North Wash/Poison Springs Conditions?

[DWayne27]

We are looking to head down to the North Wash area on saturday to get one last canyon in for the year. Trying to decide between Monkey Business, and Arscenic. Has anyone been through either of these recently and can help me out with current water levels? Looks like the forecast is clear, and there hasnt been much or any rain lately, but we dont have wetsuits, and dont want to get stuck in the pothole in Monkey Business when it is got some freezing cold water in it. Which canyon seems to hold water more?

Also, no one in our group has high clearance 4wd. Which road is better? I have been in both areas, but in 4wd drive vehicles, so I didnt really pay attention.

Thanks for the help!

[CarpeyBiggs]

pothole in monkey business seems a likely candidate for some water based on water we saw in shenanigans, though it's been two weeks since i was down there. both roads are suitable for any kind of car, i hear many people are doing the poison springs stuff from the bottom now? in that case, the road is probably more rough.

[DWayne27]

Awesome - thanks for the info.

How does someone go about doing the poison springs from the bottom? Is there somewhere to park on/close to 95 without much driving on the dirt road? I always like to get the hard part out of the way first and enjoy the canyon then walk out to the car, but I dont know that area well enough to figure that all out

[oldno7]

It's a pretty rough road going down Poison Spring's, often wet and/or muddy.
Way to far to walk from 95. Your best bet in a car is going to be from the top.

[totallylost]

We were down the North Wash this weekend. We hiked the main fork of leprechaun and shillelagh, and there was no water. It sprinkled a bit, but not much. Never been down either Monkey Business or Arsenic though. Good luck!

[CarpeyBiggs]

It's a pretty rough road going down Poison Spring's, often wet and/or muddy.
Way to far to walk from 95. Your best bet in a car is going to be from the top.

changes conditions regularly. most of the spring, it was in great shape, could drive straight to the dirty devil. seemed to change in late april or may. comes and goes, like most of the roads out there.

[Iceaxe]

How does someone go about doing the poison springs from the bottom? Is there somewhere to park on/close to 95 without much driving on the dirt road?

Poison Spring from the bottom sucks! You don't want to do the Poison Spring Canyons from the bottom.... it's the really crappy way of doing the canyons, unless you enjoy an extra two miles of sand slogging each way. When approaching from the bottom the hike to the goodies is a lot further. Also, the road in from the bottom is longer and (normally) rougher, usually requiring at high clearance vehicle. The lower road washes out after big storms and will than require a 4x4.

Poison Springs from the top is about as easy as a canyon can get.... you drive almost to where Arscenic begins. The road in from the top is normally in good shape and no problem in a passenger car. The only change I would make if driving my personal family vehicle is I would park at the well and not the actual TH. this will add about 1/4 mile of easy road walking to your route.

The only reason I can see for doing the canyons from the bottom is if you want to make a complete weekend and combine the south side canyons with the north side canyons (Monoxide and Adobe Swale). All the routes begin about the same place in the bottom of Poison Springs.

:cool2:

[DWayne27]

Thanks for all the info everyone

[DWayne27]

any tips for cold weather gear? forecast says a high of 40, with wind chills as low as 0... some members of my party think that might not be to pleasant. obviously will bundle up pretty significantly... i am mostly worried about hands, and there are 2 girls going with us with a tendency to always be cold

[Iceaxe]

http://www.nbleather.net/nss-folder/pictures/GR100.jpg

[DWayne27]

Thanks for all the info guys. We packed up and drive down there at 6 this morning, although didnt start hiking till about 10.

I think this is a pretty sweet canyon. Lots of good downclimbs and twisty narrow leprechuan type slots, and the rappels at the end were sweet.

Everything in the canyon was bone dry up till the semi keeper, and two little 'potholes' right before it. First was was ankle deep, second was shin deep, and the keeper was about thigh deep on me (6'1") at the deepest. Wasnt too cold though.

The exit was a little more than we were anticipating. Apparently there is an easier route about 2/3 the way up to walk out and around, but we never saw it. We are all pretty new, and none of us climbers, so there was one section just below the very top that was kinda sketchy for us, but we made it

[CarpeyBiggs]

The exit was a little more than we were anticipating. Apparently there is an easier route about 2/3 the way up to walk out and around, but we never saw it. We are all pretty new, and none of us climbers, so there was one section just below the very top that was kinda sketchy for us, but we made it

Yeah, the exit is no fun. It's mini-MIA style, and has some real nice chossy rock that seems to always crumble and hit the folks below you.

The walk around is easy to spot, if you just look for the first spot you can walk on slick rock off to the right. I'd say it's 100 yards from the top of the gully, maybe 150? There is a big cairn over there usually, takes you straight to the big rappel in no kidding.

[david_mcnay]

Everything in the canyon was bone dry up till the semi keeper, and two little 'potholes' right before it. First was was ankle deep, second was shin deep, and the keeper was about thigh deep on me (6'1") at the deepest. Wasnt too cold though.


Wasn't too cold???? The second pothole had a thin layer of ice! My feet were freezing!

[moab mark]

Thanks for all the info guys. We oacked up and drive down there at 6 this morning, although didnt start hiking till about 10.

I think this is a pretty sweet canyon. Lots of good downclimbs and twisty narrow leprechuan type slots, and the rappels at the end were sweet.

Everything in the canyon was bone dry up till the semi keeper, and two little 'potholes' right before it. First was was ankle deep, second was shin deep, and the keeper was about thigh deep on me (6'1") at the deepest. Wasnt too cold though.

The exit was a little more than we were anticipating. Apparently there is an easier route about 2/3 the way up to walk out and around, but we never saw it. We are all pretty new, and none of us climbers, so there was one section just below the very top that was kinda sketchy for us, but we made it

Which canyon?

[DWayne27]

Mark - we ended up doing monkey business. I'd say it is one of my favorites for sure. If you have someone that can do the climbing and drop a rope for the rest of the group, and have a plan to deal w the water in the potholes, I'd recommend. I was the only one with neoprene socks and shoes good in water. I gave piggy back rides to the girls so we keep them all the way dry... I guess it was kinda cold though - had to break some thin ice to get through one of them.

If I ever do that one again, I will definitely look for the exit to the right. The worst thing about the climb is all the rock and sand. I made everyone put on their helmets again to go up that thing, and its a good thing we did, as me and my wife both got hit right on the top of the helmt with the same rock, and everyone was pelted with good size pebbles the whole way. Probably nothing too dangerous, but annoying and uncomfortbale none the less.

Is the hike out the bottom of Butler very good? I really like the stretch down to the exit crack, and some members of our group (this was only their second trip ever) said if we ever took them through something like that exit again, they were done, maybe partly kidding, but they sure didnt have a good time going up that crack.

[ratagonia]

Mark - we ended up doing monkey business. I'd say it is one of my favorites for sure. If you have someone that can do the climbing and drop a rope for the rest of the group, and have a plan to deal w the water in the potholes, I'd recommend. I was the only one with neoprene socks and shoes good in water. I gave piggy back rides to the girls so we keep them all the way dry... I guess it was kinda cold though - had to break some thin ice to get through one of them.

If I ever do that one again, I will definitely look for the exit to the right. The worst thing about the climb is all the rock and sand. I made everyone put on their helmets again to go up that thing, and its a good thing we did, as me and my wife both got hit right on the top of the helmt with the same rock, and everyone was pelted with good size pebbles the whole way. Probably nothing too dangerous, but annoying and uncomfortbale none the less.

Is the hike out the bottom of Butler very good? I really like the stretch down to the exit crack, and some members of our group (this was only their second trip ever) said if we ever took them through something like that exit again, they were done, maybe partly kidding, but they sure didnt have a good time going up that crack.

The walk out the bottom is fairly nice, certainly 'nicer' than the Kelsey Exit. Ram can't stand it because there is no other canyon to do on the way out! I go about 50-50. helps if you spot a car down at Three Forks before you start the day, as a contingency....

But were you the folks that went up the gully all the way to the top? There is one or three unpleasant climbing moves generally, then escape is made to the slickrock on the right (at 2/3 height). Going straight up looks totally desperate.

:moses:

[DWayne27]

We went directly up the crack the entire way to the canyon rim. There were 2 sections of climbing that had us a bit nervous, and we felt like we were 2/3 the way up. One member of a group was off towards the right and said he couldnt see anything. Where we were waiting had a particular lot of loose sand and rock, and a slip there would have sent someone down quite a way. After we got up that, there wasnt anything going to the right, and we didnt want to try and go back down on that angled loose stuff, so we just went up. The hardest and scariest part was about 30 yards down from the rim, vertically. The climb was about 15-20 feet, with plenty of good foot and hand holds, but the top of it was awkward to get over, and again, a slip would be disasterous, perhaps worse. Once up that, it was just a walk up through more loose sand and rock to the last few steps up the rim. Once we had people on the rim, the dropped a rope to protect it for the rest of us.

After taking that exit, if I do Monkey Business again, which I would, because it was a fantastic canyon, I would definitely want to bring a climber, or pay more attention to find that other route, or just go out the bottom and enjoy the rest of Butler...