Knotted Rope

[ststephen]

Don, Erik, cachehiker (Brian) and two of Don's friends (Gonzo and Cody) spent last weekend in the Swell camping at the Hidden Splendor airstrip. Our first canyon on was Knotted Rope.

Cody was not able to arrive with us the night before so we had a little bit of a late start while we waited for him at camp

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By mid-morning we were at the trail head below the Navaho cliffs. Soon gaining altitude and eventually topping off as we emerged from Wayne's Wriggle:

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The views from the top of the Navaho cliffs are just fantastic. I'm surprised we didn't have more company up there that day but we did meet a nice young Big Horn.

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The white dot in the photo below is the tent SUWA had at the airstrip. They were doing a get together the same weekend. We did have some nice talks with them both about the importance of preserving the places we love and offering some critique of their relationship with the 4-wheeling community. Let's leave that to another thread.

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After following the ridge of the Navaho for a bit it was time to descend into the Knotted Rope drainage. There were a couple of little downclimbs here and soon we were walking in the valley. In the distance above us we could see the pinnacles of the Ridge Walk variation to Knotted Rope. I'd really like to do that some day as the views must be fantastic up there.

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Shortly it got a little more technical with some interesting pot holes. There was a lot of water in there this last weekend. We were continually faced with the choice of wading or swimming a hole or skirting it with some climbing technique. Lots of fun!

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The lower part of the canyon still had some fun climbing though it opened up quite a bit revealing the edge of the Swell and the landscape beyond. You can see that there was still lots of water in this lower part but you can avoid all of these holes easily.

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As we were just about at the end of the Reef, and the canyon, we started to notice the large blocks of different rock laying on top of the Navajo Sandstone we were walking on. It was interesting to realize that at the start of the hike we had gained altitude by ascending the Wingate, Kayenta and Navajo layers. But all through the descent of the canyon we had remained in the Navajo. The whole time we were losing altitude the Reef had also been sloping down so that we were still on top of the Navajo layer at the end. In fact, out here we could see that the Carmel/Entrada layers that overlay the Navajo were still present as a thin covering or erratic cubic blocks laying around and in the potholes!

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This shot looks back up Knotted Rope canyon:

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The walk along the back side of the reef was pleasant with nice views.

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The hike up the Gorge did seem to drag on a bit, but we were entertained by the afternoon light and the beauty of the Gorge itself:

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Finally back a "Motel 6" and the airstrip in time for a well deserved dinner.
It was a great day with a great group!

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[Don]

Nice TR.
I did this canyon a couple years ago in April and this time there was a lot more water in the canyon. Oddly I remember there being a rappel in Knotted Rope, but I guess we did the Quandary bypass route that same weekend two years ago and those canyons must have blended a bit in my mind.
My camera was a casualty of this trip. I don't have as many photos but here's what I got.
(http://picasaweb.google.com/don.ferguson1/SeptemberInTheSwell#)


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[Iceaxe]

:popcorn:

[ststephen]

I hope someone else got some shots of the potholes with the pipes where you tight rope walk across.

[ibenick]

Cool stuff! :popcorn:

[uintahiker]

Looks like a blast!

[Cirrus2000]

:2thumbs: Looks like a great time! Jealous...