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Utah Canyoning (& other stuff)

Blarney Canyons (left and right forks) (7/10/13)

Tom abseiling into the right fork.

Tom downclimbing

More downclimbing

Finally something we choose to get the rope out for (we just used it as a handline though)

Tom abseiling into the left fork

Just hanging out

Abseiling into the deepest section of the canyon

Tom in the canyon

Staying above the mud

A nice narrow downclimb

Low enough in the canyon that the riff-raff have been able to graffiti the walls. ("Keap Out" on the left hand wall with a skull and crossbones)

Beautiful fins

Hogwarts Canyon (8/10/13)

Tom had particularly wanted to do this canyon because it had a keeper pothole which could be avoided by some high bridging over a silo with exposure. It sounded interesting, but to his disappointment the pothole was full of water and the high bridging was pretty straight-forward compared to what we had been doing in some of the other canyons.

Cryptobiotic soil

Tom abseiling

Nice arch - we abseiled through this section

Tom abseiling

Tom looking at Lake Powell. This lookout was at the confluence of North Wash, Colorado River and the Dirty Devil River.

Ancestral pueblo ruins at Butler Wash

An all too familiar sign

The Black Hole of White Canyon (9/10/13)

Tom in White Canyon

Tom approaching the biggest challenge we had in this canyon. It's not overly clear from this photo but there is a log jammed vertically blocking the way down the canyon. Fortunately there were a couple of slings in place to aid climbing over the log and then getting down the other side.

Canyon formation

Tom about to swim under a chockstone. Would be interesting if the water was a bit higher...

Tom swimming.

Canyon formation

Tom swimming under another, much smaller, chockstone.

Tom still swimming

More beautiful formations (oh, and Tom)

As we only had one car we then had a 3km walk along the road in pretty strong wind.

Goosenecks State Park (9/10/13)

Views over the San Juan River and Monument Valley (in the distance) from Muley Point Lookout

Moki Dugway. This photo doesn't do the road justice. It descends 1100 ft over 3 miles on a gravel road which had super-tight corners that you can't see round and many of the sections of the road only have room for one car.

Goosenecks of the San Juan River

Symmetry!

Monument Valley - Flagstaff - Las Vegas (10/10/13 - 12/10/13)

We initially arrived at Monument Valley for sunrise photography but it was pouring with rain and miserable. Fortunately it cleared up enough for photos with the Mittens!

Hoover Dam

Conservatory at the Bellagio

Bellagio fountains

The Mirage

Waiting for your flight to depart... don't worry you can play the slot machines till your final boarding call

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