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| Messages 1 - 65 of total 65 in this topic |
deuce4
Big Wall climber
the Southwest
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 15, 2008 - 08:19pm PT
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By Jody's request (not sure if it was serious or not), a selection of very random Grand Canyon pictures, from five years of guiding and travelling in the big ditch...
After a hike from river to the rim:
Campfire scene:
Petroglyphs:
John Hirsch making one of his beach size Grand Canyon maps to explain the geology:
Balance Sculptures:
Wheelie:
Mating Snakes (photo by Charly Heavenrich):
Side canyon hike:
Me about to get munched in Lava:
Lee's Ferry put-in:
Navajo Bridge, near Lee's Ferry (Dano and I both did a 400 rope jump off this bridge once):
Lunch spot:
You only do this jump once:
My camp on a GTS trip:
Another time about to get munched:
Pictograph Hizatsinom hand prints:
Good bouldering:
You can stare at the reflections for hours:
Cooking dinner:
ANother Jon Hirsch, the human belay for a 40' rappel during a hike up Tuck Up canyon:
Painting Dan's fingernails before Lava:
Scouting Lava:
Rowing, my favorite:
Paddle boat captaining:
Mellow stretch:
A fun crew (Rob, Rachel, me, Larry, Dan, and Nicole):
A fun night:
Another fun night:
Big Agave:
Big rain on the river, you can see a big flash flood waterfall on the skyline of the cliff:
The truck ride back after a commercial trip, where all the real shittalking begins:
Grapevine Buttress (taken while speeding through Grapevine rapid). We climbed the second ascent of this 1000 foot wall, Tommy Caldwell just did the third and first free ascent, I hear:
Telling coyote stories (note Rob, the head guide of the trip snoozing on the front boat):
Tree of light:
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deuce4
Big Wall climber
the Southwest
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 15, 2008 - 08:36pm PT
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Thanks Kath! Thanks Jody!
We gotta get Peter Mayfield to post his pics, I got a sneak peak on a tip from Billy Bob Russell, there are some super cool shots from their trip.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jan 15, 2008 - 08:37pm PT
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Thanks, John - very nice. You've also set a fine example for EKat. :-)
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Jan 15, 2008 - 08:39pm PT
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Those reflections are neato.
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Jan 15, 2008 - 08:47pm PT
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Sweet,
thanks!
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Jan 15, 2008 - 09:01pm PT
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Right on, John! I was gonna say that was probably exactly what Jody was after, then he confirmed it.
Very cool stuff! Who's the rest of the crew?
Cable/wireless, don't be home without it, photos had all loaded by the time I read the first verbage, seconds.
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Big Kahuna
Ice climber
Hell Hardest climb I did was getting out of bed.
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Jan 15, 2008 - 09:07pm PT
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Thx John! Great pics
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deuce4
Big Wall climber
the Southwest
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 15, 2008 - 09:22pm PT
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yeah, Jody, that picture is kind of sick..
Rowing really was my favorite way to go. Freedom, rhythm, the splash of the oars in the water, lining up and pushing the rig into the big waves, a place to sleep...
Paddle boat captaining sucked, I blew out my shoulder doing it. Fun on the big days, but there's a lot of slack water in the Grand Canyon, and it's challenging motivating the clients to paddle after a bunch of slow days. Not to mention on a wet rainy day most of your "crew" suddenly wants to take a rest day on the rowboats.
Course, kayaking was the super fun way to go. Pretty intense, though. My last trip last summer I got flipped in Granite Rapid and spent about 25 seconds getting washer machined before I was able to roll back up after the rapid. Almost pulled the skirt on that one.
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graniteclimber
Trad climber
Nowhere
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Jan 15, 2008 - 09:33pm PT
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Great pics!
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Delhi Dog
Trad climber
Good Question...
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Jan 15, 2008 - 10:48pm PT
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Great share Duece brings back the best of memories...
I've rowed the Canyon 6 times now and love (almost) every minute of it.
Was down there 1 year when a baloney boat flipped just below Crystal- wow those folks were flipped out...choppered them all out, bummer for them but we sure got a lot of beers out of the downstream eddies for days :>)
That shot of Tuckup is a cool one, looks solid to me...:>)
great little side hike and climbs in there.
I remember one time 3 of us were sleeping under the overhang below the fixed rope in Olo...sound asleep and all of a sudden we heard an increadible roar...
I guesss it had been raining up high that night and we didn't know about it, when down comes this massive water spout crashing down about 5 feet away from us. Man oh man I woke up from a sound sleep shi%%ing myself thinking the end of the world had caught up with me.
I always sleep on my boat now:>)
Yea, great times down there.
I'll bet there are tons of good stories floating around in the eddies of our minds that would be fun to hear...
My wife's put-in is next summer (2009)...yipee!!!can't wait.
DD
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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Jan 15, 2008 - 11:07pm PT
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Love to see that last pic of Olo. Once drug a bunch of tourist kids/husbands up that rope ladder and scared the hell out of their mothers/wives.
That agave is ginormous. The whole lot made me smile. Thanks again.
clay
edit: did you ever see the area around Vasey's and Redwall cavern in full-on flash mode? I once made the mistake of doing a rain dance in August. Then I decided to do a 'Woman Dance'. These models from Spain came down - not on the trip list. Just showed up. Pretty fun stuff.
And then it began to RAIN for about 3 days. It was pretty crazy seeing 6 or 7 red mud-monster flows as thick as a Volkswagon danding straight into the river. Big cooler sized rocks popping out and thu-dunking into the water. We took the middle channel and hung out in the cavern for hours. Pinched for camps all the way to Harding.
That pic of your long fall is killer. We saw a bunch of those through the whole way through the Upper Granite Gorge. Big red ribbons occasionally but mostly long clear ribbons. Grapevine had a cool falls.
I love how seeing those pics triggers memories - thanks for helping me. Oh - and i'd heard caldwell was on limestone, but it makes a lot more sense that he was on that granite butress. Still waiting to find a way to climb that long fin I was asking about...
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L
climber
A High Tide on a Low Coast
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Jan 15, 2008 - 11:18pm PT
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Incredible photos, John. Thanks for sharing your experiences in that most magical and beautiful of places.
(Unlike Jody, I found you semi-naked hairy men in bikinis groping each other rather...uh...fascinating. A river tradition, I presume?)
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno, CA
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Jan 15, 2008 - 11:22pm PT
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Nice, Deuce! BadAss pics! Looks like tons of fun, for sure! I haven't been rafting in a number of years.
The photo entitled: "Pictograph Hizatsinom hand prints" is awesome! I didn't realize there were other hand prints quite like these out there. I've always seen the inverse of this, where it looks like the hands were dipped in paint and then the print was placed on the rock.
I have similar shots from Utah:
Which are in this ruin, in the stone above the center doorway, facing the ground.
Thanks for sharing the pics of your adventures!
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WBraun
climber
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Jan 15, 2008 - 11:28pm PT
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Awesome John, love ya dude
Thanks for your photos too, Randy
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Delhi Dog
Trad climber
Good Question...
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Jan 15, 2008 - 11:54pm PT
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Wow, Nef. those are excellent photos!!
To be down there when the rain comes is a pretty special experience. Imagine thousands of Yo. falls surrounding you all in that wonderful red colored water...the mixing of the reds and browns into the deep blues and greens...mmmm
and the wind...
DD
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Mimi
climber
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Jan 15, 2008 - 11:59pm PT
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Thanks for the awesome pics John and Randy.
That wood balancing sculpture is a cool idea. The canyon has one of the best driftwood collections on earth.
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno, CA
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Jan 16, 2008 - 03:14am PT
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As much as I love the valley, sometimes I wonder if I don't love the Southwest more... The grass is always greener, eh?
Thanks for the kind words, guys. But, please, more pics, John! Those are great!
I tried doing some searching on Hizatsinom, John, and only came up with one site that tried to send me adware viruses. Yikes! Do you have any more info about this? This stuff captivates me!
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deuce4
Big Wall climber
the Southwest
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 16, 2008 - 09:59am PT
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Thanks for all cool notes and stories to share. Delhi Dog and Tenesemos--good callon the Cottonwood at Olo. Two years ago, I was sad to float by and see that a beaver had chewed the Cottonwood down. Werner, love ya too!
Nefarius: actually, I spelled Hisatsinom wrong--the current PC term for the Hopi's ancestors, see
http://www.nau.edu/~hcpo-p/arts/hisat.htm I did three trips working for the Park Service rowing boats on Hopi Elders trips (each year the Park Service organizes a trip for each of the adjoining tribes). I made a movie with footage from one of the trips : http://www.bigwalls.net/climbMovies/ One time Cliff, one of the Hopis gave me some of their sacred Grand Canyon salt--just sent some to Werner to check out.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Jan 16, 2008 - 10:09am PT
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Now that's a great slide show, thanks for bringing us along.
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno, CA
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Jan 16, 2008 - 12:47pm PT
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Super cool, John! Thanks for that link! It was super informative for me! I need to make some changes to some of my literature and website to remove references to Anasazi (ruins), etc. I think I will also put a blurb in my literature when I do shows, etc. so that people can be educated as to the wishes of the Hisatsinom, as well as to understand why. Stuff like this is super important to me. I have a show in Europe coming up this year, with Ira Latour, entitled "Indians and Cowboys: A Changing Paradigm". For my part, I really hope to share with the world the wonder and beauty of the Hisatsinom culture and their descendants.
Great movie! The colors, canyons and people there are just amazing! Loved the part where they are traversing, in the slot, and the shoes are starting to slide. I don't think it matters what type of shoe you are wearing - slot canyon walls can be SLICK!!! Do you do much canyoneering, John?
Great stuff, again! Thanks for sharing!
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Majid_S
Mountain climber
Bay Area
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Jan 16, 2008 - 12:52pm PT
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Wearing 32 A or B ?
Nice photos
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Festus
Social climber
Enron by the Sea
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Jan 16, 2008 - 05:10pm PT
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While we're waiting for more shots from actual river runners,
here's a couple shots from passing pedestrians (Rowers, feel free to play "Name the spot!")
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dipper
climber
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Jan 16, 2008 - 05:24pm PT
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Pic 1 is the confluence of the mainstem and the Little CR
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Festus
Social climber
Enron by the Sea
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Jan 16, 2008 - 06:06pm PT
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You got it, dipper, but that was the easiest one!
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dipper
climber
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Jan 16, 2008 - 06:20pm PT
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I have only been on the LCR, so the others are best described by someone else.
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the kid
Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
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Jan 16, 2008 - 06:34pm PT
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Duece,
Those are some great pictures. Looks like good times...
ks
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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Jan 16, 2008 - 08:59pm PT
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1 LCR
2 Across from Deer Creek, looking upstream
3 Tanners
4 Above Blacktail or somewhere in Conquistador Isle
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Festus
Social climber
Enron by the Sea
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Jan 16, 2008 - 09:28pm PT
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Tenesmus, you got two, but only 'cuz you made it too hard--you've seen a whole lot of the canyon. All four of those pictures are from one trip last October, down the Tanner Trail (which was shut down by a rock slide a few weeks after we came out), then upriver on the Beamer to LCR and back. The shot with the yellow boats is just upstream from Lava Creek, and the fourth shot is about a mile upstream from there. At that point, the Beamer has climbed atop the Tapeats and stays up there all the way to the Little Colorado. It's a great hike, and in a few places the trail hangs you right out over the water, from where even my rag arm could put a rock into the middle of the channel.
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Festus
Social climber
Enron by the Sea
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Jan 16, 2008 - 10:05pm PT
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The credit is all yours, Jody. Thanks!
Hey, Deuce (and the rest of you who've run the thing), I've been meaning to ask you about how river parties treat backpackers. In all the years I've been hiking down there, every single river party that's ever come by has always been really cool about leaving our beach/campsite to us, no matter how big the beach/site or how perfect it would be for their river party, no matter how late in the day it was. Is there some kind of an unwritten rule, code of honor, or can every damn one of you guys be that cool? We've had that entire big beach below Deubendorf left to us, as well as the more secluded big sandbar camp just above Deubendorf, not to mention lots of other places that could easily accomodate dozens of people and boats. Once, at Deubendorf, a guy on his party's lead boat was just about to toss rope onto the beach and land when he spotted me walking out of the tammies with a trout rod. He just grinned, said "Damn, you got the best campsite around here, enjoy!" Then he tossed me a beer, let his party know somebody beat them to the spot, and headed on downriver.
All I can say is Thanks! Understanding that we're down there for the same reasons as you, and leaving us to enjoy it in solitude, is--I guess--common courtesy on the one hand, but pretty damn cool on the other, maybe even beyond the call of duty.
Or is it just our personal hygiene?
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dipper
climber
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Jan 16, 2008 - 10:25pm PT
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I was on the LCR last April counting humpback chubs.
2 of us hiked down to the confluence and there was a large trip of kayakers that had stopped. All from the UK. They had a boat full of beer and were Knott drinking it. So we asked and they threw us 2 cold ones.
Very nice indeed.
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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Jan 16, 2008 - 10:26pm PT
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Yeah, that's called 'The Pinch' and it kinda depends on the size of beach vs the size of your party. Just think how it would be if there was an enormous beach taken by two backpackers. How much beach do they need to have a killer campsite? A boating party wouldn't dare push them off but it would still suck. Unless they were Hualapai, in which case they'd come onto your camp,take your food and throw your shoes into the river.
You guys are making me want to scan a bunch of old crappy photos revealing the gumby I've always been.
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Festus
Social climber
Enron by the Sea
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Jan 16, 2008 - 10:42pm PT
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I hear you, and wherever possible (which is most places) it's easy to find a smaller, better (for just two or three of us) site, and leave the more obvious spots for bigger parties, but there's a few places (South Bass and Boucher come to mind) where I'd have been pissed if a raft party crashed the spot. But they never have...you guys are cool.
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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Jan 16, 2008 - 11:56pm PT
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Getting pinched at Bass always sucked because we were always anticipating Shinamu.
One time a friend of mine was brushing his teeth with river water... and he felt this bump on the back of the boat... He ignored it the first couple of times, kept brushing, dipped his cup, rinsed, drank. Bump again.
When he finally turned to look on the other side of the boat he found a dead man floating in the water. Back-Edy Bob. He'd gone swimming up by Badger and went missing about three weeks earlier. What mile is that anyway? 80 something?
They had to drag his naked body out of the river, sacrifice one of those enormous J-rig tarps to wrap it in and put it up on the beach at Shinamu for the Park Service to retrieve. Not cool.
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Prod
Social climber
Charlevoix, MI
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Jan 17, 2008 - 10:32am PT
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Hey Deuce,
Great pics, thanks for the memories. I ought to dig out my boxes of pics and start scanning them. I did 6 seasons from 89-95 comercially and a few privates since. Last was in 94, here is a youtube link to my hermitt run at 18k in an open boat. I didn't fair so well....
http://www.youtube.com/user/ampgkenny
Hermit at 18K has got to be one of the finest rides there is. I have seen no better that is for sure.
Prod.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jan 19, 2008 - 01:04am PT
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Pat and John came through Tucson on their way to this adventure. A little desert obscura for ya Deucie since you love this stuff too. From Mountain 56 July/August 1977. Wonder if this has seen any traffic?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jan 22, 2008 - 10:45am PT
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Deuce bump!
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deuce4
Big Wall climber
the Southwest
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 22, 2008 - 12:05pm PT
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Some great posts on this thread. Thanks fellow river rats!
Steve-
I guess I kinda blew my wad with my best pics on that first post. I was never much for bringing a camera along on adventures...
How 'bout some watercolors?
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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Jan 22, 2008 - 12:19pm PT
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Love that muddy nanco one. What is it about Carbon anyway? I always loved camping there and that little hike is fun.
One of my neighbors came by last night and was sharing stories of his trip this November. Said they had 6 layover camps in 25 days. Idyllic, warm weather. Camped at Lava, hiked the throne smashed up his finger and tweaked his shoulder and back in the scree on the way down. Full moon kept him awake all night. Cooked breakfast all hungover.
Then he had to warm up on Lava in his kayak. He got spun 180 degrees in the wave before the V-wave and ran backwards till the Bertha wave which ate his lunch. That's a hard morning.
damn I need a vacation. Thanks again for the pics.
clay
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Festus
Social climber
Enron by the Sea
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Jan 22, 2008 - 12:57pm PT
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Another vote for the Nankoweap picture! Somethin' about that one. Thanks for sharin' 'em!
And for those without river trip funds, that's one of the great backpack trips in G.C., especially from the northeast side trail that brings you in up and over the gap at Saddle Mountain for your first sudden, unexpected and sweeping view of the canyon--an incredible campsite. Then from there all the way down to the river, the last couple miles along a clear and flowing creek to the huge delta at Nankoweap, on a trail built by Powell himself.
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the Fet
Knackered climber
A bivy sack in the secret campground
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Jan 22, 2008 - 04:14pm PT
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Very nice.
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John Moosie
climber
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Jan 22, 2008 - 05:08pm PT
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This thread is just getting better and better. Thanks everyone. The pictures are great. The stories are great. The watercolors are great. WOW !!!
THANKS...
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Jan 22, 2008 - 05:21pm PT
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Nice thread.
John, thanks for the photos and cool paintings.
Steve, I was checking out several lines on the way up the Bright Angel Trail last fall. I wonder if one of them was Littlejohns?
In the interest of keeping this thread rolling here’s a few pics.
Royal Arch
A few views of Elves Chasm starting at the bottom with a Holiday card shot of me and my gal and then scrambling upwards. A beautiful place.
Zander
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Jan 22, 2008 - 07:37pm PT
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Amazing, all!
even Jody
har-har
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Jan 22, 2008 - 07:53pm PT
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Oh I know, Jody, it wouldn't have happened with out your push! still, us guys gotta dig in the elbows from time to time.
Who knew Do-C did watercolors, how cool! what will turn up next?
And thanks Steve, I've been thinking about that article since this thread began!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jan 22, 2008 - 11:51pm PT
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Zander- just look for the "sinew shearing bridge" area of the route. If Pat says its tough, I trust his estimation. Modern gear and sandstone is a very different than a rack of nuggets. I don't think that they spent a lot of time on the recon hiking so it should be up high. This seems like a good GC thread to unearth that one. Later on on the same trip, I had the pleasure of a ringside seat to watch Pat float Butterballs and the rest of the Nabisco Wall. All that seacliff climbing....rock solid!
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Fluoride
Trad climber
Hollywood, CA
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Jan 23, 2008 - 01:39am PT
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Great thread!! I love the life of the river rat. More paddling is on my '08 to-do list.
John, thanks for sharing the awesome photos and watercolors.
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Scout 2
Trad climber
Placerville
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Jan 23, 2008 - 06:07am PT
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Hey nice stuff john.
brings back many memories. Didnt know you were a kayaker!too
keep it up.
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hossjulia
Trad climber
Eastside
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I just saw the short film of Beth, Tommy and Chris exploring the Grand Canyon and doing the first free ascent of Grapevine Buttress.
Well done! both the film and the climb.
Part of the Tahoe Adventure Film Fest series. (I think that's the name)also included a trailer for an up coming film on Fred Becky.
Who knows more about when these film projects will be finished?
Alpine Meadows has a cool little base lodge, I'd never been there.
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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From the high cliffs just below Beaver and into the nice bubbly pool. Must have done it 6 times that day...
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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Spent the night on the ledge at Toroweep
From the 50th birthday trip/reunion for a boat load of Jersey Boys who remained high and drunk for 3 straight days.
Rosanne and I coming out of Deer Creek Narrows. I'd known her for years and years but this trip is when things clicked for us. I don't know if it was the full moon at Silver Grotto or the fact that she was front and center for literally every rapid.
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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Looking back at the Grand Wash Cliffs the last trip I did. I'd never seen them in the rain. I had a friend who always said, "You never know when you'll get to come back to the Grand Canyon" and I look back and can't believe how long it really has been.
Dave Bigelow and I near the mouth of Havasu
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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J1D The first big blue beauty Demaree Inflatable Boats made. It seemed like everyone had a ride on this thing and it was completely falling apart by the time I got it.
Robbers Roost - we had to drive through a massive snowstorm to get there but that desert kind of broke it up and we had fantastic weather all weekend.
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andy@climbingmoab
Big Wall climber
Denver, CO
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A few river runners/backpackers stories:
This year a party of hikers near Tapeats bummed a ride from some rafters to get to Deer Creek. Somehow, the rafters managed to go into the one big hole in Tapeats and flipped. Those hikers got way more than they bargained for - its a good thing they had on PFDs! We gave them some toilet paper since theirs all got soaked.
I ran into a hiking party above Deer Creek Falls that looked they were about dead from heat exhaustion. I gave them some water above the falls, and told them to follow me down to the river. At the river, I gave them all the water they could drink, all the beer they could drink, and took their garbage so they didn't have to pack it out. They were psyched.
I think this might be in Dubendorff, but not sure:
Logistics:
North Canyon:
Silver Grotto:
Redwall Cavern:
Me somewhere in the Grand:
Bocce at Grapevine:
Clear Creek Canyon:
Faceshots in Granite:
Elves Chasm:
Good idea?
No
Matkat:
Upset:
The sh#t is about to hit the fan:
Lava:
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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I can't see your links but really want to. Sounds like a fun trip.
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Prod
Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
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Hey Tenesmus,
Were you a guide? When?
I was a Diamond guide from 89 to 95. I did my last private trip there in April 04. I think that was trip 66. Thinking about heading back sometime in the next few years.
Prod.
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Delhi Dog
Trad climber
Good Question...
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Great photos...thanks for sharing.
I just finished an amateur's attempt of a a movie of my Canyon trip from July- these photos bring back some cool memories...
I've done a bunch of trips so I know there's always a few good stories that come out of each trip...
One of mine goes like this;
We had been scouting Lava (right side) when another trip (commercial oar/paddleboat) showed up. It was good timing as we got to see them go through.
Three boats went left, 2 right.
Cool, nice runs for the most part and we got to eyeball our run.
Bubble line river right was our plan.
Anyway, my buddy pulls out and I'm right behind him with my 2 daughters and wife. Yeehaw, adrenalin's pumping, rivers thundering...
all of a sudden from Alan's boat, we hear a LOUD EXPLOSION...(he was right behind us and the only cataraft on the trip)
"WHAT THE...!"
turns out one of his tube blew a seam!
Meanwhile Steve up front(he hadn't heard the blowout), oblivious (the rest of our folks were still up at the scout ready to film...) is in the current and headed downstream-fast.
I yell to him that Alan had blown a tube..."what the f*k do you want me to do?" he yells back.
I tell him to "PULL THE F*K OVER!
Luckily he was able to. I'm already headed back to shore by then.
Alan's boat was sinking (well not quite, but at least HALF of it was) so we managed to wrestle it up aways out of the water once back.
Then I run down and manage to get the rest of our people (by then wondering where the heck we were). We spend the next 3 hours sweating our brains out and patching that sucker.
Finally we inflate it and just as we figure-"cool it's going to work!"...
ppppsssssssssssssssss out the air comes.
I tell Alan to throw a cam strap over the damn tube and let's get downstream fast!
Off we go, Steve enters... makes it to those v-waves, gets pushed sideways, almost flips, never recovers and hits the lower BIG waves sideways...again-
then......flips!
By this time I'm entering the same run only I'm a little wiser, mostly because I figured that didn't work for him so it ain't going to work for me.
I have almost a perfect run, though I got spun around backwards and hit the lower wave like that-still way fun and clean.
Alan makes it through too, only because his tube is deflating so fast, when he gets thrown to the side, his foot gets stuck between the frame and the tube. Luckily his crotch stops him from getting sucked all the way through.
The boat (once again) gets sideways... but...(Locker style space gets inserted here...)somehow stays upright and gets through.
Our other 3 boats had perfect runs, and by the time they show up, we have Steve's boat in a small eddy on river left and everyone present and accounted for. I dive under the boat,tie in two ropes, we then set up a z-rig (luckily those travertine rocks down by the spring is way solid) and flip that sucker right back over. Only thing lost was Steve's beer he had in a holder.
Tequila beach after that...then downstream away to one of the finest pebble-rock strew beaches I've ever seen (yes with plenty of fine sand too). That night we redid the patch (those guys had to pump and row at the same time after running Lava...heh heh...heh) and that patch held for the rest of the trip.
I only wish I had filmed the blowout. I got everything else...mmmmm well, actually I didn't film flipping the boat back again.
Darn.
Anyway a fine trip.
Here are a couple shots (of my bro) in Hermit, which was sweeeet!
Cheers,
DD
edit: check out the drag bag in the 1st photo. heh heh...
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Jingy
Social climber
Flatland, Ca
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Really cool pics... What's with the fingernail painting... and men with bra'rs?
Must be a tight knit group..
But I know you had some fun, so.. all good!
Cheers all
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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Andy - I didn't realize it was you! Your pictures are still fantastic and I'm completely jealous. Yesterday, I took my kids (2,4,6,9) and wife down the Green River Daily that little POS dory I bought a month or so ago. Rosanne wouldn't go near it and spent most of the afternoon in a duckie.
That thing is sooo little and its back on the 'for sale' block. I made that decision to sell it about half way through when I stood up to let one of my kids row and the bottom of the boat sickly flexed under my feet. Pretty creepy. Between that and the obvious wooden boat/weightshifting effect. It felt like a biner shift on a hard aid pitch every time my kids would lean over to touch the water on the same side... Creepy.
Prod - 2 for World Wide in Moab then Western for 3 in the Grand. Pretty fun stuff for a college kid. wouldn't have made it through without that and wouldn't have gone to grad school if i wasn't so afraid I couldn't leave it.
Prod - were you one of the guys who used to light full propane tanks and shoot the 15 foot flames? That was the craziest thing I ever saw. And I knew some Diamond guys in the day but the names are sooo far gone.
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Prod
Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
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Hahahaha,
Yeah I was one of that crew. Slammin Sammy Pappis taught us that trick, but a few of us incorporated it into our repartee. Fifteen feet is selling it short though, you must of seen a somewhat sober guide who was afraid to let it all hang out with the valve fully open. It also made a big difference when you lifted it over your head so the flame was vertical.
Other Diamond boys of my era…
Tyler Jones, Now owns Rib City in Montrois
Les Hibbert, Trained me in, still friends and talk to him often.
Mike Harding, Big guy, now owns a rib city in Cincinatti
Mike Sampson, Little Mikey, I think he’s still in Breckenridge
Fred Sanford, Funny MoFo, Breckenridge
Troy Booker, Teli Ski patrol in Breck with his dog and still guiding.
Sammy Pappis, gotta be dead, but he had fun.
Rob Nunin, Teaches at Prescott, still guides
Steve Hill, Short timer, living in Co someplace
Mike Genius, Great guide with 30 plus years.
Chris Genius, quit Diamond by the time I was there but still in the Grand.
Pat Genius, RIP, great guide and friend, died of skin cancer.
Lots of others too….
Man I miss that place.
Prod.
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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HA!! so there I was. Backeddy Camp. After a very long day up in Deer Creek - all the way to the Throne Room with like 30 peeps... And down into the narrows etc.. You know the drill. Very dehydrated, finally roll into bed and kind of fall dead asleep.
All of a sudden, just above my head on the big cooler I hear this 'flick'... 'flick' and what sounds like a propane canister rolling around. Right by my head.
giggling... then the valve opens and this guy starts screaming, "ITS GONNA BLOW!!!"
Then 'flick-thwump' and a freaking jet is like 30 feet above my head and some Diamond guy is holding the damned tank of propane over his head and primally screaming 'ARRAAARRRGGGHHHH' or 'I have the POWERRRRRR' or something crazy like that!
Scared the pee outta me! I was completely spooked and almost fell into the middle well of the boat. Nuts! WTF is he doing that just above my head anyway! Pretty good laugh about it once I actually woke up and realized what was going on.
So I was best acquainted with two or three Diamond guys. There was this really nice, charismatic TL who ran about the same schedule I did for several seasons. Every trip he had this huge birthday bash for himself and drank tons of YooHoo (and many other things) I thought his name was Jeff or something like that, but I must be wrong. I was so clueless back then.
And there was this guy who had an uncle or something that owned the company. I kind of knew him from school but he was relly low key and quiet. Again, super nice. I think his last name was Diamond too?
Small world in a big canyon
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Prod
Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
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Duh! How could I forget about Jeff Pyle. A brother like no other. Man did we get into some trouble together. He now sells real estate in NV. I think I might have been on that trip... somewhere around 93 or 94? I quasi remember crashing out at paco and hearing about Jeff causing problems at back eddie the next morning. Sound like the same period?
I gotta dig into mi box of pictures and start scanning.
Prod.
aka Guy Kenny
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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yeah Guy - I think you must have been there amongst the drunken mayhem. What was it about those camps in there that always got me into trouble? It was like the point in the trip where the doorway into mischief was fully opened or something.
Jeff was one of those guys who could sell a trip on doing just about anything. Funny stuff.
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John Moosie
climber
Beautiful California
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Ah man, what a beautiful place the Canyon is. Thanks for the bump and the new pictures.
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