Thursday, February 19, 2009

ZION 2009 plans are being formed.
 
Proposed dates( that has been seconded ) of trip are in teh 9/19 (sat) thru 9/27 (Sunday) range. While it's doubtful that we'll have a true 10 day trip...we can work with these days. That's basically a M-F with wkends on either side.
 
Specifics to follow.
 
Let's try to start a Zion '09 thread with proper emails in it,etc to be used for pretty much Zion Planning as opposed to our usual political/financial comments. It sux to try to find a specific email date/comment related to Zion plans when 90% of whats under that thread is fwd'd political rants (I'm a bad offender). I'm sure Chip,.Hubert,  and Phil and others simply delete all that trash....and thus may miss important Zion '09 updates.
 
Bottom line...lets try a clean thread on it. I guess we'll start with inclusion of all the people CC'd above. If anyone CC'd above wants off the list...plz respond. If yall know anyone else that may be interested in the trip...let's add them to the list.
 
I dont know how many folks will get up for Z'09 or how many is reasonable but I figure for starters....obviously those that have been on a prior Zion trip have first dibs. As of now...we have about 4 folks relatively committed to Zion '09, FYI.
 
Exact activities obviously havent been set yet. We'll get input from everyone and do whatever is best for the attendees at large. I don't foresee us doing another full Imlay with Heaps back to back or anything. I think everyone agrees that was too brutal (sorry for that & I dont want to repeat it...but I have no regrets). I figure a couple/few classic "light" - Med canyons and maybe one ball-buster...which may be Heaps which obviously Matt, Shawn, and I have good fresh knowledge of. On some days if we need to split into two parties b/c of size and desired difficulty ...we can do that but it's always preferable to keep the gang together by default.
 
So...I'll open it up.
 
1. Those dates OK? It's low rainfall, and abouit 2 wks later than last yrs trip.
2. How many days for the trip?
3. Any side trips?
4. Where to stay?
5. canyon schedule, desires, needs, wants, confessions?
 
-Houston

3 comments:

Troop 29 Brandon said...

I have it blocked out. Good dates for me. Lets keep it lean - no Spotted Dawg. Save for beer.

Andy

Troop 29 Brandon said...

I second those dates. Like I always say, "drive a stake in the calendar and defend it at all costs!"

Days for the trip? 5-7 on the ground out there with 1-2 for travel seems about right. I'm flexible, as usual.

Side trips? I say, probably no. Bryce canyon and rock climbing (scrambling) were a letdown to slot canyons. Moab is fantastic, but its six hours away... There is, however, some really good mountain biking around Zion that is a lot like Moab and could be an alternate day trip for some or all of the party to check out. Other than that it gets pretty thin. I veto the picture taking trip to the north rim of the grand canyon. Now, a sneak attack on the Mormon cult village of Colorado City might be interesting...

Where to stay? My preference is CHEAP. Last year was all that. But, I'll go along with the group if you all want to stay in Springdale, but I reserve the right to call for floor space in an over-occupied room to save cash. I think we can find something really cheap in Springdale if we try. Hell, I'll sleep in the car to avoid getting an extra room at the $170 per night Pioneer Lodge. You have to remember, I stayed there when it was $45 a night an it ain't changed that much.

Canyons? It's all good. I would enjoy going back to Spry, if it raining. There's plenty of good stuff left: Employee, Fat Man's, Hidden, Middle Echo. All good. I would not want to try Kolob, Right Fork, or Goose - too long for this trip, probably should be overnighters.

Shawn

Troop 29 Brandon said...

As it stands now, my schedule is good for that week. Deployments and hurricanes would be my only downfall AGAIN.

Brad