Tag Archives: canyoneering

3 Month Delay

Fabio and Me

It’s been a while. This year has turned into a busy one. Much of my time is, unfortunately, spent sitting at a computer, but I do manage to get out a fair amount.

That is indeed Fabio in the photo above. I do meet celebrities every once in awhile, but I try to avoid being that annoying guy who begs for photos and autographs. There are, of course, exceptions. When I discovered that the man who shirtlessly adorned every romance novel in the 80s and 90s, the man who recorded amazing work-out videos and romance cassettes, the man who appeared in hilarious bit parts on many B-rate TV series, the man who hocked butter that wasn’t butter, the man who defeated a goose with his nose on a roller coaster would be at my local Whole Foods Market—I knew fate had smiled upon me. I also knew that my dearest pal, Bryan Nelson, would never forgive me if I passed up this serendipitous opportunity. And so, Erika and I traveled to the Glendale Whole Foods just so I could meet Fabio (and apparently buy his whey protein powder). Who says dreams don’t come true?

Besides being shackled to a computer and admiring Fabio, I’ve also been keeping to a relatively frequent climbing schedule. I attended the Red Rock Rendezvous in Nevada again this year. It’s an annual climbing festival filled with clinics, events, and vendors giving away lots of great stuff (Mammut gave me a free $90 headlamp!). Despite having our tent destroyed by high winds again, we had a great time. My highlight this year was my multi-pitch clinic where I got to go trad climbing for the first time. If you aren’t familiar with the term, trad is traditional climbing, what some consider “real climbing.” It’s the type of climbing where a group starts at the base of a rock and places protection as they climb up bringing the rope up with them. As they make their way up the rock pitch-by-pitch, the follower removes (or cleans) the protection. I took on the role of follower. Leading a trad climb is the dangerous part and requires experience and practice. The guide was our leader. We climbed four pitches on a 5.8 (moderate) route. Besides Erika and I, a few of our friends came to the Rendezvous this year also. Maybe we’ll get even more folks there in 2013.

One of the nice things about attending the Red Rock Rendezvous are the cool people you meet. I met a guy named Mark who has been climbing nearly as long as I’ve been breathing. He offered to start taking me trad climbing. I’ve been trying to move into trad, but it’s difficult since I’m the most experienced climber amongst my friends. The multi-pitch clinic at Red Rock and Mark’s offer were two great opportunities that graced me on the same day. Two weeks ago, Mark made good on his offer and we headed over to Idyllwild and climbed a six pitch route on Tahquitz Rock. It was a low-grade easy route, but snow had fallen earlier that week. The base was covered in snow and four of the six pitches also had a bit of snow on them. That made the ascent a little tricky, but dealing with the snow was a valuable piece of  additional climbing experience. Mark and I are heading back tomorrow.

I’ve also been doing as much canyoneering as I can squeeze in. I’ve run Rubio Canyon multiple times in the last few months and Karl and I ran Little Santa Anita last weekend. If we’re lucky, we’ll get a permit to do Mystery Canyon in Zion this summer.

In closing, a huge thing that happened in the last few months was the completion of “The Many Maladies of Marty Mitchell.” This is a short kids’ show I shot in my living room three years ago. It was finally finished and premiered in March. We held a Butcher Bird Studios Screening at the Goethe Institute on March 16th. We showed several of the projects we’ve worked on together and with others. We closed the night with the premiere of “Marty Mitchell.” It felt really good to finally be able to show it to people, especially those who helped make it happen.

hanging out

Roll Into 12

The beginning of a new year always means an inundation of “best of” lists and montages reflecting on the year before. Shortly we’ll all be so sick of both we’ll be vomiting iridescent rainbows of turkey and electromagnetic radiation. Never one to miss an opportunity to contribute to mass public puking, I too have put together a GoPro retrospective of last year. Watch it above.

Subway Plunge + Mediocre Update

Above is a short video encompassing some of the experience of hiking through Subway in Zion National Park in early September. It’s a damn good time if you have the knowledge and will to do it.

I recently got back from Zion yet again—this time—backpacking the Narrows route for my third time. It is always rewarding, although, I felt the pain afterward in a way I hadn’t before. Too much time at a computer being sedentary is wreaking havoc on my body. Thankfully, I was able to renew my gym membership last week so I can get into proper shape again.

I finally decided to give sleeping outdoors tentless a try while on the Narrows trip. Thankfully, it didn’t rain and it was an enjoyable experience. I’ll have to do it more often. I also led my first multi-pitch sport climbs in September (two pitches each). Hopefully, I can start devoting some more time to climbing and advancing my skills.

Work has been pouring in, which is great, but I’ve had little time for much else. Balancing life and self-employment is a challenge I certainly haven’t mastered yet. I’ve completed several projects recently. Some of them will be live soon and posted here for the world to deride.

Sleeping Outside

Return from the Subway

Karl launches into Subway

I’m back from Utah. Karl, of Extreme Things, and I were doing a bit of canyoneering through the Left Fork of the Virgin River—a route called Subway. It’s a great slot canyon with a few rappels, squeezes, and swims. We added a bit of extra adventure to our trip by accidentally entering the canyon too soon adding four rappels to the hike. The adventure compounded when we realized a few members of an inexperienced group of ten had followed us down and were stranded on a ledge 35 feet above the canyon floor.  Karl ascended our rope, built them harnesses from webbing, and I belayed them down to safety. The next several hours were filled with awesome canyoneering and a bit of babysitting as we helped the group navigate the more technical obstacles. I, of course, brought along the GoPro and intend to post a video and more in-depth trip report later.

A couple of videos I directed recently are also online now. The first is this year’s commercial for the West Hollywood Book Fair. The second is one of three Combat Arms shorts we at Butcher Bird Studios  did for Nexon earlier this summer. The other two should hopefully be completed soon.

Rubio Rapping

My preferred outdoor activities tend to involve rocks or water—something to climb over or pass through. My favorite outdoor activities involve both. And that is why I enjoy canyoneering so much, especially technical canyoneering. For those unfamiliar with the term, canyoneering (canyoning outside the U.S.) is essentially hiking through a canyon. Frequently, these canyons are the homes of rivers and waterfalls. This may call for wading, swimming, scrambling, climbing, and/or rappelling. Technical canyoneering tends to require specialty equipment for rappelling and climbing. Canyoneering is what Aaron Ralston was doing in 127 Hours before his mishap.

Although I have hiked several non-technical canyons (such as the Zion Narrows and Surprise Canyon) without a guide, I had not descended any technical canyons without trained leadership (such as my first time in 2008). I spent a lot of time last year acquiring proper rock climbing training and honing climbing skills. There is a lot of overlap between climbing and canyoneering skill sets. Thus, I decided this year would be a good time to attempt technical canyoneering without guidance.

My friend Karl (of Extreme Things) and I decided Rubio Canyon in the San Gabriel Mountains would be a good test run. We ran the canyon twice: once in late February when water flows were big and cold, and again in late May when flows were more moderate. Above is a video compilation of those two trips.

Next up is Subway in Zion National Park in a few weeks.

Fighting the Desk Chair

Karl descends a fall in Rubio Canyon

Working from home brings many benefits yet poses several obstacles. Sure, there are inconsistent work and pay, but one that kills me frequently is something I will dub ‘Desk Chair Imprisonment.’ There are days I awake, walk a few steps to the office room, and sit at a computer for many hours —never stepping outside of my apartment. This is unacceptable and it is one of the detriments of self-employment I have yet to conquer. Sadly, today is one of those days.

Last spring was when I made the leap. I quit my job and pursued self-employment. Last year was a time of travel, copious climbing, backpacking trips, and other adventures. Moving into this year, I accepted it would not be the same. Growing and developing my businesses would have to be the priority. Sometimes it is, sometimes it is fighting procrastination, and other times it is embracing the need to get out of my house and do some fun shit.

Thankfully, I have been doing more fun stuff again lately. Within the last few weeks, I’ve taken a short I worked on called Delivery to a festival, ran the technical canyoneering route in Rubio Canyon again, participated in the Tough Mudder, hiked one of my favorite rock-hopping routes, rafted some whitewater in Kernville, and biked 24 miles down the beach. Thanks goodness summer is getting here, it is just the incentive I need to get out of this damn office chair.

Goddamn Right

Here is a compilation of some of the stuff I managed to capture during my first year as a GoPro owner. It’s too bad I didn’t take it more places. There were so many times I forgot it and wished I’d had it with me.

More Summer Round-up

Black Canyon — August 2010 from Fourchinnigan on Vimeo.

Narrows Days — July 2010 from Fourchinnigan on Vimeo.

More GoPro videos from this summer. The Narrows video is a bit too long, but maybe you’ll enjoy it anyway. These were both Extreme Things Adventure Club events. 

2009 Catch-up Part 5 (of 5): Surprise Canyon

2010 starts tomorrow and I haven’t finished posting about 2009. The last few months have been a blur of activity and compositing so Live Journal updates have suffered. Fear not, my three readers, a flurry of updates has arrived!

After finishing the Zion Narrows, I knew I wanted to do another exciting backpacking trip over the Thanksgiving holidays. The tricky part would be finding a good hike that was passable in late fall, a bit strenuous, and not especially far from Los Angeles. I searched online and through a backpacking book and settled on Surprise Canyon. Surprise Canyon is in the middle of nowhere. If you find yourself nowhere, keep driving, you aren’t there yet. Technically, it is in Inyo County on the Western outer-rim of Death Valley National Park. It is in the desert, long past a town called Trona—a place we drove through twice, yet never saw a single person, only smoke pouring from the Salt Plant into the Sulphur-soaked air. Deep into the desert are the remains of a town called Ballarat. All that remains here is an abandoned jail-house and a somewhat functioning “general store” manned by the sole inhabitant of Ballarat. And lots of RVs and ATVs. Be careful in Surprise Canyon, help is hours away.

Surprise Canyon is aptly named. After driving deep into a dry, dusty desert and two miles up a tricky gravel path—leading into the mountains and ending at a burnt-down shack—you never expect to see a lush canyon full of running water. This is the beauty of Surprise Canyon—a hike up a flowing river that takes you to Panamint City, an abandoned mining town.

Panamint City doesn’t come easily. It must be earned. The hike up the canyon is short, only 5-6 miles, but it is a strenuous hike for all except the seasoned hiker. The first portion involves non-technical canyoneering as you climb beautiful waterfalls and verdant rocks. Shortly afterwards, the bushwhacking begins. This canyon is predominantly on BLM land meaning it doesn’t receive the attention a National Park does. The canyon is highly overgrown. Brush which allegedly was cleared a few years ago is now far above a human’s height. We traveled upstream and forced our way through the foliage as the slope increased. Once the bushwhacking portion ends, the climb begins. The slope increases greatly and the stream disappears. Panamint City rests 6300 feet above sea level. Much of the 4000 foot climb takes place over these last two miles. It is a tough climb if your legs are not trained or ready for it—especially when you are carrying 30-40 lbs. on your back. November is a month of limited light. Canyon walls are high. By 5:00 P.M., it was growing dark rapidly and we still had not seen the enormous smokestack marking the city. We set up camp and prepared for a cold night.

The Story Continues + Plenty More Pictures

2009 Catch-up Part 4 (of 5): Black Canyon

2010 starts tomorrow and I haven’t finished posting about 2009. The last few months have been a blur of activity and compositing so Live Journal updates have suffered. Fear not, my three readers, a flurry of updates has arrived!

Karl, of Extreme Things, has many connections in the outdoor community and because of this is able to put together events that are fun and inexpensive. In late November, a group of us headed into Nevada to canoe a stretch of river beneath the Hoover Dam called Black Canyon. We were led downstream by an older man named Terry who was in superior shape to anyone in our group. We camped in the canyon and made several side quests: Sauna Cave, waterfalls, natural hot springs, lots of non-technical canyoneering, and hiking. We even time-traveled. One side of the canyon placed us in Nevada and the Pacific Time Zone. The other bank placed us in Arizona and the Mountain Time Zone. The Sunset over the Canyon was among the most beautiful I’ve seen.

Lots More Canoeing Goodness