Blake Merrell
Life Elevated - Rising Higher
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2013
- Messages
- 600
It was another wonderful canyoneering trip. Me and my group had the privilege to canyoneer with Penny, Dave, Mark and Tyler. The destination of choice for this trip was Paradiso Canyon! Paradiso is part of a canyon system known as the Dante Canyons, and this canyon system is wonderful!
The evening before we (Josh, Luke, and I) met up with Mark and Tyler and piled into Lukes Pathfinder for the long trip to Lake Powell. Good conversation made what would be a long trip, relatively short
It didn't seem long until we were pulling into the Ticaboo Lodge near Lake Powell.After a good nights rest, and a pretty decent hotel breakfast, we finally rolled into Penny and Dave's Camp at the trailhead to Paradiso Canyon. It was great to see Penny again, and to meet her husband Dave (who just happens to be the author of the Mini Slot Guide to the Colorado Plateau). Itwas great to finally be at the TH. I was very happy to be a part of this skilled canyoneering team again! I always learn so much from experienced canyoneers like Dave, Penny, Mark and Tyler.
Paradiso!! Talk about a neat place! The view as you walk to the canyon is spectacular. You get an amazing view of the Ticaboo and Good Hope mesas, with some excellent views into Lake Powell! The walk down to the actual slot canyon was a great hike. There are lots of rock fins that somewhat resemble bread loafs. Part of the route involved descending down these fins. Talk about fun and beautiful!
The slot canyon was beautiful. It was a bit more narrow in some sections than I imagined, but I manged to push through. The canyon was full of fun stemming, down climbing, and rappelling. One of my favorite sections of the canyon was when we came to the keeper pothole. The pothole was located at the bottom of a rappel, and if you weren't careful about jumping over the hole, you would find your self at the bottom of a 12' pit! Dave was the first to conquer this obstacle. Once he was down, he gave him some slack in the rope and the JUMPED across the hole! It was a gutsy, but successful maneuver. It was fun to watch Dave in action. The way he cruised through the canyon was simmly elegant.
The final section of this canyon is what stands out to me the most. It is kicked off with the keeper pothole and finished with few other minor pothole drops and escapes. I loved the hanging gardens found at the final rappel. It was also neat to see some green algae on some of the canyon walls. Once you are down the last drop, the canyon opens up dramatically and is very pretty!
Once we were all down I enjoyed sharing my Canyon Cookies with everyone. Everyone was nice and said they liked them. I know I sure do!
Anyway... The rest of the canyon was nice. Getting back to the car was a bit more than I expected though. It was about an hour of hiking UP, but at least ya get to do it in some very beautiful country! All in all, this trip took us about 4.5 hours, car to car. It was an amazing canyon with some wonderful people!
Canyon Cookies
½ cup butter, slightly softened
1 ½ cups creamy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 ½ cups old fashioned oats
About 1 cup M&M’s
Preheat oven to 350F.
Cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in baking soda, then oatmeal and M&M’s.
Drop onto cookie sheets with an ice cream scoop and flatten slightly. Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes or until done. Do not overbake! Remove from oven when slightly golden. Let cool on the sheets for a few minutes until they have firmed up enough to remove to wire racks.
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