With a planned trip headed to Powell, up above Bullfrog, I ask my pal Dave Black ... “Anything up there I should check out?” He says there is a canyon that comes in from the east, into Smith Fork. That they tore up the seats of their pants, descending it. Shredded the material and then the skin on their butts. We called it ‘Bunfodder.’ Or did he say ‘Bumfodder?’ Not sure which he said. I check the maps and there are a few canyons coming into Smith Fork from the east. I shrug my shoulders. No need to ask which one. I can clarify the name and location, some time in the future, after going there.

A month later and I am in the neighborhood. I pick one of those east canyons, into Smith Fork. On Google Earth, the climb to the top of the Tapestry Wall looks wonderful. The slot is short and only near the bottom, with open slick–rock in between. It seems the perfect entry day fare, on a lake trip (technically a reservoir). WRONG!!! In the first 100 feet of the slot, a member of the crew breaks his foot. It actually turned out to be a broken ankle, but he remains remarkably ambulatory. DON’T slide into water when you can’t see the bottom. But he is slow and the canyon turns into a high–stemming affair. Another member falls 20 feet and is remarkably uninjured. We encounter silos while high–stemming and we are unprepared to deal with them physically and mentally.

We run out of daylight and had to bivouac. Then it starts to rain. Rains harder. A flash flood happens and we survive by suspending ourselves from a car–sized flexing rock flake, 20 feet above the flood, for many hours. We extract ourselves the next AM. We give the canyon a ‘working name’ of Silo Canyon.

‘Working names’ are not formal naming. It is just what we call it so we know what canyon we are referring to. We still don’t know if it is the canyon Dave calls Bunfodder. Or is it Bumfodder? We try it again a week later. Our best climber is coming off knee surgery. We only get 100 yards further, before exiting. I organize an crack team four weeks after that and we finish the canyon.

It is customary for the group to discuss naming the canyon. We still are not sure what canyon Dave was pointing us at. So we did not have that discussion. Often the project leader holds the most sway in naming, but it is usually a collective effort, this naming thing. Me being the project leader in this case (on all three efforts and no one else was on two), I planed to check back in with Dave. Wanted to see if the canyon, Bunfodder ... or is it Bumfodder (?) and the canyon we just did were the same one.

In the meantime, a member of the the successful descent crew posts a video, and calls the canyon Psychological Damage, or Psycho D., without discussing it with anyone. Epic stories garner attention and this tale certainly did. The Psychological Damage name takes off and takes root. (It was named for the the trauma that some of the original bivouac team and those waiting for them experienced). Ultimately the public decides and decide they did. Psycho D it was.

Years later I heard a podcast (Letters from the Comb) of Dave’s and he talked about a canyon he named ending up with a different name. Was a bit ticked off about it. Oops, my bad! I am usually an strong advocate for pioneers of a canyon having sway on naming and my lack of follow though has me coming up short. I called him and gave him the ‘whole story’ and he accepted the change once he had heard ‘the rest of the story.’ Our friendship suffered no lasting damage.

Oh and I asked him was it Bun or Bum? Turns out it was Bunfodder. Perhaps it should be again. Certainly that name needs acknowledgement, historically at least and more consideration as the proper name, deemed by the first descenders.


Ram


Tales of Bunfodder (aka Psycho Damage):
  Mae West Slot • Dave Black
  Bunfodder • Dave Black
  Bun Fodder • Steve Allen
  Transcript from a Spiral Notebook • Hank Moon
  A Night to Remember • Tom Jones
  Psychological Damage • Steve Brezovec    ( SHORT FILM )
  Psychic (or Psycho) Damage • Ram
  A Night to Remember II • Doug Noel
  An Old Friend Revisited • Ram
  What’s in a Name? • Ram

© 2007–2025 Steve Ramras