AJ
11-11-2007, 05:44 PM
Photos: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=182266925/a=38054161/t_=38054161
Eight of us met up to run Dream Canyon on Thursday afternoon 8/2. Some were friends, and others were from the Colorado Canyoneering group; soon to be friends. We went over introductions, and some safety info. Dream is an awesome little class C canyon right in our backyard; so we can run it on a weekday. We did the drive around and climbed down to the start of the canyon around 7pm. There was a decent amount of water moving through; so the falls would likely be really fun. The other nice thing about Dream is that any of the rappels can be bypassed, just in case the water volume is too heavy.
We suited up and headed downcanyon. We came to the first rappel around 7:30pm. Everything went fine, and we made our way down to the second rappel. As I thought, Boulder Falls had a decent amount of flow through it and it was in prime condition. Since everyone was experienced, and it was now 8:30pm and starting to get dark; I didn't set up a contingency anchor.
As with all situations like that, Mr Murphy paid us a visit and Jason got the rope wrapped around his foot right at the worst possible moment. Just as he got into the thickest part of the flow, he was stuck; which is exactly the reason for a contingency anchor to begin with. Figures. With a little help from above, he was able to clear the rope and continue down; but it was definitely a re-affirmation of why a contingency anchor should always be used in a class C canyon.
The rest of the folks made it down fine, and we finished just as we started to need headlamps. We went back to the cars, changed, talked about our learning experiences from the trip, then drove back around to get our cars from the head of the canyon. All in all, a good day; Thanks everyone!
Photos: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=182266925/a=38054161/t_=38054161
Eight of us met up to run Dream Canyon on Thursday afternoon 8/2. Some were friends, and others were from the Colorado Canyoneering group; soon to be friends. We went over introductions, and some safety info. Dream is an awesome little class C canyon right in our backyard; so we can run it on a weekday. We did the drive around and climbed down to the start of the canyon around 7pm. There was a decent amount of water moving through; so the falls would likely be really fun. The other nice thing about Dream is that any of the rappels can be bypassed, just in case the water volume is too heavy.
We suited up and headed downcanyon. We came to the first rappel around 7:30pm. Everything went fine, and we made our way down to the second rappel. As I thought, Boulder Falls had a decent amount of flow through it and it was in prime condition. Since everyone was experienced, and it was now 8:30pm and starting to get dark; I didn't set up a contingency anchor.
As with all situations like that, Mr Murphy paid us a visit and Jason got the rope wrapped around his foot right at the worst possible moment. Just as he got into the thickest part of the flow, he was stuck; which is exactly the reason for a contingency anchor to begin with. Figures. With a little help from above, he was able to clear the rope and continue down; but it was definitely a re-affirmation of why a contingency anchor should always be used in a class C canyon.
The rest of the folks made it down fine, and we finished just as we started to need headlamps. We went back to the cars, changed, talked about our learning experiences from the trip, then drove back around to get our cars from the head of the canyon. All in all, a good day; Thanks everyone!
Photos: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=182266925/a=38054161/t_=38054161