I’ll have to repeat Behunin too one of these
days to see if I’m still of that mindset. Mystery was
fun and very beautiful in places. I enjoyed the
camaraderie more than I did the canyon, as I really
didn’t find Mystery to be all that exciting. Very
pretty yes, with some nice huge walls in places, and
the rap down to the spring was fun as was the rap down
to the Virgin, but the canyon was rather uneventful.
There didn’t seem to be anything dramatic or arresting
beyond a beautiful hanging garden, and some lovely
hiking parts. The hanging garden and hiking corridors
were the most spectacular areas of canyon to me.

We camped at the same lovely spot, and had an equally
wonderful night. Matt produced some 18-year old Scotch
that was superb! So we sat in Steve’s van drinking and
talking and making merry, until those inevitable five
words were spoken by someone “we gotta get up early”.
So we shut her down and drifted off to sleep, dreaming
about tomorrow!

Early AM, we were up and out headed for Imlay. Matt
and I had both done Imlay for the first time back in
July of 07, and this would be our second descent.
Adrian and Steve had never been before. In fact,
neither of them had been up to West Rim trail either
so the hike alone was quite a treat for both of them.
It’s real pretty up there and the cloudy sky lent for
a cool, picturesque hike and a little trepidation too.

We took the left sneak route (thanks Ram for telling
Matt it’s the better way). It was so much easier than
the right route we took last time, where we were
actually clutching at blades of grass in order to get
up this steep dirt hill.

Anyhow, we finally made it to the drop in. We suited
up in our dry-suits (my first time wearing one) and
immediately after getting the darn thing on, I had to
go pee. Never mind that I had just gone before suiting
up, I still had to go! Psychological phenomenon I
guess as it seemed to be the case with all of us!

Imlay had a few patches of snow early on blocking our
path, but they were easy to get up and over, or around
where they’d melted out close to the canyon walls.
Once in the thick of it, we had no snow or ice but a
plethora of wood to contend with. I LOVED seeing the
canyon in this condition. It ramped up the spiciness a
bit as we dealt with logjams and log soup. The canyon
was also flowing and when we got to the simul-rap
room, there was a small waterfall pouring out (which
prevented us from simul-rapping as we didn’t want to
be in the flow no matter how small). It was too darn
cold!

We’d been the first of the season into Imlay as was
evident by the large amount of debris covering most
anchors The potholes were mostly full, very cold, and
largely full of debris in most areas. There were only
two difficulties that I remember. Well, three if you
include the Virgin running at 111 CFS. Apparently it’s
deemed too dangerous at 140 and the BC had just opened
it a few days ago when it was running at 136 (our
Mystery day). But the hike from Mystery to the Temple
of Sinewava is much shorter in duration than the hike
outta Imlay.

One of the difficulties was a pothole exit blocked by
wood debris that would have been
difficult to climb over. Adrian and Matt worked on
pulling unstable wood out of the jam, creating a
thorughrofare. Steve and I were up on a ledge clear of
the pot when I heard a dearth of crashing wood and
Adrian’s voice: “OH SH*T! Are you alright?” They’d
opened a passageway, and at some point Matt grabbed a
rope dangling from above and gave it a yank. Wood came
crashing down on his head and a small log hit him hard
on the helmet knocking him under the water like a
bobbing cork. It dazed him for a minute, and hurt his
neck a bit, but luckily it was nothing too serious.
Thank god he was treading water and not standing on
solid ground. And thank god again that it wasn’t me as
I was traveling sans helmet. I had misplaced it the
day before after leaving echo canyon.

The other difficulty was near the end where a
pack-toss requiring kind of a curve ball pitch was
required. It took a few tries and I’m not sure we ever
managed it before Matt jumped in and just climbed on
out some how. The rap out into the river was exciting
and we were so happy to be at a place where we could
take off our harnesses and pee! We’d been holding it
for hours! The river was raging and it was very hard
to walk in places where we couldn’t float. I lost my
walking stick early on and had a very difficult time
getting through the river. It was the hardest part of
the trip for me.

We were famished and went to the Bit n Spur for
dinner, then headed over to our lovely hideaway, where
we set our gear out to dry (hoping it wouldn’t rain)
and we sat around in the van reliving the days
adventure, sharing that fine Scotch amongst other
things, and just having a really nice time. I say this
every time, I know, but I seriously could not have
picked a better group of people to hang out with this
particular weekend.

My intention had been to head straight to Escalante to
meet up with Mike Pewtiak and friends, but when the
weather took a turn for the worst, and my daughter’s
birthday right around the corner, I changed my mind
and decided to head home.

Come morning, Matt & I said our goodbyes to Adrian and
Steve, and we headed off to retrieve the stashed Heaps
rope. I dropped Matt off at the entrance to Pine Creek
so he could give it a run before heading home himself.
This would be day 23 for him of a most exciting month
long vacation traipsing around the canyons of Utah
with various folks. I made it home in time to get
myself showered and changed, and take my girls out to
Rachael’s favorite restaurant Kappa Honda ~
Traditional Japanese cuisine! Today is her 15th
birthday! We’d celebrate it officially on the
following weekend, but I really wanted to be here with
her on her birthday, and I made it home just in time!

My zombie camera started to die (again) near the end
of Imlay…so a couple of pix had this washed out blue
tint. I liked the pictures so I kept em and just
drained em of color. I’m certain that the camera will
resurrect itself in time for the Heaps trip, which
we’ve tentatively scheduled for the weekend of June
28th.

~Randi

http://picasaweb.google.com/advntrinxs/EchoFromTheBottomMemorialWeekend08

http://picasaweb.google.com/advntrinxs/MysteryCanyonMemorialWeekend08

http://picasaweb.google.com/advntrinxs/ImlayCanyonMemorialWeekend08?authkey=yMJh1rCWK8g

[Iceaxe]

Quote: We took the left sneak route (thanks Ram for telling Matt it’s the better way). It was so much easier than the right route we took last time, where we were actually clutching at blades of grass in order to get up this steep dirt hill.

You serious??? I'll take the right (east) sneak over the left any day. I think the right sneak is a lot easier.

Different strokes I guess....

Thanks for the TR.... Real nice. :2thumbs:

:popcorn:

[Felicia]

Excellent trip report! :2thumbs:

I was able to read the report as we travelled this weekend, but was unable to see the pictures. I just got to see them - intense!!!

You always have the biggest smile and always look like you are having a great time!

It is all about the weekends! :2thumbs: :2thumbs: