heliski2
08-21-2007, 12:14 PM
Monday we took a group of three canyoneers through Das Boot. The water levels were fun and mostly clean due to recent thunderstorms and the temperatures made a shorty wetsuit adequate to enjoy the tromp. About 15 minutes into the wet part of the canyon we had a surprising encounter. As the leader was climbing over the tree trunk obstacle at the end of a waist deep section, a branch to the left of his hand started moving. I realized it was a rattlesnake and yelled for him to move FAST! He jumped safely into the water on the other side. :eek1:
We got a forked stick and tried to lift the 2' diamondback off of the tree stump to a safer location, but he slithered off into the side into the twisted trunk . We quickly moved past the trunk. The snake seemed a little lethargic probably due to the cold in the wet canyon section. We suspect that it was washed in during a recent rainstorm. Be warned if you are heading into Das Boot as anti-venom would be a long time getting it to you!!
I jumped off one of the cliffs into the water after one of my pards checked to make sure it was deep enough. Unfortunately, my jump impacted about two feet past where he said the depth was over 7'. I landed on a sloping hulk of sandstone about 4.5' under the water straining both knees (they look like softballs today) and my right ankle. It made for a long hike out...
On Sunday we did Englestead Hollow which was a thrill. On the dirt road just before parking to go into the canyon we found a strange and amazing sight - there was a dead rattlesnake lying side-by-side with a dead rabbit. It appeared that the snake venom killed the rabbit, but it was after the rabbit clawed into the side of the snake's head. Yes, we have pictures to prove it.
The initial big wall rappel into Engelstead was done in 2 stages - first to the bolt station and then to the bottom. The conditions in the canyon were excellent and each of the stations on the 300' entrance wall were in good condition. Orderville Gulch through to the Virgin was beautiful with more over-the-head swims then usual. We did the whole route in shorts and really enjoyed the swims. The whole route took about 8 hours. We all agreed that we need to do it again!
Our trip started on Friday night when we met at the Buffalo Bistro in Glendale for dinner. Then we drove to Rock Canyon arriving in the dark after missing a turn or two. Most of the trail markers on the dirt roads were missing except for the last one. The dirt roads had a lot of wet mud holes from Thursday's thundershowers which kept the windshield wipers working non-stop. By the time we arrived at the campsite you could hardly see any red paint on the Jeep Grand Cherokee. After setting up camp we had a few uninvited guests (two who had horns) come into camp to try and steal our tortilla chips. It was a funny sight to see grown men chasing cows with their camp chairs flapping in front of them.
Saturday morning started off with a 6:30am thunderstorm which cleared off about 8:15am. There was minimal runoff so we headed into Rock Canyon about 9am. The upper canyon was fun and all of the webbing and rings in good shape. There was quite a few "quicksand" sections. We learned to run fast whenever we felt the jello texture of the sand start to wiggle. Invariably whoever was slowest found themselves up to their crotch struggling to break the suction and climb out. The water flow in the east fork of the Virgin was about ankle to mid-calf depth running reddish brown from all of the silt. This entire section had all of the reeds flattened from recent flashes. We encountered 3 drowned deer carcasses as we hiked downstream, including a fairly large 4 point buck.
We took some great pictures and will post them shortly.
We got a forked stick and tried to lift the 2' diamondback off of the tree stump to a safer location, but he slithered off into the side into the twisted trunk . We quickly moved past the trunk. The snake seemed a little lethargic probably due to the cold in the wet canyon section. We suspect that it was washed in during a recent rainstorm. Be warned if you are heading into Das Boot as anti-venom would be a long time getting it to you!!
I jumped off one of the cliffs into the water after one of my pards checked to make sure it was deep enough. Unfortunately, my jump impacted about two feet past where he said the depth was over 7'. I landed on a sloping hulk of sandstone about 4.5' under the water straining both knees (they look like softballs today) and my right ankle. It made for a long hike out...
On Sunday we did Englestead Hollow which was a thrill. On the dirt road just before parking to go into the canyon we found a strange and amazing sight - there was a dead rattlesnake lying side-by-side with a dead rabbit. It appeared that the snake venom killed the rabbit, but it was after the rabbit clawed into the side of the snake's head. Yes, we have pictures to prove it.
The initial big wall rappel into Engelstead was done in 2 stages - first to the bolt station and then to the bottom. The conditions in the canyon were excellent and each of the stations on the 300' entrance wall were in good condition. Orderville Gulch through to the Virgin was beautiful with more over-the-head swims then usual. We did the whole route in shorts and really enjoyed the swims. The whole route took about 8 hours. We all agreed that we need to do it again!
Our trip started on Friday night when we met at the Buffalo Bistro in Glendale for dinner. Then we drove to Rock Canyon arriving in the dark after missing a turn or two. Most of the trail markers on the dirt roads were missing except for the last one. The dirt roads had a lot of wet mud holes from Thursday's thundershowers which kept the windshield wipers working non-stop. By the time we arrived at the campsite you could hardly see any red paint on the Jeep Grand Cherokee. After setting up camp we had a few uninvited guests (two who had horns) come into camp to try and steal our tortilla chips. It was a funny sight to see grown men chasing cows with their camp chairs flapping in front of them.
Saturday morning started off with a 6:30am thunderstorm which cleared off about 8:15am. There was minimal runoff so we headed into Rock Canyon about 9am. The upper canyon was fun and all of the webbing and rings in good shape. There was quite a few "quicksand" sections. We learned to run fast whenever we felt the jello texture of the sand start to wiggle. Invariably whoever was slowest found themselves up to their crotch struggling to break the suction and climb out. The water flow in the east fork of the Virgin was about ankle to mid-calf depth running reddish brown from all of the silt. This entire section had all of the reeds flattened from recent flashes. We encountered 3 drowned deer carcasses as we hiked downstream, including a fairly large 4 point buck.
We took some great pictures and will post them shortly.