Imlay Canyon

Yesterday Eric and I picked a perfect day to canyoneer through Imlay Canyon in Zion National Park. I had wanted to take Eric down this Zion classic as he has matured into a great canyoneering partner and he had yet to experience this very technical slot canyon. The weather indeed was perfect with a cloudless sunny sky, cool morning breeze for the steep hike up and warm temperatures for the cold slot. Even the Virgin River in the Narrows was running clear so we could see the rocks as we stumbled out of the Narrows to finish off the day. Imlay has many rappells and we had the ropes out a lot negotiating the many drops in the canyon. No need to hook out of any pools this time through as the canyon was full of water. However, there was a lot of debris from trees this year left over from the record breaking snowfall and water flows through Zion this year. These logs proved to be our most difficult obstacle in several sections. Many of the slings and rappel anchors were in poor shape this year and Eric and I spent some time replacing and improving a few of them. The canyon took us 11 1/2 hours to complete and of course we stopped in at Oscars before driving back home. Eric was a strong partner and is beginning to remind me of his brother Marty. Another great day in Zion!