I dream of a hard and brutal mysticism in which the naked self merges with a non-human world and yet somehow survives still intact, individual, separate. Paradox and bedrock.
More good reading, or at least good watching, for a nice end-of-the-week afternoon. The trip itself sounds like a bit of dumb and dumber, but the photos are truly excellent. Taking them at all in those situations demands some serious discipline.
I hope to finally get into Imlay in two weeks.
Okay, that is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.Wow, to walk in such places. I assume “keeper” means no way out of the hole and down canyon without some sort of technical assist. Also, I would think it easy to get trapped unable to progress, unable to return. How on earth did the pioneers of these routes survive? Lots of deaths in this sport (aside from flash floods)?Didn’t understand a lot of the technical language.Incredible photos. I need to try this.
Okay- before we even comment on their technique- can I say here and now- the Very First canyon you ever do in Zion should NOT be Imlay, period. Regardless of who your partners are- or how many times they have done it (and let me note- he incorrectly attributed a decent to one of his partners who had not in fact done it- which tells me he did not have accurate or sufficient knowledge of his partners).It seems the more popular canyoneering gets, the more cocky the participants get.And Enel- you assessment of Keeper is correct- they are either so tall, so deep, or typically both- that you can not simply climb out of them. When they are full of water then you just swim across, however when they have just enough water that you have to swim, but not so much that you can reach the top- that is when they are most dangerous. And you are never going to know how deep they are or are not until you get in there (or talk to someone who has been in the last few days, or since the last rain) as conditions can change daily during the rainy season.The reason good numbers of people have not perished in such canyons is because, at least before recently, the only people that did them were highly experienced canyoneers.
And I did mean tall and STEEP… I’m pretty sure tall and deep are actually the same thing- but I could be wrong…
What she said…Potholes are interesting canyon features. Hydrodynamics tells us that when water flows faster (and in a more confined area) it behaves in a less linear fashion. Thus, potholes get cut into the sections with the most drop. Because of this they’re also usually quite smooth, and hooking out as depicted requires drilling holes. So, those with the right gear CAN deal with most obstacles. Most.It’s the best of climbing and hiking in one.
Bedrock & Paradox 
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