Monkey Business and Foolin' Around

[Mudcat]

Am heading to North Wash this weekend and thinking about Monkey Business and Foolin' Around, both new to me. I can't find much detail, except from Kelsey. But I did notice on the CanyoneeringUSA map on Tom's site he lists both as 3B III 5.6 R. And I'm wondering, is the 5.6R for potholes, or something else? Exposure? I'm not a great climber, and am taking someone even less experienced than me.

Second, I'm assuming two people with reasonable pothole escape skills and and tools shouldn't have a problem with these.

Finally, I'm assuming it's pretty dry down there, but is the pool at Foolin' Around a swimmer year round? I wasn't planning on taking neo.

Thanks.

[DWayne27]

havent done those canyons, but last weekend, slideanide, east leprechaun, merry piglet and morocco were all bone dry.

also- if you have an extra couple hours- check out morocco. it is fantastic, and only 30 minutes or so from your car to the head of the slot

[CarpeyBiggs]

I assume it is for the pothole in Monkey. There is a tricky rope pull in Monkey as well. I bet the pothole is about waist deep, it was not a swimmer in December.

You can skip the final rappel on Foolin' and climb up the ridge on the west side of the canyon to get back to the car faster, but there are a couple kinda tough 4th class moves on the way up. Still, both are probably not really "R."

Two people with reasonable skills should be fine.

Monkey Pics here: http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/rave/dan0712freeze/pages/day4/index.html

Foolin here: http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/rave/dan0712freeze/pages/day6/index.html

[Scott Card]

I assume it is for the pothole in Monkey. There is a tricky rope pull in Monkey as well. I bet the pothole is about waist deep, it was not a swimmer in December.

You can skip the final rappel on Foolin' and climb up the ridge on the west side of the canyon to get back to the car faster, but there are a couple kinda tough 4th class moves on the way up. Still, both are probably not really "R."

Two people with reasonable skills should be fine.

Monkey Pics here: http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/rave/dan0712freeze/pages/day4/index.html

Foolin here: http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/rave/dan0712freeze/pages/day6/index.html
There is that one pothole in Monkey that could be a keeper???? if scooped out. That is the pothole prior to the final rap just as you exit the slot section (not including the irrelevant potholes that can be avoided by going right looking down canyon after that potential keeper.) Look at pictures 20-22 on Dan's link to get a sense of the pothole.

Also, I wonder if the short stemming section in Foolin Around gives it an R rating along with the mighty cold water below it. Beats me. :ne_nau: One guy I took through who had only done Zion Canyons accused me of trying to kill him in Foolin Around due to that short stemming section and elevators. :haha:

[Mudcat]

Thanks Scott, Dan and DWayne. I appreciate the perspective. I'm looking forward to the canyons, and will definitely try to squeeze in Morocco. Turns out I'm leading a few newbie BYU girls for the last two days, so I'll start them on East Lep and see how they do. Foolin' Around might be too much for them, so I may opt for Arsenic or Constrychnine on Day Two. But I'm definitely going to hit Monkey or Foolin' before they arrive.

A weekend with a bunch of college girls? Yeah, friends of my daughters. Why didn't this happen to me when I was 20?

Bill

[Mudcat]

Last weekend we got into Monkey Business before the group of girls arrived. My first time in this very fun canyon. I'm guessing the keeper pothole had more sand than usual, because we both climbed out without assistance. I'm also thinking that maybe it was the Kelsey exit with the 5.6 reference. There were a couple of semi-exposed short bursts that required some rudimentary climbing--but nothing hard. The chimneying makes this slot tons of fun.

Thanks for the tip on Morocco, and for Wyoming Dave to explore and publish it. I took a group of six down it after we'd done East Lep. It's a great way to finish a day. You pack a lot into a very short time and the approach couldn't be shorter or sweeter.

Also took in Adobe Swale--my first time in there as well. For a lot of my group it was the first time rapping (except for the single in East Lep). Not the ideal place to learn, but great fun. Did several belays and meat raps because of the tricky first steps. Very cool to see no bolts in there. Thanks to Erin and her group from Durango who were right behind us and tossed my rope on the three-PH rappel. I'd heard that the rope pull could be difficult there, but I thought I had it figured. Nope--I had to jug up the bottom two holes to free it. I don't think I'll do a biner block there again. Which does raise a question--what's the best knot to get through tight channels (not rope grooves) in a place like that, to minimize catching your rope? Single EDK? Fisherman's?

Thanks to Shane for the excellent route description on his site. Great time. Perfect weather. Almost completely dry.

[ratagonia]

Last weekend we got into Monkey Business before the group of girls arrived. My first time in this very fun canyon. I'm guessing the keeper pothole had more sand than usual, because we both climbed out without assistance. I'm also thinking that maybe it was the Kelsey exit with the 5.6 reference. There were a couple of semi-exposed short bursts that required some rudimentary climbing--but nothing hard. The chimneying makes this slot tons of fun.


My maps change from time to time. The West Forks of Butler was updated in the spring, and provides more 'modern' ratings for these canyons. No "5.6" to be found.

Just back from Foolin' Around this weekend. Since the potholes were dry, we downclimbed, then built a deadman anchor, and rapped through the three potholes. Fun, and the potholes are not deep (ie, would not become a keeper at any water level. We kicked over each of the potholes while on rappel. Slower, but more scenic, than hiking down the gully on the left.

Tom