When you set out on any given adventure you never really know just how big the adventure will be. This story is a perfect example of that. I knew I was setting out on an adventure this particular morning, but I didn’t know that it was the start of one of the (if not ‘the’) biggest adventures of my life.

We had gone by boat on Lake Powell and set up a campsite for the week, and then set out to do a canyon that we had very little information about. The boat dropped the four of us experienced canyoneers off. There were two other people in our group that had opted not to go on this first day’s canyon. We started our hike in and the weather turned cooler and began a light rain. We discussed the weather and decided to push on to the canyon and would reevaluate when we got to the drop–in spot because it didn’t appear that it would last long. Sure enough the weather had cleared before we got to the canyon. Since there were still clouds on the horizon, we still debated the weather and all four of us felt comfortable entering the canyon because the clouds were moving away from us. We donned our wetsuits and entered a canyon none of us will ever forget.

The drop–in spot was challenging enough that three of us used a handline to get in with the fourth person downclimbing and being spotted. The next obstacle occurred within a few feet; it was a fairly small pothole partially filled with water. If you are not able to determine the depth of the water or see any hidden obstacles in a pothole it is important to enter it with caution. The first two of us reached this first pothole and, since we couldn’t easily see the bottom of it, I lowered her into it. The water proved to be just over knee–high and Roy said, “No problem” and walked the three feet across it and climbed out the other side. In two seconds of stupidity, I decided to jump to the far side of the hole instead of straight down were Roy had just checked it out. I got an instant reminder of why we don’t just blindly jump. My right foot landed half on and half off of a rock the size of a football; snap—I felt a sheering pain. Ow! I thought to myself great I have sprained my ankle. I continue on without saying anything. Within a couple minutes it is clear to my companions that something is up and I tell them that I had twisted my ankle. There aren’t a lot of options once you’re in a canyon. They took our rope from me to lighten my pack and we push on. I was moving a little slow but was able to keep up.

After a while the canyon opened up and we could have exited. Although I was limping it didn’t seem that bad and it still would have been a long hike, we decided to push on. I did decide to hobble around a tight slot that my companions went through. This is when I discovered it was harder to walk on a relatively flat surface then in a slot with walls to have my hands on. One of my friends had one pain reliever that they gave to me at this time. As we pushed on, the canyon had some tight spots and a few silos (a spot where a slot canyon widens out) to go through. If the slot is too narrow down at the ground, then you have to climb through it while holding yourself off the ground (sometimes many feet off the ground) and, because of this, when you reach the silo, it can be a challenge to pass through it.

As the canyon continued on, Tom began to get tired and struggle. After a while he slipped off the wall and fell several feet. Fortunately, he landed unhurt but he was shaken by what could have been very bad if he had fallen just slightly differently. As we continued on Tom’s being shaken up and tired began to slow our pace. We then reached the crux (hardest part) of the canyon. It was a large silo. After looking at it for a while, Ram decided to climb down it to see if crossing at the bottom and then climbing back up the other side would be the way to go. While he was down, I found a way to cross at the top. Ram discovered it was hard to climb up so Roy and Tom set a rope and lowered it to him to aid his climb up. While this was happening I went ahead to scout. I discovered that in a very short distance there was an even bigger silo that at a quick glance seemed difficult to cross also. I glanced forward and noticed that at about 100 feet there was a big change in the canyon and probably the end of the canyon. I went back with the report and arrived just as Ram got up.

Upon hearing my report, the others decided it was time to abandon the canyon. 100 feet might sound like nothing but it could be very time–intensive and difficult. It wasn’t definite that the canyon was ending and there were two hard silos to cross and then the unknown section. I wanted to continue but they all wanted to retreat. So I crossed back over the silo to join them. Going back was difficult because we had just passed through a challenging stretch where we have to keep ourselves many feet above the canyon floor while moving forward by pushing on the walls on both sides. As this stretch was both long and narrow, it was a physically challenging stretch. After this we got back to a wide spot that is a little elevated from the floor. It was decided that this would be the safest spot to bivouac (spend the night when not planned), should we not be able to get out.

There was one spot here with a possible exit—the wall was sloped back and in a V. One of the guys had a small pick for emergencies. I started up the wall with the pick, making only tiny little finger holds. I climb approximately a third of the way up in this manner. At this point I was getting the shakes from clinging on with only my finger tips and toes. I came back down for someone else to give it a try (climbing down is harder than up). Roy and I set out going farther upcanyon while Tom and Ram stayed to continue trying to go up. We push upcanyon for a while looking for another exit. As the daylight was coming to an end, we decided to head back and see how they had done. When we got back, we found that they had concentrated on making the finger holds bigger and had not gotten any higher. We all agreed that it was getting dark enough that it was time to bunk down for the night.

The night was clear and we could see the stars coming out. To keep your packs small, you normally don’t have much extra clothing along, at least one had no extra. We each put on what we had and then put on our wetsuits over that to keep as warm as possible. That morning when I had left my truck, I had thrown a space blanket (a very small aluminum blanket designed for retaining your heat in an emergency) into my pack. I had owned it for over a decade and had never once taken it with me into the outdoors. We were all glad I had it. It is designed as a sleeping bag for one or a tight two people. We cut it open and laid down close together and covered ourselves with the blanket. As I have always had great difficulty in falling asleep, I knew I would not be able to sleep in these conditions but that I would get some good rest anyways. Over the course of the next few hours, I heard each of the others drifting in and out of sleep.

A couple hours after dark, the clouds moved in. Then it started to sprinkle. We were all awake now but nobody said anything but, we each knew that the others were thinking the same thing. When it rains the last place in the world that you want to be is in a slot canyon!!! This is because all of the rain that comes down in the whole drainage area will be channeled to this canyon. Flash flood!!!! In a matter of seconds, a canyon can change from being dry or just a trickle of water to a wall of water crashing down the canyon, taking anything its path with it. We each laid there in silence thinking what should we do. Gradually the rain started to pick up! Still we laid in silence.

I was actually the farthest downcanyon. One thought in my head was when am I going to hear from the person at the other end that water was coming over the edge towards them. All of a sudden I realize I have water flowing upcanyon to me!!

I shouted out, “GUYS WE HAVE WATER FLOWING AT US!!”

We all sprang up. A quick look around told us that the water was still well below our camp level from upcanyon, but that water was flowing upcanyon at us from two waterfalls that had appeared. One was where we had tried to climb up and the other directly across from it.

We had previously looked at a flake of rock on the wall about 12 to 15 feet (4 to 5 meters) up. Tom and Ram scoped it out while Roy and I went to the other end of camp to look at the possibility of going up ahead to the narrows so that we could use the walls to climb up to a higher level and stay perched between the walls. The danger of this is that the water will get higher here because of the narrow area. But, if it allows you to get up high enough it might be the best option. It was not an option. The water was already flowing fast and heavy from underneath our elevated island campsite.

We joined the others who were pulling out a rope. The plan was to tie the rope to Roy (lightest and best climber) and raise her up as high as we could. She would then climb the rest of the way to the flake, loop it a couple of times and tie it off. We now have two big concerns; one will the flake hold our entire weight and two how much time do we have before a crashing wall of water comes downcanyon! At the highest point on our little island there was a small bush. We piled all of gear on it. If a big wall comes, it would all be washed away but, if it only gets so high, some of our gear might survive. There simply was not going to be room for gear, not to mention the additional weight and no time to go through gear.

We lifted Roy and she was able to climb up and set the rope. Next because of my ankle it was decided I would go. They raised me and using the rope I got up. The flake was about 3 feet (1M) long by about 8 to 10 inches (22 cm) wide, sloping down to the waterfall crashing down next to it. With Roy and I up, there was no more room on the flake. Ram came up next and shoved himself into a hole that was next to the flake. While we were all climbing, Tom put on his harness and using his ascenders he attached himself to the rope and then went up that way. He tied himself off (so he can stay up without the use of his hands on the rope). So far so good. The flake is holding, with the weight of three of us on it, and we are all out of the way of a crashing wave (as long as it wasn’t a really high wall).

Now we wait! We watched as the water level slowly rose higher. We watched a few pieces of our smaller gear be taken down stream. If the water gets much higher it will all be gone; remember we will need this stuff to get out of the canyon in the morning (if we survive).

Initially, Roy and I were standing. After a while we decided it would be better to sit down, no easy task in the situation. Imagine two people on a 3′ by 9′′ slab. You can’t move back because of the wall you can’t lean to far forward or you will fall, you can’t bump the other person or they will fall. And of course the rock is wet. Now you need to put your butt where your feet are before moving your feet. Oh two more things, my side of the rock is sloping down to the side towards the waterfall which is coming down on my shoulder. We succeed.

It is now between 1 AM and 2 AM in the morning. One would not think that you would have to worry about dozing in this situation but you would be wrong. After the adrenaline rush and with the fatigue of middle of the night, your body crashes—three of us have to worry about falling if we doze off. So we all committed to staying alert by talking. So for close to three hours we sat on our little perches, talking about anything to stay alert.

Fortunately, that was as high as the water got. The rain stopped and gradually the water level receded. We decided to stay up for a little while in case the rains returned. Pre-dawn we decided it was safe to climb down but that we would leave the rope up. We checked our gear, the only serious loss was Tom’s camera in a water proof keg, (it was recovered by a later group, still working). We had survived, for now! But we were still stuck in the canyon with little food and getting hypothermic. My space blanket that had served us well in the evening, could not cover us all while we were on the wall. Since Tom was the most exposed while we hung there, we had let him use it. Going last has its advantages: he didn’t have to worry about falling and he stayed warmest. By the time we were all down, the blanket was getting tattered. It no longer would cover four of us next to each other. We sat down with our backs to the walls rotating who was on the ends, (upcanyon being the worst because the wind was coming downcanyon), we even tried for awhile Roy lying on our laps as that way the blanket covered us all and a little more shared body heat.

After another hour or so it was light enough to start to take action. Ram was going to go upcanyon to find a place to get out and needed someone to go with him. Because of my ankle, I did not say anything at first. I looked at the others, neither of them seemed up to the job. I looked at Ram and he said, “Come on Doug.” So we had our two teams. Before we left, we divided the remaining food. There wasn’t much, but the other two told us to take more. So we did. The plan was that we would go back as far as we needed, taking a rope with us. When we found a way out we would come back and lower the rope. They would tie on the gear so we could pull it up then they would one at a time come up the rope using the ascending gear.

We set out, finding water immediately on the real canyon floor. We went to gulumping (back and hands on one wall feet on the opposite wall) as our method for working back upcanyon. This is a slow process but affective when you can’t touch the floor of the canyon. Going upcanyon is harder than downcanyon because now you have to climb obstacles without the aid of a rope. In many canyons it can’t be done because you have rappelled down a big drop. Fortunately, this canyon we could go back up. At a few spots we needed to assist each other or at least hand off the rope.

After a while, we got to a spot that we could climb out, (not too far past where Roy and I had turned back). We climb up, Ram first and then me. My very first step on more or less flat ground I almost collapsed. My ankle was worst than it had felt. In the canyon more often than not, I had one or both hands on the wall, bearing some of the weight. But, there were also many times where I had to press very hard with the foot on a wall and that hadn’t been a problem. All I could do was hobble along. Ram went ahead with the rope to start getting the gear pulled up.

By the time I got there, he had set the rope and pulled up some gear. Since he was both the anchor and pulling that was difficult. I pulled up the remaining gear and then double the anchor by adding myself to it. Then Roy ascended using us as meat anchors. Then Tom came. We were all alive and out of the canyon!! But we can’t celebrate too much yet as we have no food, very little water, a long way to walk out, and me with a damaged ankle. Plus we knew that our three friends would be worried sick and looking for us. We had all been aware of this even during the storm. We had the luxury of knowing we were all safe! They would be out there, fearing the worst, unable to do anything during the night storm.

In canyon country, the shortest path between two points is never a straight line. There are numerous side canyons that need to be crossed. Close to the big canyon many of them will be hard or impossible to cross. So when you reach one you have to go up the side of that canyon until you can cross it. Since I was now going to be a hindrance to our speed, it was decided that the three of them would push ahead (keeping me in view). By doing this they were able to find the best route, frequently coming back part ways or going off to the side. One time they were way ahead of me when I saw them coming back towards me and motioning for me to stop. They had reached a dead end; they came back almost all the way to me before turning again away from our direction of travel. In the process, they reduced the amount of walking that I had to do.

Since a canyon obviously losses elevation as you go down it, and we had climbed up to the side, we knew when we got to the end of our canyon we were going to need to downclimb into the bigger canyon (Smith Fork) which we would then follow downstream to Lake Powell and hopefully our boat. With a little scouting, around the three of them found a good way for us to get down. The three of them chose to walk back upcanyon to see the exit from our canyon. As every step was slow for me, I decide not to go and started the slow process of walking out.

Before long Roy came walking past, she was going to walk out as quickly as possible so she could find our boat and let them know we were safe. After a little while, Tom and Ram came along. They pushed on. At this point there was nothing technical left, no side canyons to cross and no route finding. It is just walk downcanyon until you run into the lake. So I continued my slow hobble out. It seemed to last forever, tired, thirsty, hungry, alone and an injured foot causing pain with each step.

When I arrived at the lake, I saw no boat and only my canyon group—no one else! Oh no, I thought! They quickly let me know that we had hot soup and were in contact with them.

When Roy had arrived she found Hank there with a pot of soup cooking. He informed her that the other two had just left with the boat to go start the official search. As there was one other boat in the bay, he had called them over and he got them to give him a ride to the ranger station so the search could be stopped before it got started.

Lake Powell is a big lake so it took a while but after a while the three of them returned with the boat. Now we truly were safe! It had truly been a ‘Night to Remember!!!!’

Briefly their stories as we heard them were: Hank was alone at camp stranded without a boat not knowing what happen to the six of us and fearing the worst, until Ivy came and picked him up in the morning. Philip and Ivy had spent the night on the boat hoping we would come out after dark. This boat had no cover or any kind of shelter. Ivy crammed half of his body into the one cabinet during the rain, and Philip had no protection. These two had walked upcanyon to see if they could locate us or in the worse our mangled bodies. They had fretted all night in the storm, never leaving our exit spot unattended. These three guys might not have physically been in the canyon with us, but they were mentally and emotionally there with us the whole way.

We all retreated to our base camp for the rest of the day where I debated how bad my ankle was. Should I stay and hope to do another canyon in a day or two or was it time to pull the plug for me. By morning, even after having my foot elevated all evening and night, it was clear I was done as my ankle was very swollen. They dropped me off at my truck and said goodbye as they went back out for the rest of the week.

When you are the first group to do a technical canyon you get to give it its canyoneering name, that is the name that all canyoneers refer to it by but not an official name on any map or government document. Ultimately, it was decided that this canyon would be named ‘Psychological Damage’ or ‘Psycho D’ for short.

This story of this epic trip is well known in the canyoneering community—my fleeting brush with fame.

Psycho D was done to completion a couple months later while I still was out of canyoneering, recovering from my broken ankle (yes it did turn out to be broken). I knew we had done all but the last of it so it wasn’t on my list to return to it (I prefer canyons I have never done, plus I had a small amount of psycho damage). About the time of the six–year anniversary (originally done early April 2005), I decided I was ready to go back and do it again. Several of my main canyoneer friends and I planned to do it in October. As we were each driving there, or in Dave and Penny’s case as they were arriving at camp; a downpour occurred. It washed out the road, the wash nearby was flowing fast and hard. In the morning it was agreed that with the difficult nature of this canyon (silos and other obstacles) we needed to pass on it because the wet walls would make it even harder to do. Reluctantly we put it on hold until spring.

In the spring a smaller group of only four of us set out. Penny, Luke, Mike and I. This time I was the only one who had done it before. This canyon wasn’t done with us yet. Penny reluctantly realized that she needed to drop out part way through. We watched her climb out and then pushed on. I got some photos of the infamous flake, still hanging onto the side of the canyon. When we got to the second silo, we found it was easier to cross then the first one. As we pushed up to what I had thought might be the exit, we discovered that there was a rappel there (not a difficult or long one) and that was it. Yes, we had done 99% of the canyon including the hard part when we turned back to go through the hard narrows again.

One never knows what would have happen if you had done something differently, but in hindsight it seems like it would have been the better choice to go on. But then I wouldn’t have this incredible story to tell or my brief encounter with fame!


Doug Noel


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

© 2013 Doug Noel