Eardley Canyon-Death March

[moab mark]

Did Eardley canyon on friday, who sadistic idea is that one for a canyoneering adventure?:angryfire: The 15 year old girl who tagged along wants to have my buddy Shane hung from a tree.:nod: I would attach pictures but haven't bought a new camera yet.
Those of you that have done Eardley did you think it was a death march or a nice stroll? Shane states on his site that Eardley is like your girlfriend from high school who makes you do a little bit of work before you can :giveit:. We decided she's not worth it no matter how hot she might of been. We did like the 300 yds of canyon but not worth the death march.

Jman chock full of water couldn't hold another drop. Lucky it wasn't hot or it really would of been a death march.

Mark

[jman]

Jman chock full of water couldn't hold another drop. Lucky it wasn't hot or it really would of been a death march.

Mark
Thanks, I will update it later or tomorrow.

I like Eardley, but I hate the climb up at the beginning too.

[ratagonia]

Did Eardley canyon on friday, who sadistic idea is that one for a canyoneering adventure?:angryfire: The 15 year old girl who tagged along wants to have my buddy Shane hung from a tree.:nod: I would attach pictures but haven't bought a new camera yet.
Those of you that have done Eardley did you think it was a death march or a nice stroll? Shane states on his site that Eardley is like your girlfriend from high school who makes you do a little bit of work before you can :giveit:. We decided she's not worth it no matter how hot she might of been. We did like the 300 yds of canyon but not worth the death march.

Jman chock full of water couldn't hold another drop. Lucky it wasn't hot or it really would of been a death march.

Mark

Lotta canyon, a little pain... oh, oh, you mean Eardley - in that case = Lotta pain, for a little bit of nice canyon. Haven't been there in 10 years I think.

Tom :moses:

[Scott P]

Late June is too hot to do the climb in Lower Eardley IMHO.

The best way to do Eardley is from the top down. IMHO, doing the rest of the canyon with the same trip is worth it (there are some nice narrow sections and below that big potholes) and you don't have to do the climb up and down that nasty chute. I don't know why most people just want to do the lower end.

[Iceaxe]

Hey... you can't bitch at me, I warned you in a PM..... back in the first part of May when you were orginally going to do the route.

"I really like Eardley, its a fun canyon and I ways get great pictures, but some folks hate it because of the approach. I never thought the approach was bad, just part of the fun..."

And yeah.... it's the wrong time of year to be doing canyons with long exposed approaches in the Swell

Honestly.... I just don't think the approach is that difficult.... that hike is 10 times easier than the MIA or Wind Wind Hollow....

[moab mark]

Yes I know you gave me a warning. But trust me the two who went with me do not know that. Lucky it wasn't that hot. If you could rappel in from the top and not have to turn around and then hike down the scree hill, and then boulder hop pinecreek exit it would be a great canyon.:lol8:But when you combine all 3 for the amount of fun the return on investment is not there IMHO. We lived. The part of the hike that was discouraging is you are still going up and up but when you look in you can tell you have passed the good stuff.

One more item, when Eardley is chock full of water there is only one rappel, which we thought could of been handlined. We kept seeing bolts and the water was just ft away. What Eardley needs IMO is a knotted hand line at the last drop and then you could ascend it thru the fun section and then turn around and go back down. We thought about leaving a rope there but I figured it would dissappear.

Mark

[Iceaxe]

Eardley really changes depending on water conditions. Some of the little 2 and 3 foot drops that are bolted turn into 10 and 15 foot drops when the canyon drys out.

Here is a picture of the same rappel in high water and in medium water...

High Water
http://climb-utah.com/SRS/Files/eardley1.jpg


Medium Water
http://climb-utah.com/SRS/Files/eardley5.jpg

[Scott Card]

Eardley..... been there once, will never do it again, and that is putting it kindly.

[Iceaxe]

So.... I assume its safe to assume you both missed the huge fossil's that look like palm leaves and the dinosaur skeleton which are all near the bottom of the steep gully where it crosses through the Mossback layer of sandstone?

[Scott Card]

So.... I assume its safe to assume you both missed the huge fossil's that look like palm leaves and the dinosaur skeleton which are all near the bottom of the steep gully where it crosses through the Mossback layer of sandstone?
Yes, and I will be happy to view a photo of it.:haha:

[Iceaxe]

I was serious about the fossils... when you descend through the Mossback (the same layer the Uranium mines are dug into).... you will see dozens of huge fossilized leaves. They look like palm leaves from a modern coconut tree. The dino has most of it's backbone exposed and a few other bones. It's just to the north (right) of the gully's fall line in a small cliff. I reported the dino to the BLM about 10 years ago but they didn't seem that interested. Their reply was "there are a lot of dino's out in the Swell."

And a useful note to add to your gee-whizz file.... whenever you cross through a layer of sandstone that contains old uranium mines look for fossil's. Fossils and Uranium are always found in the same layer.....

[qedcook]

I did Eardley last year in mid-April and absolutely loved it. I learned a long time ago that when it comes to the swell, do the canyon in april-may or don't do it at all.

[moab mark]

I was serious about the fossils... when you descend through the Mossback (the same layer the Uranium mines are dug into).... you will see dozens of huge fossilized leaves. They look like palm leaves from a modern coconut tree. The dino has most of it's backbone exposed and a few other bones. It's just to the north (right) of the gully's fall line in a small cliff. I reported the dino to the BLM about 10 years ago but they didn't seem that interested. Their reply was "there are a lot of dino's out in the Swell."

And a useful note to add to your gee-whizz file.... whenever you cross through a layer of sandstone that contains old uranium mines look for fossil's. Fossils and Uranium are always found in the same layer.....

It wasn't in my follow the dots instructions:lol8:

[moab mark]

Eardley..... been there once, will never do it again, and that is putting it kindly.

:hail2thechief::hail2thechief::hail2thechief:

What I can't figure out is Shane didn't like Behunin but thinks Eardley is a fun canyon?

[Scott Card]

That is the mystery. I know Mr. Ice doesn't care for long raps.

[Iceaxe]

I've done Behunin twice and will probably never do it again.... but I've done Eardley 5 or 6 times, and I'll probably do it again.... different strokes I guess....

One thing I've noticed about Eardley.... you will either love it or hate it.... not a lot of tweeners when it comes to opinions on Eardley....

[restrac2000]

I have done Eardley a few times and love it as an early or late season hike. Last time we did it was either Feb. of 2004 or 2005. Ionsmuse and I alternated breaking ice in the pools. You don't have to worry about the cold so much in that canyon because it is so short. The approach trail is great from Feb-April; I tend to agree that the Swell is out of season sometime in May, at least most years (this year seems to be relatively mild thus far).

Most of the approach I actually find to be a pleasant hike, but then again I favor canyons like the Right Fork.

Phillip

[DougInGJCO]

Does anyone know how the road is at this point from the Zero G parking lot to the Eardley trailhead? Back in July when we went in hoping to do Eardley we had to stop at Zero G due to a 'step' in the road way too high for a Subaru to negotiate.

[qedcook]

The road is still pretty rough, but nothing a true 4x4 can't handle.. The shortcut route makes this canyon approach much shorter and easier. I really liked the canyon both times, with the long approach and with the short approach. If trying for the shortcut route, bring a 60 m (205 foot) rope. It's too bad the shortcut route isn't more well established because that made things soooo much easier and nicer.

[Iceaxe]

If someone would GPS the shortcut anchors it could become well established.


Tap'n on my smart phone.

[qedcook]

The problem is that I wasn't certain that the way we took in is the easiest or best way. We found a few anchor points already established and chose the rappel/route we thought was best, but I'm fairly confident I could have found an easier way in. The way we went in was easy enough though. One 100 foot rappel and easy downclimbing was all that was required.