Change Log

This is where I keep a running list of what was added or changed on Bluu Gnome.  It does not cover every little tweak but does keep up with most of it.  I did not start keeping a change log list until mid 2012 so that is as far back as the list will go.

Announcements

2022-03-28
I have been told that the bottom of rappel 2 in Rainbow Canyon in Death Valley has changed since I was there 11 years ago!  Thanks to Brian Moore for passing along the information. Before visiting Rainbow Canyon in Death Valley, please read the note in the general comments area of the route page.

2022-03-23
Starting 2022-03-18 and likely continuing through 2022-08-31 a few canyons will be closed due to nesting of the threated Mexican Spotted Owl.  Awesome to have these guys visit the park and make some yungin's  If you plan to Visit Cassidy Arch, Shinob, Na-gah or Timpie Canyons, check first with the park to be sure they are open.  Permits are required for canyons in Capitol Reef so you should be checking with the park anyway.

2022-03-22
The BG Gear webstore has undergone a much needed move to a new, more up to date platform.   The store now offers both credit card and PayPal options for payment.  Retail customers within the US with orders of $60 or more will receive free shipping. Retail customers within the US who purchase a Sqwurel, will receive free shipping to anywhere in the US. Orders that include a Sqwurel receive free shipping regardless of order total, so even a single Sqwurel ships free.  Due to file type restrictions on the host platform, GPX files are now enclosed inside of ZIP files which then need to be uncompressed to extract the GPX file.

2021-09-19
Updated the Benson Creek Canyon route.  In 2008 I heard reference to Benson Creek Canyon, found it on a map and descended it via a long approach from the top that required a shuttle.  Over the years the area has changed, even adding a huge trailhead that was not there in the past.  The updated route is bottom up requiring no shuttle and is a route many are likely already familiar with.

2021-09-16
Added several GPX files to the BG Gear store downloads area.

2021-09-16
Updated the Pine Creek route in Zion to reflect changes new anchors and rap counts due to updated and improved anchors.  The whole route needed an update anyway so it is cleaned up a bit.

2021-09-15
Updated the Deadeye Dick route in Zion to reflect the improved and easier approach route.

2021-09-15
Updated the South Fork Ticaboo Canyon route info.  And cleaned up the written driving descriptions for other Ticaboo Mesa routes.

2021-06-27
Added Bless Canyon to the Capitol Reef area.  Cassy was one of the few who would join for crazy adventures just to do fun stuff with friends.  Cassy, thanks for a positive touch to many lives. 
You will be missed. BLESS

2021-02-19
Updated the page for Deimos Canyon with appropriate warnings.

2020-12-08
Added Questionable Decision to the Red Rock NV area.

2020-08-10
Added Sandthrax Canyon to the North Wash area.

2020-08-09
Updated the Boundary Canyon route description.  To bring the information on the new rap stations current and cleaned up the MIA Exit information a little.

2020-08-06
Added Who Knew Canyon and Ponderosa Canyon to the North Wash area.

2020-07-22
Added No Kidding Canyon to the North Wash area.

2020-07-20
Added Foolin Around Canyon and Monkey Business Canyon to the North Wash area.

2020-06-30
Added Pork Chop Canyon and Upper Neon Canyon to the Escalante area.

2020-05-17
Added 30 GPX files to the web store.

2020-05-17
Added Midget Rattler to the Escalante area.

2020-05-17
Added Zebra and Tunnel Slots to the Escalante area.

2020-05-17
Added the Pothole Fork entry option to the Micro Death Hollow route.

2020-05-04
Added DDI Canyon to the Escalante area.

2020-05-03
Added Frosted Flakes Canyon to the Escalante area.

2020-03-04
Added Arachnophobia Canyon to the Death Valley area.

2020-03-03
Added BFS (Big Freaking Silo) Canyon to the Escalante area.

2020-02-01
Added Secret Canyon to the Lake Mead Area.

2020-02-01
Added Bee Canyon to the Mount Charleston Area.

2020-02-01
Added Benign Canyon to the Dirty Devil Area.

2020-01-31
Added Bloodhound Canyon to the Dirty Devil area.

2020-01-31
Added Slip-N-Slide Canyons to the Ticaboo Mesa area.  The route is small but winds in and out of a couple forks making description a little difficult.  The map helps a lot.  This is one of those fun opportunities to swim the lake as part of your exit.

2020-01-30
Added Off Shore Canyon to the Ticaboo Mesa Area.

2020-01-24
Wingate Wander has been updated to reflect changes to the second rappel in the second canyon on the route making that drop more challenging.

2020-01-18
As of Jan. 1, 2020 Capitol Reef National Park now requires a permit for all Canyoneering and Climbing activities within the park.  For more information see the note at the top of the Capitol Reef route listing page.

2019-07-31
Added Egypt 2 to the Escalante area.

2019-07-06
Added a page about the JellyFish retrievable choke stone anchor system.  If you want to make one, check out the how to make a JellyFish page.  I had idea for the JellyFish to solve a specific anchoring problem we occasionally come across in canyon and it has come in handy a few times over the years. I finally got around to releasing this idea to the canyoneering community. 

2019-06-15
Changed the name of Tou-Can canyon to the intended name of Two-Can Canyon.  John reminded me about our intended spelling of the name.

2019-01-28
Added Egypt 4 Canyon to the Escalante Area.

2019-01-27
Added Drill Hole Canyon to the Escalante area.

2019-01-25
Added A-Door-Able Canyon to the Capitol Reef area.

2019-01-24
Added Stone Dagger Canyon to the Capitol Reef area.

2019-01-23
Added Two-Can Canyon to the Capitol Reef area.

2019-01-22
Updated Big Tony page adding information for the Pothole Fork option and making the description of the X section more accurate.

2019-01-19
Added 5 canyons to the Capitol Reef Area.
Arch Nemesis, Ex Wife, Stem School, Watson and Wingate Wander.

2019-01-16
Changed website colors to brighten it up a bit.

2018-11-05
Added Bushwax Canyon to the North Wash area.

2018-09-26
Added Reef Ramble to the Capitol Reef area.

2018-09-19
Added Dothraki Canyon to the Zion area.  Thanks to Worth Bistline and Charlie Barlow for sharing the route.

2018-05-08
Added Bown Eye Canyon to the Escalante area.

2018-05-07
Added Bown Star Canyon (right and left forks) to the Escalante area.

2018-04-27
Added Grease Monkey Canyon, Heckle and Jeckle Canyons and Friends With Bennies Canyon to the Ticaboo Mesa area.

2018-04-23
Added 3 routes to the Sevenmile area of Ticaboo Mesa.  None of these routes would I consider destination routes but if your curious here they are.
Upper Sevenmile Canyon
Second Guess Fork
Selfish Fork

2018-04-21
Added Micro Death Hollow to the Escalante area.

2018-04-17
Updated Holy Cow to show a new shorter easier approach.  Thanks to Jenny West for sharing.

2018-03-26
Added Stateline Hills area for Nevada and added Antenna Canyon to the area.

2018-03-23
Added Neon Canyon to the Escalante area

2018-02-03
Added more GPX files to the BG Gear store.

Cherry Canyon in the Virgin River Gorge.

Motorcycle Canyon, Devils Drain Canyon, Keyhole Canyon and the Sheepbone -  Quarry Canyon loop in the Lake Mead area.

Chamber of the Basilisk in Goblin Valley State Park.

Fire Canyon in Valley of Fire

Diana's Throne Canyon in the Zion area.

Woody, Woodsy and Wood Bee Canyons in the Woodruff Canyon area.

2018-02-02
Updated the BG Gear Store to allow guest checkout by selecting Paypal express option during checkout.

12-27-17
Smooth Sacs are now available on the BG Gear web store.
The Smooth Sac is a bag designed for carrying small release cords like Dyneema for use with retrievable anchor systems like the Smooth Operator and similar systems.

12-27-17
Added Diana's Throne Canyon to the Zion area.  Sometimes called The Huntress Slot.

11-20-17
Added a buttons just below the navigation bar to toggle between the default background and an all white background.
The all white background should make printing route description pages easier to print.

09-27-17
Added a few GPX files to the BG Gear Store

In Death Valley added
Grotto Layer Fork and Not So Much Fork.

In Escalante added
Beast, Big Tony, Headless Hen and Raven, Holy Cow, Mumbai, Red Breaks Loop, ROC, Sad Cow Disease, Sandslide, Spencer and TOD canyons.

In Zion added
Bulloch Paper Bag Fork, Esplin Gulch, Fat Man's Misery East Fork, Great White Sewer, Grotto and Snotto Canyons.

In North Wash added
Hogwarts and Merry Piglet Canyons.

In Ticaboo Mesa added
Big East Fork of Sevenmile and Teeny Tiny Loop.

09-10-17
I have been informed that The Eaton Canyon Closure Order expired and the Forest Service did not renew it.  There is no need for a permit anymore.
Thanks to Volker at Rope Wiki for passing this information along.

06-06-17
Added Holy Cow Canyon to the Escalante Area.  Took a couple scout trips to find a way up there but wow was it worth it.  Incredible place.

04-15-17
Added Pothole Fork of Woody Canyon.  Info is added to the Woody Canyon description as an alternate route option.

02-27-17
Added the East Fork of Fat Man's Misery to the Zion Area.

02-25-17
Added Paper Bag Fork of Bulloch Canyon to the Zion Area.  Paper Bag Fork is the Left Fork of Bulloch.

Also updated the approach route to Checkerboard Canyon to follow along Dakota Ridge for an easier to follow route.  Thanks to Tom Jones for pointing this route out to me.

Also updated the Eastern Sun route with revised waypoint names in the description and maps.

02-24-17
Added Esplin Gulch to the Zion Area.

02-19-17
Added Merry Piglet to the North Wash area.
Also updated the Deimos Canyon route in Death Valley to show the Sneak Route to do only the lower half of the canyon.

02-16-17
Added Hogwarts Canyon to the North Wash area.

02-15-17
Added an area listing for the San Rafael Swell and added Crack Canyon and Zero Gravity Canyon to the area.

02-12-17
Added TOD (Temple of Doom) Canyon to the Escalante area

02-12-17
Added Spencer Canyon to the Escalante Area.

02-06-17
Added Red Breaks Loop to the Escalante Area.

02-05-17
Added Sandslide Canyon to the Escalante area.

02-04-17
Added Sad Cow Disease Canyon to the Escalante area.
Also added Big Tony, Lower Brimstone / The Beast and ROC (Rabbit of Caerbannog) canyons to the Escalante Area.

02-01-17
Added two forks of Grotto Canyon in Death Valley.  The Layer Fork of Grotto which is a fun canyon and has some incredible layers to pass down through.
The Not So Much Fork of Grotto which is not a fun or interesting route and not recomended.

01-21-17
Added Big East Fork of Sevenmile Creek to the Ticaboo Area.

01-20-17
Updated Devil's Thumb in the Ticaboo Area.  Added the Hangnail Fork Entry to the route description.

01-20-17
Added Teeny Tiny Loop to the Ticaboo Mesa Area.
The Tiny Tiny Loop does not offer maximum canyon time but is worth doing if you want a relaxed pace, good scenery and a touch of canyon fun mixed in.

01-19-17
Added Snotto Canyon to the Zion Area.  Snotto Canyon is not a recommended route and was posted for information to those who are curious.

Also added Great White Sewer Canyon to the Zion Area.  Great White Sewer Canyon offers a short day out and requires no wet suit so its good for a short winter day.  Not a stellar canyon but can make for a fun short day out with friends.

01-18-17
Added Grotto Canyon to the Zion Area.

11-27-16
Updated Pandora's Box beta.  After going through recently I cleaned up the information a little for clarification.  Also added a picture of the start of the climb up to the mesa for the upstream exit.

10-19-16
Added Wayne's Wonderland to the Capitol Reef National Park area.

09-29-16
Added East Scorpion Canyon to the Escalante area.

09-15-16
Added Upper South Fork Ticaboo Canyon to the Ticaboo Mesa area.

09-14-16
Added the Sleepytime Trio to the Ticaboo Mesa area.
Sleepytime Trio is a collection of 3 short slots and a fourth one to go just look at.
The trio is Power Nap Canyon, Siesta Canyon and Rude Awakening.  The fourth one to look at is Pipe Dream Canyon.

09-01-16
Added Chamber of the Basilisk and the Goblin Valley State Park area.

08-30-16
Added Headless Hen and Raven Canyons to the Escalante Area.

08-25-16
Added Mumbai Canyon to the Escalante area.
Thanks to Ram and Aaron for sharing their find.

08-20-16
Added some GPX files to the BG-Gear web store.
Added:
A Dirty Devil category and in it added all of the Angel theme named canyons.
Updated the GPX files for Icebox canyon in Zion and for Cassidy Arch Canyon in Capitol Reef.
Added South Guardian Angel Canyon to the Zion area.
Added a Ticaboo Mesa category with 24 GPX files.
Added a Coconino National Forest area and added Illusions and Insomnia.

08-20-16
Updated the Cassidy Arch Canyon beta for Capitol Reef National Park.  Anchors have been added so rap 1 is no longer done from a tree and uses bolted hangers instead.  This was a request from the park.  Also updated beta to reflect a new anchor set for the second stage of rap 3 making the total rap count one higher.

08-19-16
Updated Icebox Canyon in Zion.  Still just cover the North Pass Entry but now with the needed details.  When I first descended this canyon I was fairly new to the sport and had not dialed in my beta note taking process.  A revisit this month allowed me to clean this up.

08-10-16
Added South Guardian Canyon, aka SGA Canyon.  After one trip to scout an alternate exit, go to SGA peak and then abort the canyon due to lack of time, then a second trip to descend the canyon bypassing the deep dark crack and finally a third trip to get down the full canyon, we racked up 55.5 hours!

07-08-16
Added Insomnia and Illusions routes.  Both routes describe the Sneak Route for each where a sneak exit is used to significantly shorten the route time and distance while still descending the entire technical sections.  Both routes can be done as loop routes requiring no shuttle.

06-03-2016
Added Dos Bolsas Cojones Canyon to the Ticaboo Mesa area in Utah.  I have been wanting to go explore this short slot for a couple years now and finally talked friends into helping me out with it.  This short slot did not dissapoint.

06-01-2016
Over the past few weeks I have made a few minor updates to Upper Stair in North Wash, Pothoez and Fiddlestix in Ticaboo. 

Added a picture to the beta for Heaps showing the climb out spot to exit out of the water course to go up to the bird perch.

Cleaned up some misleading information on the East Fork of Bluejohn Canyon that was called to my attention.

04-14-2016
Added Eastern Sun
Added Eastern Sun to the Zion Area.  Thanks to Kip Marshall for showing us this route.  First descent story coming to Canyon Collective soon..........

04-12-2016
Site Maintenance
My picture software for the web site needed to be updated.  As a result I was getting some hiccups with it.  I am in the process of upgrading things a little.  At present most of the picture albums are not viewable.  I am in the process of re-uploading them and trying to get things back to normal.  This should not take more than a couple days to get it back to something I am ok with.

04-10-2016
5 New Canyons Added
Added 5 more of the Angel Canyons to Dirty Devil River area of Utah.
Angel Slot (was already there but has been updated a little), Angels Advocate, Angel Cove North Fork, Angel Cove South Fork, Lost Angel and Hidden Angel.

04-08-2016
Updated Angel Slot information in the Dirty Devil Area.

10-28-15
I had a request for info on Redemption Canyon and I finally got around to working my way through my info and just added it to the site.

09-02-15
Added Egypt 1 and Egypt 1.5 canyons to the Escalante Area.

08-28-15
Added Egypt 5 (Upper and Lower) to the Escalante area.

06-04-15
Added videos to the Sqwurel Rappel / Belay Device page showing the Hard Lock-Off Method and the Soft Lock-Off Method for the Sqwurel.

05-31-15
Added a short page about the SQWUREL to the How To section.  The How To page for the SQWUREL has links to a few videos about how to use the SQWUREL.  3 Videos uploaded for now.  I will add a few more when time permits.

05-21-15
The SQWUREL rappel device for canyoneering is now available for sale on the BG-Gear store.

12-03-14
Updated Pine Creek Canyon in Zion.  A drop that has been a downclimb for each time I had visited is now a 30 foot rappel.  As it turns out there has been a glue in anchor for this drop but I have never noticed it.  Now that sand has washed out the 6 foot downclimb is now about 30 feet and uses the glue in anchor.

11-16-14
Added the Right (east) Fork of Good Day Jim.  The Good Day Jim Route now includes info for both the Left (west) and the Right (east) Forks.

11-15-14
Added Trough Canyon to the Ticaboo Mesa area.

11-15-14
Added Pinworm Canyon to the route description for Pottymouth out at Ticaboo Mesa.  Pinworm Canyon is a short non-technical side slot near the end of the Pottymouth drainage extending about 650 feet.

Also updated the Sinusitis route at Ticaboo Mesa.  Found a few mistakes in the description while visiting last week.

11-14-14
Added Shuffleboard Canyon to the Smith Fork area of Ticaboo Mesa.

11-01-14
Updated the Double Deuce Route in Ticaboo Mesa.  Added the Right Fork of Double Deuce to it and also changed the exit route information to show a much easier exit.  No difficult exit Up Seven Mile Creek.

10-31-14
Updated Smokestack Canyon route.  Some friends told me they had trouble locating the canyon with my description.  When I got time I went back and did the route again to check.  Sure enough it was a little vague in a key spot.  So that has been updated.  While doing the update scout hike also scouted out an easier route for the last part of the approach which is now updated as well.  To help make things better I added some navigation images to the route description as well.

09-22-14
Added the Little West Fork of Bluejohn Canyon to the Robbers Roost Area.  Aka Little Bluejohn Canyon.

09-22-14
Added 3 forks of Bluejohn Canyon to the Robbers Roost area.  East Fork of Bluejohn Canyon, Squeeze Fork of Bluejohn Canyon and Main Fork of Bluejohn Canyon.

09-07-14
Updated the Pandora's Box beta to word the exit options as Upstream Exit and Downstream Exit rather than the previous wording of Short and Long exit.  The Short Exit has difficulties the long exit does not and the word short may entice canyoneers to choose the short exit not realizing it can be a challenge.  Also fixed a few typos and cleared some stuff up along the way.  Thanks to Malia for the suggested changes.

07-21-14
I finally got the real store up and running.  Very little is listed and the store will likely remain small for ever.  For those of you looking to pick up a Smooth Operator, Rick Ianniello's book - Las Vegas Slots or grab some GPX files to accompany the route descriptions listed here, jump over to BG-Gear.com

07-21-14
Updated Hidden Canyon in Zion National Park.  It was brought to my attention that the trail system has changed and been re-routed since I had written the beta back in 2008.  The new updated route description reflects the changes and highlights the differences between the old and new trail system.

03-04-14
Tripoli Canyon
added to Ticaboo Mesa area.

01-22-14
A New Online Canyoneering Store has opened.
Todd and Desiree have opened a canyoneering specific web store.  At the moment all they have are rope bags (very cool rope bags).  But stay tuned there are more products on the way over the months to come.
If you want to get yourself a rope bag or just check out their store it is at
www.canyonwerks.com

01-22-14
Death Valley Canyon
Added Miracle Max Canyon to the Princess Bride area on the Cottonwood Range in Death Valley National Park.

01-10-14
Death Valley Canyons
Added 3 more canyons to the Princess Bride area on the Cottonwood Range in Death Valley National Park.
Humperdinck Canyon, Buttercup Canyon and Inconceivable Canyon.

12-08-13
Vinegaroon Canyon
Added Vinegaroon Canyon.  After checking out Scorpion Canyon, we were curious what was in the canyon just north of it.  No signs of any visitation so we assume its a first.  Vinegaroon turns out to be a very similar canyon with some additional 360 degree scenic views on an approach ridge.

11-28-13
Happy Thanksgiving
Devils Drain Canyon
Added to the Lake Mead Nat. Rec. Area

11-25-13
Lake Mead Canyons
Added Sheep bone and Quarry Canyon loop to the Lake Mead area.  Also moved Keyhole Canyon and Motorcycle Canyons into the Lake Mead section.

11-24-13
Death Valley Canyons
Added Scorpion Canyon in the Black Mountain area.
Added 3 canyons in the Cottonwood Mountain area; Cliffs of Insanity Canyon, Fire Swamp Canyon and Pit of Despair Canyon.

11-19-13
Halls Creek Canyons.  Happy Dog Canyon and Smiling Cricket Canyon (aka Poe Canyon) have been added to the route descriptions.

09-04-13
More new Zion stuff.
Added Pipe Springs Canyon.
Also made a revision to the MIA Exit now reflected on the Boundary and Pipe Springs Canyon descriptions.  Shaved off a little distance on the route through the web of roads by showing the most direct path through the roads.  Thanks to Mike Cressman for pointing out the shorter route.

09-02-13
2.5 New Canyons Added
Bulloch - Salamander Fork (aka Right Fork of Bulloch Canyon) and Walker Gulch have been added to the Zion area canyons.

Also Checkerboard Canyon has been updated with a major approach route change shaving off 1.7 miles of travel and some elevation gain / loss.  The route now goes up over Dakota Hill following ridges to short cut part of the original route Thanks to Kip for showing us the short cut!.

08-05-13
6 New Canyons Added
I Finally got around to working on a small bit of my back logged data. 
Recent additions are:
Sinusitis, Pottymouth and Warm Springs Canyon in Ticaboo Mesa.  Cassidy Arch Canyon in Capitol Reef.  Deadeye Dick and Mighty Mouse in Zion National Park.

06-15-13
Photo Gallery Update
The photo galleries for the canyons were down for a day while being upgraded.  If you find a picture album link not working feel free to contact me to let me know,

Irish Jihad 2013
Successful Close
The Irish Jihad has now closed.  See the Irish Jihad Community Page to see how much we raised, stats, drawing winners etc.

Smooth Operator
How To
New page added to the How To section showing how to use the Smooth Operator.

The Smooth Operator is the BluuGnome version of the Fiddlestick with some added features.

I attempted to cover everything I know about the Smooth Operator / Fiddlestick in an attempt to keep people safe and well informed.  Experienced users may find some useful information should you take the time to wade through it all.

Irish Jihad 2013
Registration opens on February 1st for the Irish Jihad 2013 event!!
A fundraiser for SAR.
Strong, creative and fun loving canyoneers have the opportunity to try to complete the 7 Irish Canyons in a day while supporting a good cause.

Canyon Collective
Dan Ransom has started a new place for the community to share beta, share canyon conditions, view a map of known canyons, interact with the canyoneering community in forums and more.  The CanyonCollective.com is off to a brand new and exciting start!  sign up for a free account and have fun!

01-11-13
Site Maintenance
I recently spent some time cleaning a bunch of things up on BluuGnome. 

I found some VERY confusing stuff on the pages for the Leprechaun Canyons.  I fixed the issues and re-wrote a portion of the Middle Fork approach as it seemed WAY too confusing.

07-22-12
Old Bill Canyon Updated
Old Bill Canyon in Red Rock NV had access issues with crossing the Spring Mountain Ranch State Park Border.  The exit route in the route description has been updated to give a legal exit route skirting around the park boundary.  The legal exit is not as simple or straight forward as going through the park but it is legal.

06-30-12
Subway Route Updated
 Zion National Park Subway Canyoneering Route updated. The Park Service would like to redirect foot traffic for a short section of the Subway approach route to reduce impact on a small section of forest. 
The Route descriptions for Subway, Das Boot and Russell Gulch have been updated to reflect this change.  The adjustment is minor and is between route points wSubWayRP-01a and wSubWayRP-01b in the route descriptions.