Adobe Swale Left fork Entrance

[french_de]

TR Adobe Swale - left or west fork entrance\r\nCurious to see what the left or west fork entrance of Adobe Swale was like, we entered the canyon on the morning of Sunday Sept 9, 2006. Unable to find any beta on the fork, we entered with an abundance of gear including two 60 meter ropes, one 90 foot rope and plenty of webbing. The Canyon started with an easy drop-in but very quickly descended with at least 4 tricky 25 foot plus downclimbs within the first hundred yards requiring either a body belay or webbing for assistance. There was one mandatory 65 foot rappel after the 4 down climbs that landed us down on a triangular shaped bench wedged into the slot. Many down climbs followed the rappel. Further down canyon the big pothole fork with the 165 foot rappel entered from the left LDC. More downclimbs followed after which we entered an open and very scenic wash. With a large amount of rain the night before we expected to find a wet canyon. The canyon was dry for the most part with all the potholes just a little muddy. There was plenty of green stuff including lots of milkweed. We encountered a rattle snake and many little toads in the wash. The hike up to the exit rim afforded fantastic views of the Dirty Devil, Poison Spring, and the Slidenide, Arscenic and Monoxide exits. \r\n\r\nPictures by Paul French

[Scott Card]

Very Very nice. Sounds like you have done the normal (trade) route. Which do you prefer? This left/west fork or the East (?) fork trade route? I wasn't too impressed with the trade route but your down climbs in the photos looked like more fun.

[Iceaxe]

Dang.... that's a BIG snake. :eek2:

[Scott Card]

looked like it just had lunch with the lump in the middle of it and all. Yikes. Did you do a head count when you got back to the car? Any smurfs missing? :haha:

[goofball]

we went down here by mistake a couple years ago. i liked the dc's and the rap. i like the main fork better but this is definitley worth the effort. i remember it being very short w/ a few curvy downslides before teh drop. was that our webbing still there ? then teh main fork junction in 3 or 4 twists after. i see that rattler is still there as well. i liked your pics. we shot video, but only of teh rap and downcanyon. wish we had got more of the upper portion, short as it is. good times... i remember us thinking as well - was THAT the big series of potholes ? is this shane guy nuts, what was so hard or "wow" about that ? our most humble of apologies now shane, it was our lack of navigating that took us there.

[rockgremlin]

Very nice TR!! :2thumbs:

Pretty physical slot.

[Iceaxe]

Adobe Swale is a strange canyon..... I've had people comment to me that its the best of the Poison Springs routes, and I've had canyoneers who thought it was a waste of a good day. Personally I thought it was a good canyon (not great) and I would probably rank it as #4 in the Poison Springs line-up. It is certainly worth doing at least once.

[canyoncaver]

Adobe Swale is a strange canyon..... I've had people comment to me that its the best of the Poison Springs routes, and I've had canyoneers who thought it was a waste of a good day. Personally I thought it was a good canyon (not great) and I would probably rank it as #4 in the Poison Springs line-up. It is certainly worth doing at least once.

Having just done the Swale last weekend, I would agree with your assessment that it is good, not great. Since you rank it as #4 Poison Springs, what are your top three in order?

[oldno7]

Ahh-- thats an easy one, Slidenide, Constrychnine, Arsenic...

I've heard of monoxide but never done it, so no rating there.

[Iceaxe]

Ahh-- thats an easy one, Slidenide, Constrychnine, Arsenic...

Then how did you mess it up.... :lol8:

Cause it's Slideanide, Arscenic and Constrychnine...

[PG Rob]

Dang.... that's a BIG snake. :eek2:

I think it is an optical illusion. You are seeing it relative in size to the other photos and people in the photos. Look closely and it appears there is a footprint. I could be wrong.
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[canyoncaver]

Then how did you mess it up.... :lol8:

Cause it's Slideanide, Arscenic and Constrychnine...

Thanks Shane. We did Slideanide the same weekend we did Adobe Swale. Nice to know we have already done the best one, at least in your opinion. Arscenic is next on my list so it looks like we're on the right track.