goofball
07-31-2006, 07:52 AM
just spent 2 weeks in southern utah and had a blast. did some hiking to some new areas and found some very cool ruins and pet/pic panels. visited some old haunts as well. and of course technical canyoneering ! not nearly as much as i had planned due to lack of high clearance and a group w/ as many different opinions as members. but it was perfect and i loved it. so...
the squeeze - hidden splendor road good all the way. brim full mostly, maybe a foot shy of high water mark in a few places. no pothole escape problems whatever. a little chilly at times w/out wetsuits but not unbearable. at most i recommend a "water jacket", maybe 2 mil just to take the slight edge off. it was mid 90's outside. anchors all good. what a blast !!! about 1/2 way thru we saw big horn sheep tracks and i wondered "what the hell ?". a lamb had fallen in and trod the short 100' section it could until expiring. it was pretty recent as the corpse had no decomposition visible.
baptist draw/upper chute loop - again roads good. little water, knee deep or so in a spot or 2. anchors good. nice narrows in baptist draw but very short. intermittent nice narrows in chute on this loop. nasty sand slog out the fault line canyon. overall a lot of buck for the bang in my opinion. it is off "the list" is my most glowing recommendation.
cheesebox - twice, w/ different people each time. west fork. i love the cheese ! soldier x'ing is rough, a little washed out, rest of road is ok. a foot shy in places of high water mark. a little chilly at times w/out wetsuits but not unbearable. at most i recommend a "water jacket", maybe 2 mil just to take the slight edge off. it was mid 90's outside. anchors all good.
for shane - toms route is a good one w/ noob's (or anyone). it is a simple straight forward canyon w/ exceeding beauty and fun water (maybe a little chilly at times sans any neoprene). hiking beyond toms exit is fun, but nothing is "missed", relatively speaking. upstream of toms entrance is a worthwhile endeavor, but again nothing is "missed". east fork i have heard is quite short and not really worth the added effort of entrance. teh side canyon entrance for west fork is best done from the right side ldc. there are breaks in the cliffs if you look and it is quicker than bypassing teh drainages on teh left side, ldc. i like to head almost due east from teh th, hit cheesebox and go upcanyon 15 minutes or so to the side canyon entrance where you just work down at every opportunity. but the eventual entrance to cheesebox itself is on the left side, ldc, form the 1st bench above cheesebox.
gravel - wow. very nice. had heard a lot about "this should be called "boulder" canyon", and griping about this fact. personally i loved the VERY EASY bouldering, it really added to the experience and was not profuse. the narrows were great, the water almost brim full and a little chilly at times, but not unbearable. mid 90's outside. maybe a 2 mil neprene jacket to take the edge off. anchors all good. nice pet/pic's and ruins.
shillelagh - boring in comparison to anything else nearby. it was there. we did it. LOTS of webbing for the r2, pretty damn ugly. all slings good.
lost canyon - fun and pretty but short. 1-3 raps to 50+/- feet. don't need no bolts. practiced my retrievable sling here. a little water knee to waist deep. 2-4 hours round trip. not worth a trip by itself but if in the area of dark canyon, or doing long canyon, it is worth a side trip. exit right ldc when popping out of the slot and hitting the 1st intersection. dc of this are some fun, shallow potholes if you wanna look-see. up the side canyon is a really nice natural bridge that looks just like a table top spanning the water course. not very big, 20x30 maybe, but neat.
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=12&n=4179039&e=579848&datum=nad83
all i got...
the squeeze - hidden splendor road good all the way. brim full mostly, maybe a foot shy of high water mark in a few places. no pothole escape problems whatever. a little chilly at times w/out wetsuits but not unbearable. at most i recommend a "water jacket", maybe 2 mil just to take the slight edge off. it was mid 90's outside. anchors all good. what a blast !!! about 1/2 way thru we saw big horn sheep tracks and i wondered "what the hell ?". a lamb had fallen in and trod the short 100' section it could until expiring. it was pretty recent as the corpse had no decomposition visible.
baptist draw/upper chute loop - again roads good. little water, knee deep or so in a spot or 2. anchors good. nice narrows in baptist draw but very short. intermittent nice narrows in chute on this loop. nasty sand slog out the fault line canyon. overall a lot of buck for the bang in my opinion. it is off "the list" is my most glowing recommendation.
cheesebox - twice, w/ different people each time. west fork. i love the cheese ! soldier x'ing is rough, a little washed out, rest of road is ok. a foot shy in places of high water mark. a little chilly at times w/out wetsuits but not unbearable. at most i recommend a "water jacket", maybe 2 mil just to take the slight edge off. it was mid 90's outside. anchors all good.
for shane - toms route is a good one w/ noob's (or anyone). it is a simple straight forward canyon w/ exceeding beauty and fun water (maybe a little chilly at times sans any neoprene). hiking beyond toms exit is fun, but nothing is "missed", relatively speaking. upstream of toms entrance is a worthwhile endeavor, but again nothing is "missed". east fork i have heard is quite short and not really worth the added effort of entrance. teh side canyon entrance for west fork is best done from the right side ldc. there are breaks in the cliffs if you look and it is quicker than bypassing teh drainages on teh left side, ldc. i like to head almost due east from teh th, hit cheesebox and go upcanyon 15 minutes or so to the side canyon entrance where you just work down at every opportunity. but the eventual entrance to cheesebox itself is on the left side, ldc, form the 1st bench above cheesebox.
gravel - wow. very nice. had heard a lot about "this should be called "boulder" canyon", and griping about this fact. personally i loved the VERY EASY bouldering, it really added to the experience and was not profuse. the narrows were great, the water almost brim full and a little chilly at times, but not unbearable. mid 90's outside. maybe a 2 mil neprene jacket to take the edge off. anchors all good. nice pet/pic's and ruins.
shillelagh - boring in comparison to anything else nearby. it was there. we did it. LOTS of webbing for the r2, pretty damn ugly. all slings good.
lost canyon - fun and pretty but short. 1-3 raps to 50+/- feet. don't need no bolts. practiced my retrievable sling here. a little water knee to waist deep. 2-4 hours round trip. not worth a trip by itself but if in the area of dark canyon, or doing long canyon, it is worth a side trip. exit right ldc when popping out of the slot and hitting the 1st intersection. dc of this are some fun, shallow potholes if you wanna look-see. up the side canyon is a really nice natural bridge that looks just like a table top spanning the water course. not very big, 20x30 maybe, but neat.
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=12&n=4179039&e=579848&datum=nad83
all i got...