A Dangerous Way To See A Famous National Park

This photo is a little bit confusing. It's hard to make out exactly what's going on here. The rope, the tiny light, the night sky, the snail shell walls. There's something really abstract about it all. And that's probably because it's a place and an angle that not a lot of people have ever seen. The photographer who's helping us experience this new angle is this guy. Hi, my name is Charlie Kessner. I'm an adventurer and professional photographer living in southern Utah. This photo was taken on a canyoneering trip down Pine Creek Canyon in Zion National Park during the fall of 2014. This frame captures my good friend and climbing partner Ian Smith at the top of the final rap of the technical portion of Pine Creek Canyon. So yes, there is a person up there on that rope descending or rappelling down into this canyon at night. This is canyoneering, an obscure and technical adventure sport with roots at the very place Charlie took the photo. Pine Creek is a very special canyon. Like all canyons in the desert, it was sculpted by millions and millions of years of water flow and flash flood erosion. With this continual water flow, it has left the most beautiful scar on the earth. And actually, to the best of my knowledge, Pine Creek was one of the first technical canyons descended in Zion back in the late 70s. It's a very popular destination for many individuals, climbers and canyoneers alike. Unfortunately, it's also a very popular locale for accidents due to it attracting many inexperienced canyoneers. And the dangers of canyoneering go way beyond lowering yourself down a rock face at night. I would say that the main misunderstanding about canyoneering is that the only difficult or dangerous thing is rappelling. When going canyoneering, more often than not, one will encounter everything from hiking, wading, swimming, climbing, as well as rappelling. But that's exactly what attracted Charlie to the sport in the first place. For him, the reward far outshines the risks. It's all about adventure, experience, and feeding his wanderlust. Through canyoneering, you get to explore one of the most standout landscapes I've seen on this planet. In this short life that we have, I believe that it's important to get out and go exploring in whatever capacity we can. It is very important to have a routine and a place, whether it's a truck, van, house, or otherwise, to call home. But it's the experience of traveling away from that space and opening yourself up to learning new things in new environments that changes and teaches you and ultimately enriches your life when you do return to your home. Whatever you're doing and wherever you are, I believe that you can go exploring. If you loved this episode and you want even more Seeker, check out Seeker Stories on Vessel, where you can get all our videos three days earlier than anywhere else on the internet. And as always, don't forget to subscribe. Thanks for watching.