North Wash Conditions

[AJ]

(Update - for current conditions; read below...)

Hey all, as I've got a group going out to the Irish canyons next weekend; was wondering if anyone has been out there lately? What were the conditions? I'm assuming pretty dry. Weather links I have show not even 0.01 inches of rain in over 100 days...

Never know if a local system hit though; so would love any info on your North Wash experience; especially if it's Leprechaun, Blarney, Shillelaugh, etc.



Thanks!
A.J.

[shaggy125]

I did Shenanigans last Wednesday. The first spot that holds water, and can be a swimmer if it rained recently (do you know the spot?) was about knee deep, other that that just a couple muddy spots. Of course the spring fed pool at the end was full. Fun times, I'll post pictures sometime.

[AJ]

I did Shenanigans last Wednesday. The first spot that holds water, and can be a swimmer if it rained recently (do you know the spot?) was about knee deep, other that that just a couple muddy spots. Of course the spring fed pool at the end was full. Fun times, I'll post pictures sometime.

Yep, I know the spot. Thanks. More water than I was expecting based on:
http://mesowest.utah.edu/cgi-bin/droman/precip_summary.cgi?state=UT&rawsflag=3 (See Hanksville)

http://www.intellicast.com/National/Precipitation/Weekly.aspx?location=USUT0208


I figure others must have gone over this weekend to North Wash stuff; we'll see what else comes in...

[AJ]

Hey all,

Just got back from a pretty wild North Wash weekend. First off, canyon conditions were very dry. We did R Shillelagh (Kelsey's 27.4), L and R Blarney (Kelsey's 27.6) and all 3 forks of Leprechaun (Kelsey's 28.1) canyons. All forks were completely dry. Weather was wonderful over the weekend, but was starting to cloud over and get windy as we were leaving. Clouds didn't look like they were holding enough moisture to fill/flash the canyons; but don't know if anything came down after we left.

The sandy spot getting from the main Sandthrax area to the camps tucked in further down the road is getting deeper. Subarus had no problem, but some passenger cars could now likely get stuck there. On the other side, the Sandthrax drainage is getting deeper too. Had a Subaru hit the bottom; so passenger cars will have an issue there now too. HC 4WD's obviously have no issue at either end...

The weekend was pretty wild, in that there were more than five large groups in the area. There was a Utah climbing group (Yukon Climbing Club I think) that had close to 60 people, several groups from California; as well as my group and Rick's group. As well as other smaller groups of individual folks. Busiest I ever saw Sandthrax (and the surrounding area.) Didn't run into anyone from Spidey's group.

Overall, I think the groups were respectful of the environment. Didn't notice much trash, etc. Some of my group went around and cleaned up trash as the rest of us were finishing packing; so hopefully things are in good shape there. (Truthfully, we were trying to get packed up and out on Sunday; so I didn't really take a good walk and look around.) My main concern was that folks new about Hog Springs for a toilet. I know I told several folks/groups and Rick did too. Hope the information was used...

I did, however, notice some graffiti in the canyons. I think it was Blarney that had some new names; Ryan and Chad if I remember right. Right Leprechaun had a very new Cody 09. (Most groups did right Leprechaun, so don't know if it was one of the groups - or even if it was done this weekend. Pretty sure the Cody 09 was though, as it looked REALLY fresh.) If anyone knows folks with these names - especially if they were in the Irish canyons recently, might be worth checking to make sure they know Leave No Trace principles. (and re-inforcing the info with any large groups that might be coming out to the area. Never hurts.)



Take care,
A.J.