Nature’s Temple

Nature’s Temple

The soundtrack to my personal experiences in canyons is almost always Native American flute music. Surrounded by silence I hear the music in my head. I am at peace. Recently that silence was broken by the yelling and screaming of someone’s children. I back-tracked until I met six kids; guessing their ages ranged from six…

Mexico

Mexico

Arrived in Monterrey, Mexico on the 7th of March. Here training 19 aspiring canyon guides. Four days on, three days off, four days on. From here on to Guadalajara for another seven days of training another group of guides. Home on the 27th. I have been coming to Mexico since 2003 – Monterrey, Guadalajara and…

Internet Forums

Internet Forums

I started the first canyoneering forum on the internet back in May of 2000. The original platform was called eGroups, which was later acquired by Yahoo! Those who have been around long enough likely remember it best as the Canyons Group on Yahoo! To get it up and running I did an internet search for…

Respect

Respect

“OMG! Can you believe that guy? He almost ran right into me!” Actually, I couldn’t believe the woman who said that. I was stuck behind her group of around ten people, who were descending this section of trail three abreast. It would have been a simple matter for her to step aside and let the…

Dr Carlson?

Dr Carlson?

It popped up on the kiosk when I was signing in for a flight from LAX to Hong Kong. DR CARLSON RICHAR. Somehow the D at the end of Richard and my middle initial – R – got moved to the front of the line. I brought it to the ticket agent’s attention, but she…

1200 Feet of Rope
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1200 Feet of Rope

Posted on a forum, “Someone left a lot of rope in Mystery Canyon”. Several people inquired, “What do you mean, a lot of rope.” “A lot. Like some hand lines on the entry gulley.” The post was on the Monday after an ACA Canyon Rendezvous in Zion National Park, so some were wondering if anyone…

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Forever Loyal

For several years back in the 90s I taught a wide range of outdoor courses for an Arizona-based retail chain called Popular Outdoor Outfitters. When they decided to add climbing gear they asked me to make a trip to the Outdoor Retailer Show, which was held in Reno Nevada at the time. I came back…