Month: June 2024

Hanging With Ward–May, 2024–ChopRock

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When we last left our intrepid adventurers they had successfully descended the technical portion of Neon Canyon and landed in the pool in the Golden Cathedral. Wet gear was hung out to dry. Chris Hardwick slept in his tent, sans rainfly, while Kerry and Max camped cowboy style on the sand. By 6 am there had already been signs of life. Gear had dried and the morning light was flooding the Golden Cathedral.

Golden Cathedral in the Morning

The three amigos, Kerry Ward, Chris Hardwick, and Max Simmons readied themselves for a challenging day. Kerry needs no introduction here, but some attention to his companions is warranted as they both have pretty extensive shared histories with Kerry.

Chris Hardwick is an Australian entrepreneur and adventurer currently living in Vancouver, CA. Chris owns a Land Cruiser named Thor that he keeps in Africa. He and Kerry spent a month last year driving Thor around the southwest of Africa and will be exploring east Africa in Thor this July.

Max Simmons is easily Kerry’s oldest friend. They were born within months of each other in India where their parents were doing work related to public health. Their parents are great friends and the families have maintained close connections over the years, doing things like vacationing together. When Kerry was spending his formative years in East Lansing Max was living in Ann Arbor and would often make the 60 mile trip to Lansing to hang out with Kerry at places like Pinball Pete’s.

Three Amigos–Chris, Kerry, and Max

There is a large rock wall near the Golden Cathedral that has a lot of petroglyphs, or artwork etched into the stone. Some of it was created by indigenous people from time immemorial, but there is also a lot that is of more recent provenance. Think of it like a big, stone bathroom wall.

The objective for the day was going to provide a peak adventure experience for the three amigos. There are certain constants when hanging with Ward. If there is a high place, he is up there; if there is Boba place he wants some; if there is a hot spring, he is in it. He is exceptionally attracted to slot canyons, the more difficult the better. In 2018 I was crew when he, Kerry Sherman, and Sam Edwards descended the very challenging Heaps Canyon, and the target of the day, ChopRock, promised significant problems to untangle.

According to Canyoneering USA, “It is a nice one, one of the best. It can be very difficult, and should always be taken seriously. It is not a place for “Youth Groups”, college outing club adventure hikers, or “experienced outdoorsmen”. It is a place for experienced canyoneers.” There is a certain body of knowledge required to safely descend slot canyons. Proficiency at using climbing harnesses and rigging anchors for rappels is essential. There are places where rushing water has carved out deep potholes (keepers) that may be filled with water, so the canyoneer must know how to deal with them. Narrow spots may be clogged with debris making every descent different from those that came before. Teamwork is essential to make it through, and while the Three Amigos are a pretty small team they rank high on that teamwork index.

Heading up river
Looking down to the Escalante River

Shortly after 8 am they made their way out of Neon Canyon and began wading up the Escalante to the mouth of ChopRock. Near the mouth of the canyon they followed a trail taking them up to the table lands above the canyon. By 9:30 they were well above the canyon and the serious route finding began.

The table lands above and between the canyons alternate between slickrock, or bare rock surfaces, and pockets of sparse soil. In a very lightly traveled region like that leading to a difficult canyon like ChopRock trails are largely nonexistent or very sparsely marked. Kerry is very adept at negotiating such a landscape as I saw first hand when Kerry, Tom and Mari Seletos, and I took a memorable trip to Rainbow Canyon in this area several years ago. You can find Kerry’s video on that trip here.

Cryptobiotic soil with plants

Much of of the area between bare rock supports something called cryptobiotic soil. Our planet is always changing, and bare rock ultimately weathers, erodes, and is transformed into barren soil. That barren soil is then transformed into biologial soil through the actions of cyanobacteria, algae, and fungi. According to the NPS, “Biological soil crusts, sometimes called cryptobiotic soil crusts, are an important part of arid and semi-arid ecosystems throughout the world, including those in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area”. The preservation of those crusts is of paramount importance, so it is important for travelers to stick to established trails and to avoid disturbing these patches.

By about 10:20 they had identified their slot canyon target below them and were looking for a way down to it.

On the table lands and looking below for the target canyon

They picked their way down to the slickrock along the canyon rim looking for an access point where they could make their way down to the bottom of the slot

On the slickrock above the slot and looking for a way down

By about 11:40 they had identified a point where they could scramble down to the bottom of the canyon. It wasn’t long before they came to their first rappel and immersion in water.

In this type of canyon there will be places where you need go go down but can’t even see the bottom. In the video below Max takes a leap of faith while praying that the rope is long enough to get him down safely.

Where did he go??

Max did indeed find the bottom and Chris and and Kerry joined him shortly. Shortly after 1 pm they had another opportunity to rappel down into a lake. In canyoneering even entering into the rappel can be challenging.

The article on ChopRock in the Canyoneering USA broke the canyon down into different sections, and the slideshow below has some sights from the segment that was characterized as the “Happy Section”. According to the article, “The Happy Section alternates long cold swims with nice walking through slots, plus a couple of downclimbs.”

Happiness doesn’t last forever, however, and pretty soon they were into the “Grim Section” with some long swims and very tight squeezes. This is not a canyon for people with large frames!

Canyoneering is not recommended for anyone who suffers from claustrophobia. Also not for the portly among us! Kerry has a very slim build, and even he was squeezed on occasion.

Wetsuits are essential for this type of escapade. Part of the mystique of ChopRock stems from the fact that in May of 2005 a pair of young men attempted the canyon without proper equipment and wound up dying from hypothermia. Depending on water levels there may be many hours of swimming required.

The Three Amigos posted a lot of pictures and videos early in this adventure, but the volume of media dropped off sharply as they traversed the Grim section. It’s kind of hard to get out the camera when one is swimming through a long section trying to keep the gear bag high and dry.

There is a goodly amount of problem solving required to get through some of the tight spaces. There may even be sections where the bottom of the canyon may not be too narrow to afford passage and it is necessary to do things like go over an obstacle.

Problem solving and cooperation are essential
Through the labyrinth

Near the end of the slot portion Max sustained an injury to his hand. On one of those difficult entries to a rappel he got his hand caught between the rope and a rock. If injured there is nothing much one can do besides soldier on. There is no backing out once you have descended into the depths of the canyon. Max did violate one of the precepts of responsible wilderness travel by leaving something behind, but I think the wilderness will recover!

Finally, the end of the slot portion was in sight. It is quite common for these slot canyons to end as hanging canyons requiring a significant rappel that is one of the highlights of a slot canyon descent. The final rappel at ChopRock pales in comparison to the 300 foot exit from Heaps Canyon, but a 90 foot drop is nothing to sneer at.

Last one down
It’s always cool when you can do a spider drop into a pool of water for the finale!

Once down it was an easy walk down the canyon back to the Escalante River. Kerry was able to send me a message just before 6:30 predicting that they would be back at the Egypt trailhead shortly after 9 pm.

Hanging With Ward–May, 2024–Escalante Day 1

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On Thursday, 5/2024 we had another early start. We woke well before 5 am at Kerry Sherman’s basement in Santa Clara, and saw that we had been joined during the night by Max Simmons. Max had flown into Las Vegas and then taken a shuttle up to Saint George, arriving after midnight. We packed up gear for the next phase of the adventure, and started on our way to Escalante and the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument. The plan was for them to hike down to the Escalante River, spend a couple of days exploring slot canyons, and then inflate their pack rafts and float down the Escalante River for a couple of days. My role was to drop them off and then fetch them four days later.

When we got to Cedar City we had a choice. There is a mountain range between Cedar City and Escalante. There are three routes, two which bypass the range on the north and south. We opted for the more scenic route that goes over the top even though it is marginally slower. The summit of the mountain range is over 11,350 feet, and we got to see some snow on the way across.

Just after 11 am we arrived at the Escalante Visitor Center to get the necessary permits and information about the state of the river. The rangers indicated that the river flow was kind of low, and while it is possible to float some sections of the river there would be a lot of places where the rafts would need to be dragged or portaged.

The next stop was Escalante Outfitters, which is my favorite hangout in this area. They have coffee, great sandwiches, and really good pizzas. The lads bought sandwiches and a couple of pizzas, some of which they ate then, and the rest they packed along for later. We then headed down the Hole In The Rock road for the 28 mile drive to the Egypt 1 trailhead.

At the trailhead we met up with friends Bobby and Audrey. After some clowning around and organization of packs the sojourners were off just before 1:30 pm. The plan was to make the 4.7 mile hike down to the Escalante River, cross the river to Neon Canyon, and hike up the canyon to the Golden Cathedral. They would set up a camp at the GC, and then hike up out of the canyon and upstream to a drop in place for the slot portion of the canyon.

The hike down to the river went quickly, and just after 3 pm they entered the lower portion of Neon Canyon and started to make their way up to the Golden Cathedral (GC) which they reached just before 4 pm. The Golden Cathedral is a rock formation about half way up the canyon. There is a hole in the ceiling of the formation that is at the end of the technical slot portion of the canyon. The highlight of a Neon Canyon excursion is to rappel through the hole after descending the technical portion.

The Golden Cathedral

When they began to set up their campsite they discovered a possible problem. Chris Hardwick had a two person tent, and Max Simmons had rented a three person tent. When assembling gear at Kerry Sherman’s house that morning a decision had been made to cut down on weight by not bringing along rainflys for the tents. Chris had left his back there and had his tent sans rainfly. Max, however, not being familiar with his gear, had inadvertently brought along the rainfly and had left his tent in Saint George.

The very meager campsite

Just before 5 pm they made their way up to the canyon rim and headed up canyon to a point where they could drop into the technical portion of the canyon. That’s where the real fun begins!!

On the canyon rim

There are a number of factors that make a slot canyon technical. They are very narrow, prone to flash floods, and are often choked with debris like entire trees that have been washed down. There are places where the canyon descends abruptly and ropes are required to rappel down. Sections may be flooded and require swimming to get through them. Neon has all of those features and you can see some in the slideshow below.

Sometimes there are faster methods than a rappel to get down…

Just before 7:30 pm they reached the final rappel down into the Golden Cathedral.

Setting up the drop into the Golden Cathedral
Kerry descending into the Golden Cathedral

Once they reached the Golden Cathedral there was enough open sky that Kerry could get a message out to me. He said that they were making a change in the plan. Instead of rafting down the Escalante they were going to do ChopRock canyon the next day and then come back out to the Egypt 1 trailhead. Kerry Sherman had taken a small group up to float the San Rafael River earlier that day, and there had been discussion of doing that instead of the Escalante. The lack of flow, combined with the lack of tent capacity had tilted the scales in that direction. The new plan was for me to pick them up the next evening (Friday) and then make a 4.5 hour drive up to the Swinging Bridge on the San Rafael River where we would post up for the night and put in the river Saturday morning.

Hanging With Ward–May, 2024–Vegas and Zion

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My friends think that I have an adventurous life. The sad truth is that I don’t have a lot of things on my bucket list to do and tend to get stuck in my routines. If left to my own devices my adventures would be few and far between, so it helps that I have a friend who has a bucket list that is infinite in length and does not let a moment slide by without chalking up an adventure.

Kerry Ward is a proponent of what he calls the Full Tilt Life (FTL), and he embodies that principal all the time. When one spends time with Kerry one needs to be prepared to be on the move a lot. Kerry and I have a symbiotic relationship. In order to maintain his FTL he sometimes needs some support, both for his work and for his recreation.

If, for example, he has a job for his company, Full Tilt Team Development, in Calgary one day that goes until 5 pm and then a job the next morning at 8 am in Phoenix, then it helps to have a friend who will pick him up at 10:30 pm at LAX, drive all night to Phoenix, work the job with him, then drop him off at the Phoenix airport afterwards. Sometimes connections can be challenging, and connections are my speciality. I have both the willingness and the flexibility to jump in and help with those connections.

On the recreational side, if he has a nine day open span and sees an ultra marathon in Cappadocia at the end of it, then it helps to have a congenial traveling companion to share expenses and driving for a road trip who he can call up on a Tuesday and ask “want to go to Turkey this week?” The great thing about retirement is that I can say “sounds great, let’s do it!”

The current adventure began on Monday, 5/20, when I drove up to the Morgan Castle in Hollywood to pick up Kerry and his gear. From there it was off to Las Vegas where we checked in to a luxurious 2 bedroom condo in the Waldorf Astoria Residences. Kerry had met a new friend a couple of weeks ago who had offered the use of his place in Vegas from 5/20 through 5/28.

After checking in it was off to Harry Reid airport to pick up his wife Danielle who was flying in from Puerto Vallarta for the week and would be staying at the Waldorf while we were off on other adventures. We enjoyed the Waldorf for the day, went out for all you can eat sushi, and then picked up another adventure buddy, Chris Hardwick, at the airport. Chris owns a Land Cruiser that he keeps in South Africa, and last summer Kerry and Chris had spent a month driving around the south and west of Africa in that vehicle.

Next it was off to the Mirage Hotel for the 8:30 performance of the Beatles Love show. Our deeply discounted front row seats had been secured by a mutual friend, the supremely talented Holland Lohse. Holland has logged over 4500 shows performing just about every acrobatic role in that venerable Cirque du Soleil show. Afterwards, Holland and his performing partner Sienna Martinez treated us to an extensive tour of the inner workings of a Cirque show.

We got in late, and then were up early as we wanted to get to St. George, UT, by about 7 am. Our first stop was at friend Kerry Sherman’s house. Kerry S. runs outdoor excursions and was lending us ropes and other gear that would be used for the canyoneering that was on the agenda for the next several days. We also met up with another one of Kerry W’s new friends, Jenny, who he had met just a couple of days before at a wedding in Texas.

Speaking of that wedding! The celebrants were Mike Foncannon and Kiera Britton. Mike is one of Kerry’s facilitators for his Full Tilt events, and Kiera is an actor. They were married a few days before in Texas and had driven up to Utah so that Kerry could take them on a canyoneering adventure. Once we were geared up we met them in Zion Canyon and they were off on the shuttle with Kerry, Chris, and Jenny to attack Behunin slot canyon. It was a very challenging choice for a pair (actually trio, including Jenny) of rookie canyon runners. While it is not a very technical canyon, it does have a total of nine rappels, all over 100 feet, culminating in a final 165 foot free drop to the Emerald Pools.

While the canyoneers were off adventuring I took the opportunity to visit one of my favorite road hangouts, River Rock Coffee Roasters in LaVerkin. They have good coffee, great sandwiches, and very nice pizzas in a very lovely location. When I did the Zion 50K ultra marathon in 2018 I spent a good deal of time there and fell in love with it. It was great to be back there. I was pretty sleep deprived already so after the coffee shop I found a shady spot in a park and took a bit of a snooze.

Around 4:30 I headed back to the park to await the canyon crew. In this kind of work there is a lot of waiting around. I had purchased a Garmin Messenger, a small satellite communication device that Kerry was carrying. The problem is that in slot canyons there is usually not enough sky for the communicator to work, so it wasn’t until about 6 pm when they had exited the canyon at the Emerald Pools that Kerry could get a message out. Shortly after 7 they arrived back at the Visitor Center on the shuttle. They arrived in very high spirits, and then Kerry, Chris, Jenny, and I headed back to Saint George to Chez Sherman while Mike and Kiera were off on the next phase of their honeymoon trip.