The following are announcements for new additions to Canyon
Tales which were emailed as letters and posted on webforums at the
time of each release. They have been
included to add context to the additions listed on the ‘new’ page.
been working on this website for awhile and, while there is still
much in the works, it’s at a good point to share what’s been prepared.
it’s a compilation of selected stories and essays primarily (though not
exclusively) on the canyon country of the colorado plateau.
currently there are 75 articles/tales to enjoy and there are quite a
number still in the works.
i have asked dave pimental to collaborate with me on it, and we are
looking forward to continue adding to it over the long–term. at this time,
we’d also like to invite others to submit compelling stories, trip reports,
essays, or suggestions on pieces (e.g. old posts) to add to this compilation.
email:
dave (davewyo AT hotmail DOT com)
stefan (sfolias AT math DOT utah DOT edu)
as far as the stories go, the language in each story has been left
unchanged, although each article has been edited for spelling,
punctuation, and paragraph breaks in order to improve reading and consistency
across stories. also, on occasion, quoted prelude pieces have been
added to augment the text and provide more context for the story.
as far as the site goes, i write the xhtml, css, & php codes from
scratch, and it’s all kept very simple for quick loading and ease of
use. the text is in a large font for ease of reading and ease on the
eyes (hopefully). it should also load fairly quickly on mobile
phones too (though the fonts may be large).
_________________________________________________
WINDOWS XP\2000 USERS: i implore you PLEASE turn *font smoothing*
on. the text will look much better and it’ll ease your eyes while
reading. this can be done for XP (2000 is roughly the same) using the
easy and quick instructions at this link:
INSTRUCTIONAL LINK
_________________________________________________
just wanted to say ...
thanks to everyone who shares—in words—their experience, knowledge,
and adventures into the wildlands of the colorado plateau
please enjoy ... CANYON TALES
www.canyontales.com
cheers
hi all,
it’s spring time and the canyons are beckoning! and we are delighted
to bring 11 new pieces to the Canyon Tales Compilation edition 2 or,
perhaps more appropriately, addition 2.
the timing of the release is two–fold. first it’s to coincide with the
the first tale on the list, ‘It’s a Dirty Devil’ by Harvey Halpern—a story about his 17–day trip down the dirty devil river that
occurred exactly 20 years ago this month.
finally, in memoriam of Wallace Stegner’s passing 15 years ago this
month on April 13, 1993, we include his "Introduction" to the book
Wilderness at the Edge. while famous for his western fiction, he
also pushed strongly for the protection of our beloved wildlands,
penning cogent and coherent words towards that end.
also, since articles will be added continually to this compilation,
we’d like to introduce a ‘NEW’ webpage which orders the tales
chronologically according to new ‘additions.’ so, on this page, the
new tales will be grouped and listed at the top, whereas they will be
intermingled on the Table of Contents page.
also wherever you see the ‘new’ link it takes you to the new page, and
wherever you see the ‘tales’ link it takes you to the Table of
Contents (or Index, if you prefer the back of a book).
Link to New Canyon Tales
we hope you enjoy these new tales, and that you are inspired to write
as you wander out into the canyons in the coming months.
cheers
hi all,
i’d like to share a project i’ve been working on for a
while now, a database of names given to the plethora of unnamed
canyons on the colorado plateau, specifically those in southern
utah. the intention is to preserve the origins of the canyon names, in
particular, who named them and why did they name them so. in some
cases there is a short set of notes, in others a link to an account or
story. i do enjoy the character of the canyon that these names reflect
or confer. this is a work in progress so names will continually be
added to the database. if there are names that have been missed (and
should be included) please pm me about them or post them here or,
better yet, in this thread.
it has been a wonderful project to work on, and my sincere thanks goes out to all who contributed to it.
Canyon Name Database
also, it’s a great honor and pleasure to introduce a new article on a selection of the descents of Dennis Turville, Mike Bogart, and partners, most of which occurred in 1977–1982. the history of these descents is quite interesting and also establishes precisely when the first bolts were placed in some of those superlative canyons in zion and the escalante.
Descents – by Dennis Turville
please enjoy the latest addition of Canyon Tales.
hi all,
almost one year ago we had the pleasure of sharing the first addition of Canyon Tales with you all. now that it’s the middle of winter, it’s a natural time for another addition of articles.
new in this addition is an early canyons group post/trip report from brian cabe on a very interesting and rare descent in zion.
also we’re adding a set of light–weight and fine–tasting backcountry asian recipes which have been designed and perfected by the master chef harvey halpern to nourish his backcountry companions on 10–30 day trips in canyon country.
a new collection of articles is being included chronicling the immense and selfless project conducted and spearheaded by GCNRA ranger bill wolverton with much progress being contributed by various organizations. included in this collection are various articles on the progress of the project written by bill wolverton and archived here. moreover, it’s our pleasure to reprint two articles from the salt lake tribune which discuss bill’s efforts as well as the larger invasive species issues in utah. in conjunction with bill’s articles, these tribune article and ethan gilsdorf’s article on bill which was part of the first canyon tales collection constitute a core collection of articles for an archive of the on–going progress of this amazing project. a map is also included which conveys the impressive progress that is being made thus far.
as usual, a number of wonderful canyon tales are included and we hope you enjoy reading though these winter months.
the newest additions are found on the ’new’ page at the following link
New Canyon Tales
thanks again to all who have contributed and to all who read Canyon Tales,
hi all,
we are happy to announce the 5th addition of canyon tales for your reading pleasure into the late summer and fall.
we begin with a beautiful piece of writing, ‘Like Water Falling through the Air’ by lori curry on a recent trip down deer creek, one of the many gems of the grand canyon.
lisa jennings’ ‘Benign Canyon Exploration’ describes her first experience exploring a minislot canyon, and dave pimental tells a wonderful tale about a lost dog he and dan ransom found on the way to explore another minislot nearby ‘Bloodhound Canyon’ is a wonderful tale of modern western americana.
margie mccloy, writer of the well–known and captivating canyon tale, ‘The River Trip’ has contributed another great tale she calls ‘S & M’ which was the name she and steve barbee gave to what is now known as alcatraz canyon. their exploration of the canyon occurred one year prior to that of scott patterson and mike kelsey’s, though the earliest known descent of the canyon was by mike bogart and anne winter during 1988. their name for the canyon was ‘flashlight canyon’ for reasons known to anyone who’s been through the canyon.
dave black, who has written 4 books now, including an excellent instruction book on canyoneering, contributes a fantastic and humorous essay titled ‘On Writing Books,’ describing his experiences over the past decade. this one’s not to be missed!
also included are 4 wonderful and varied tales by ram, including ‘Cheese on Ice,’ ‘Reflections in Many Pools,’ ‘The New Frosted Flakes,’ and ‘Arrogance,’ which is an excellent rework of his first story he posted on the Canyons Group forum back in early 2002. ram’s collection of 27 tales can be found on the main canyon tales page and we also include a direct link here Tales of an Incompetent Adventurer
scott patterson’s ‘Lost in the Darkness’ recounts the retrieval of a radio collar for the DWR and NPS from a remote and difficult area in dinosaur nat’l mon. that he’s been exploring, and he stresses the importance of bringing an emergency kit to survive the night out, especially in the colder months.
also included are 3 tales regarding difficult high–stemming canyons in the escalante. one hopes with the right knowledge, one can assess whether a canyon is within one’s abilities.
mark rosen’s tale, ‘Snakes and Ladders in Big Tony’ is a two–part story. one part serious, the other seriously funny. the first part illustrates how some, even after hearing a vivid description of the challenges and risks involved in high–stemming canyons, still can find themselves in over their head in such canyons. the second part recounts a humorous encounter in the darkest slot one can imagine. enjoy ...
given that stemming canyons come in various flavors of difficulties and challenges, it can be difficult for many to imagine what one may confront in such places and whether they are actually prepared to descend such canyons. Egypt 4, a particularly difficult canyon in the escalante which carries a solid X slot rating for its high–stemming, is also adjacent to the very popular and benign Egypt 3. there is concern that someone is eventually going to get very hurt or die in these types of canyons where rescue may be difficult or impossible.
in the very well–written and potent piece, ‘Fear & Loathing in Egypt 4,’ ken huls recounts his epic, unforgettable experience descending the canyon with his girlfriend and love of his life. we’ve asked him to try to convey the experience as vividly and realistically as possible to help those interested gain a better understanding of the reality of what they may confront when attempting to descend this canyon or others at a similar level.
we also include PINTAC, nat smale’s account of his descent of the canyon with jeff webb in 2005. this canyon was named and descended by steve allen and partners during 1996–1997. theirs is the first known descent.
a new angle on canyon tales comes in the form of a unique and quite intriguing photograph as well as the story behind it. ‘The Bird Goddess of Lake Powell’ was taken by stan wagon during a trip nearly 2 decades ago that lead to a passion for the escalante. this photograph will certainly capture your imagination.
a while back, we added a page with the photographs of the H. Pace 1872 Inscription that dave pimental had taken in Leprechaun Canyon before they were eliminated, and it was tucked away in the name database under the Archway Canyon entry. however, we are now adding it as its own article entry and including 2 very interesting short essays on inscriptions by dave pimental and jim knipmeyer. as you will read, it’s a real shame to lose such history in the name of good intentions.
finally, a new page chronicling the additions of names to the Canyon Name Database has been added to both the main canyon tales page as well as the ‘new’ page. since canyon names are added to the database sporadically, they will be collected in shorter lists on this ‘new additions’ page to make it convenient to identify what is new. convenient links on both the database and new additions page have been provided to link directly to the part of the database for a particular region of utah. clicking the region name takes you to the beginning of the section of names corresponding to that region.
NEW CANYON TALES
we would sincerely like to thank all who have contributed to canyon tales and, as always, we invite the submissions of compelling stories and essays for the canyon tales compilation.
we hope you enjoy this new addition!
thanks for reading the tales.
cheers,
hi all,
this comes a month belated
on May 21, 2000, the Canyon e–Group (on yahoo) was founded by Rich Carlson, and, over the past decade, has been a place where folks of diverse backgrounds have discussed canyons and canyoneering on the Colorado Plateau as well as regions beyond. the group has brought people together, whether it be in the canyons or away from them or each other. discussions and debates—especially regarding techniques, ethics, and safety—have been lively and thought–provoking over the years, but it is the wonderful stories and trip reports, which so many have written and generously shared, that delightfully convey the experiences of others to the folks on the group. and it was spending a fair bit of time rifling and delving through the archives of the Canyons Group that originally inspired the Canyon Tales site.
so, to celebrate the 10–year anniversary of the Canyons e–Group, we have added a collection of 28 articles to Canyon Tales composed from Canyons Group posts that span the full decade of its lively existence.
10–year Anniversary of the Canyons e–Group Addition
we sincerely thank all who have contributed to the Canyon Tales site, and,
as always, we welcome submission of stories, essays, and suggestions.
we hope you enjoy this anniversary addition.
thanks for reading
hi all,
a new addition of canyon tales is out featuring 12 of ram’s stories adding to his ’tales of an incompetent adventurer’
new canyon tales
another batch of canyon tales will come sometime into the new year.
thanks for reading and enjoy the canyons!
A new addition to Canyon Tales has been long overdue. This is the first in a two–part addition with the second part to be added late this fall. Today’s addition to Canyon Tales is in honor and celebration of the 35th anniversary of the descent of Poe Canyon by Mike Bogart and Jenny West (AKA Hall) on August 23, 1981.
Eight years ago, I read Jason Pease’s trip report on descending this canyon immediately after he posted it online. I was intrigued. At the same time I had been corresponding with Dennis Turville about canyon descents and I asked him about the canyon. A few days later, Jason’s descent partner in this canyon, Mark Fleck, inquired about information on who descended this canyon and others nearby as bolts had been found during their descents. I shared the descent information that Turville had shared with me as a link to the Canyon Name Database as well as a translation for Jason’s names. It was incredibly fascinating to think about Mike Bogart and Jenny Hall (West) exploring and descending this special canyon in such a wild place nearly 3 decades earlier—an area I had explored a number of times since I first became enthralled with it in March 2000. I thought they were so visionary and ahead of their time.
An incredible twist to this story is what happened next when a link to a website with a remarkable video of the canyon, made by none other than Dan Ransom, found its way into Jenny West’s email inbox. Jenny tells this wonderful story in a revised version of her tale ‘Of Pits and Pendulums’ which is one of my very favorites and is included in this addition. To further celebrate their descent, it’s a true honor and pleasure to include Mike Bogart’s outstanding essay ‘Old Ramblings’ which is a universe unto itself.
There are many wonderful tales to explore in this addition so I’ll keep it short and let the tales speak for themselves. However, I would like to say that one tale ’Sandthrax Upclimb’ is also in memory of Ben Hebb who died climbing the Diamond on Longs Peak on August 27, 2010.
There are some new updates to the website as well. First, the Table of Contents/Index page now has a small menu that allows the articles in Canyon Tales to be sorted by topic, author, title & date (year of addition). Second, each webpage now should list the article title in one’s browser history, bookmarks, etc. (previously it would be labeled only as Canyon Tales).
New Canyon Tales:
http://www.math.utah.edu/~sfolias/canyontales/new/
Many thanks to all who have contributed to Canyon Tales.
And thanks for reading the tales,
as we descend into winter, it’s time for another addition of canyon tales. the motivation for canyon tales came from two sources. one was delving through the early discussions in the archives of the canyons group. another was the profound effect people’s trip reports, tales, accident accounts, and explorations had on me. i found reading these accounts to be a compelling source of experience, ideas, wisdom, perspective, and humor that captivated my imagination at the possibilities, helped me to learn, and kept my head more in the game when i was away from the canyons ... and, i thought, others would find something for themselves in all of this.
so in this spirit comes another addition of canyon tales … there are many tales in winter, including an outstanding short film by Dan Ransom. although i will let the tales speak for themselves, i would like to mention that numerous tales of Ram’s have been added in this addition. in the beginning, he was the first person to graciously give me permission to include his tales on the site. i would like to acknowledge and deeply thank Ram for sharing his experiences and experience as prolifically as he does—whether it be in text or with folks in the canyons. many thanks!
i would also like to thank Dave Pimental for his help on this project these past 10 years.
thanks to all for writing about their experiences,
enjoy reading the tales …
http://www.math.utah.edu/~sfolias/canyontales/new/
dear all,
a new addition of canyon tales is long overdue—my sincere
apologies for the long delay. there are many tales in this addition
spanning a few decades, from dinosaur NM to zion and red rock and some
as far as greece. as usual i will allow the numerous tales to speak for themselves, but there are a few themes to this addition that i would mention. the first technical canyon i did was the right fork of north creek and zion has long had a lofty seat in the pantheon of locations for canyoneering, so a large group of the tales recount amazing adventures in the canyons of zion—a place that continually inspires, whether by moonlight or in the sun, the rain, the snow or the ice. I am also thrilled to include an article by Dennis Turville, recounting a few very special early descents, including three from Zion.
a few years later i came across a couple of burning canyon mysteries that i wanted to find more about ...
one came in 2003 when i had seen a slide show by Steve Allen where he showed a few slides with two of his partners stemming very high off–the–deck in an incredible looking slot canyon. when i described the details in the slides to Nat Smale, my friend and canyoneering mentor, he immediately thought it had to be DDI—a slot he descended, one which Steve Allen had explored along with the Long Branch of Sleepy Hollow and PINTAC. (it in fact later turned out that he was correct that it was DDI in the slide show.) DDI is the same canyon in Ram’s tale ‘the mud, the blood and the fear’ ...
… and so in the spirit of these highball Mae West canyons, a number of the tales and a couple of great videos in this latest batch are by the intrepid ones who deftly traverse the convoluted walls of these high–stemming slots, pushing the boundaries of what is conceivably passable—simply amazing! and i am thrilled to share some early accounts by Steve Allen of his early descents including the fabled Long Branch of Sleepy Hollow that he alludes to in his writings and has served as a prominent benchmark for difficult high–stemming slots.
a couple years later the second mystery involved a canyon i had vaguely read and heard about called ‘Bunfodder’ (including Dave Black’s mentioning it in a 2002 canyons group post about Mae West Canyons which was included in the first addition of Canyon tales). when i eventually asked ram about Bunfodder, he was the first to share some of what he knew and the connection to Psycho Damage (a canyon i coincidentally happened to have plans to descend the following week).
this particular canyon’s past descents have been of interest to
me, having read the accounts of the exploration and flash flood
experienced by Ram, Tom Jones, Roylynn Serati and Doug Noel in 2005,
seeing Steve Brezovec’s great video of the successful descent
thereafter … then hearing about this early descent by Steve Allen,
Dave Black, and Pat Palmieri in 1999 and then descending it myself in
2006. i discussed the canyon with Dave Black, who originated the name
Bunfodder, and included it in the canyon name database in 2008, but i have long since wanted to add a collection of tales about this canyon. and it was worth waiting because, after asking Dave Black in late 2021 about telling the story of the descent of the canyon, he did share this entertaining story on his podcast in august 2022. so i am thrilled to include accounts by Dave Black and Steve Allen about their early descent of Bunfodder in may 1999, together with a collection of accounts surrounding the fateful descent by Tom Jones, Doug Noel, Ram, and Roy Serati in 2005 (with Hank Moon waiting for the boat), including Steve Brezovec’s memorable video filmed during the successful descent thereafter in which he called the canyon ‘Psychological Damage’ referring to the experience of the prior descent party.
thus the timing of this addition comes on the 25th anniversary of the descent of Bunfodder by Steve Allen, Dave Black, and Pat Palmieri in may 1999.
lastly, i am also thrilled to include Jenny West’s account of her
early descent of the superlative ‘Kaleidoscope Canyon’ with Mike Bogart in 1982 (aka south fork or east fork of Choprock Canyon)—quite a fitting name for a canyon that incessantly seems to change its amazing beauty as you relentlessly carve through rock down to the Escalante. it’s no wonder Ram has made this canyon a frequent tradition.
sadly i would also like to mention one tale ‘euphrates canyon’ by Cassy Brown is in memory of her and the time she spent with friends in the canyons which are also reflected in a number of other tales in this addition.
a deep thanks to all who write and share stories and accounts of your experiences with others.
we hope you enjoy this 10th addition of canyon tales.
new canyon tales:
https://www.canyontales.com/new/
as always, thank you for reading ...
© 2008-2030 Stefanos Folias