On our most recent trip to Springdale, I booked a canyoneering trip with Tyler, not doing any…read moreresearch at all. I had no prior knowledge about rappelling and did not know that I would be descending down 100+ goddam feet of canyon cliffs.
On the day of our trip, not caring to read the confirmation e-mail, our party drove from Springdale to Hurricane, the address on their web page only to discover that the coordinates were incorrect. Calling Tyler and finding out the meeting place was in Springdale, I told him if he could wait and that I would be there in 25 minutest tops. That 25 minutes turned into an hour as the meeting place is at the opposite side of Zion National Park's entrance. You have to drive through the park, and because you are driving up canyons, you can only go 10-15 mph tops. In addition, the park rangers halt traffic for the dumbest things, aka a little dust cloud that was most likely kicked up by two kids. When we finally got to the meeting site, I expected Tyler and the waiting party to leave without us or stomp us out. However, they were extremely patient and friendly, and if they hated us, hid it quite well. After accepting our profuse rounds of apologies, we got into the car and drove to the hiking point. We had two tour guides that day, Tyler and Bruce. Bruce, driving the SUV, was extremely friendly and you could immediately see his passion for the great outdoors. He pointed out historic places along the drive and made us feel immediately at home. We quickly became friends with the guides and the other party.
To be quite honest, I am not a hiker or even a lover of the outdoors. I like it in small doses but I am in now way a tree hugger. However, Tyler and Bruce made this 10 hour excursion really fun. The hike was strenuous and casualties were suffered - a mother suffered a strained calf and her two kids were too scared after rappel #3 and had to hike back. The weather was beautiful and the canyons were just majestic. The scenery was beautiful however, 10 hours of anything will make you despise it. Haha. The main part of the tour were the 10 rappels with the first being a 60 ft. drop. When I saw that, I nearly shat a brick. I am scared of heights, however, love the thrill of the feeling when you finish. However, the scariest part was just walking over the ledge. Tyler and Bruce were extremely patient and encouraged us and gave us the will. Let me tell you one thing - the will to survive is very strong. There were some thoughts of throwing in the white flag, however, once you are able to conquer the initial steps, the rest gets easy. Kudos to Bruce and Tyler enduring #1 rappel...it literally took an hour to get all of us down. The full tour has 10 rappels with the shortest being 20-30 ft. and the longest 100 ft. When you go down, you are literally shuffling down like a cockroach inch by inch. It is pretty pathetic when you re-watch your vides you shot. However, Tyler and Bruce just bound down the lines. Goddam them for showing us up. They make you feel very safe, however, this is not a sport for the high maintenance. You will get cut and scraped, muddied and have wet socks. Oh yah, Tyler has these cookies that will make you revert to cookie monster form. They were delicious and I hogged a bag of them, refusing to share which almost caused a debacle with KDer.
Tyler had to hike the two kids and their mom back, leaving us with only Bruce. If they had reservations or concerns, they certainly hid it and even with one guide, we were able to complete our excursion. It actually got a lot easier. Our tour lasted about 10 hours and if you bring up my name, they will gleefully tell you the tale of woe. Tyler and Bruce's words exactly: "we never guided a tour like this...you guys were the slowest". Hahaha. After, we got dinner with them at Zion Pizza and Noodle and were able to dine as chums. Tyler owns the company while Bruce helps out. The first thing you will see is their passion. Bruce is more vocal about it and you can tell and will find that he lives, breathes, shits the outdoors. Tyler is more muted but it is a joy to see two individuals making a living of what they love. They both relish passing on their passion to you, explaining the wonders of Zion, taking 100+ pics of everyone, saving lives. They will also allow themselves to be used as a foothold in case you are in a precarious position and need footing. I am glad that I can call them friends and definitely recommend you book with them. They will become your friends and you and your party will bond in ways you cannot imagine. In addition, if you are a tourist, they will answer questions you have about Mormons, questions you have inside but are scared to ask in fear of being ignorant.
cliffs:
-most exhilarating, death defying, raddest trip ever
-all you can eat (for me) cookies baked by Tyler's mother-in-law
-all you can eat Gardettos
-one chicken pasta sandwich
-5 STARS
