rcrockett
04-16-2012, 01:01 PM
On April 6th and 7th a group of 6 of us descended Fat Man's Misery and Mystery Canyons. These were my first foray into technical Canyoneering. So please take my comments from the perspective of a noobie. Overall, it was a great experience, and quite different than a typical hike.
On the hike out to Misery, we got lost on the slick rock for a bit after we moved away from Checkerboard Mesa. We had a GPS unit, however, and quickly found our way to the canyon.
The rappels in Misery canyon are fairly tame, with the toughest being a rappel off the edge of a boulder (using a tree anchor) that requires you to drop into a hanging position (no feet contact). Overall, they were not too difficult or nerve-wracking for a noob.
Even though it is early spring, there were a couple of sections that require swimming, and a few more that require immersion above your hips.
As we lowered into a wash about 2/3rd the way through, we came upon a large herd of antelope[EDIT: Big Horn Sheep], that quickly scattered and ran down the canyon when they saw us (thus, no pics). As we hiked further down the wash, we came to an abrupt rappel, with steep hikes on either side. Of course, we saw no antelope, and therefore we concluded that they must all be great hikers!
I had on a rented wetsuit (rented from a place in SLC), and I was upset to learn that I scratched it up in the elbow section and tore a few holes. I should have worn elbow pads. Gratefully, the place I rented my wetsuit from treated me nicely and told me they'd call me only if the repair was costly. They haven't called yet.
The hike out of the canyon (which now accounts for the "misery" part of the canyon name) was not too terrible given the cool weather (it was in 50s or low 60s, I'd guess).
Mystery Canyon was a little more difficult. We were told by the desk clerk when picking up our permit that we were only the 2nd group down this season.
We opted to huff it up from Weeping Rock Trailhead instead of doing the car shuttle, which saved us a lot time overall (some of us had to drive back to LA that night). We were able to easily identify the turn off into Death Gully based on a picture someone had posted in a guide online. Death Gully had many sections covered in snow, and therefore we proceeded slowly. One such section appears in my pictures below. But it was doable without much concern.
The real rappels in the canyon were a lot of fun, and they didn't let up. You would finish a rappel, walk 20 feet, and encounter another rappel. Just before Mystery Springs, there are a few downclimbs and short rappels that were actually quite tricky for a noob.
As you might imagine, there was no water at this time of the year in the seasonal "lake" ahead of the rockfall.
The approach to Mystery Springs is awesome. I could tell it was coming from the pictures I had previously viewed here and elsewhere. I turned a corner and there it was. I thought the traverse out to the anchors would be more nerve-wracking than it actually was. We all clipped into the handline that seemed fairly stable. The rappel was a blast. We each landed on the boulder above the pool and then moved off the boulder into the water. The water was only knee deep, if that. Our last guy out encountered issues pulling our rope back through (our webbing pull line got stuck in some rocks) and therefore had to pull it through at the boulder. He then rappelled off an anchor we found at the boulder.
There are a couple more downclimbs and a few very short rappels before you hit the Mystery Falls. Someone in our group mis-heard the shuttle operator and believed that the last shuttle left at 5 PM. Therefore, we started moving quickly through this section.
When we hit the falls, we saw several hikers and tourists moving through the narrows, and we thus concluded that the shuttle must be operating much later than we thought (which was true). The rappel down the falls was very fun for a noob. I only slipped once, at the very beginning. When I got to the bottom, I realized that in my haste to get down to the narrows and take pictures of those rappelling after me, I had forgotten my bag and thus my camera (I brought a DSLR)! So I don't have any pictures of that section. Too bad. The last guy down thankfully brought me my bag.
The water in the narrows was not that deep, only above my knees a few times.
Overall, these were great canyons for a noob. It was better to do Misery first to get comfortable with rappelling. Great stuff.
On the hike out to Misery, we got lost on the slick rock for a bit after we moved away from Checkerboard Mesa. We had a GPS unit, however, and quickly found our way to the canyon.
The rappels in Misery canyon are fairly tame, with the toughest being a rappel off the edge of a boulder (using a tree anchor) that requires you to drop into a hanging position (no feet contact). Overall, they were not too difficult or nerve-wracking for a noob.
Even though it is early spring, there were a couple of sections that require swimming, and a few more that require immersion above your hips.
As we lowered into a wash about 2/3rd the way through, we came upon a large herd of antelope[EDIT: Big Horn Sheep], that quickly scattered and ran down the canyon when they saw us (thus, no pics). As we hiked further down the wash, we came to an abrupt rappel, with steep hikes on either side. Of course, we saw no antelope, and therefore we concluded that they must all be great hikers!
I had on a rented wetsuit (rented from a place in SLC), and I was upset to learn that I scratched it up in the elbow section and tore a few holes. I should have worn elbow pads. Gratefully, the place I rented my wetsuit from treated me nicely and told me they'd call me only if the repair was costly. They haven't called yet.
The hike out of the canyon (which now accounts for the "misery" part of the canyon name) was not too terrible given the cool weather (it was in 50s or low 60s, I'd guess).
Mystery Canyon was a little more difficult. We were told by the desk clerk when picking up our permit that we were only the 2nd group down this season.
We opted to huff it up from Weeping Rock Trailhead instead of doing the car shuttle, which saved us a lot time overall (some of us had to drive back to LA that night). We were able to easily identify the turn off into Death Gully based on a picture someone had posted in a guide online. Death Gully had many sections covered in snow, and therefore we proceeded slowly. One such section appears in my pictures below. But it was doable without much concern.
The real rappels in the canyon were a lot of fun, and they didn't let up. You would finish a rappel, walk 20 feet, and encounter another rappel. Just before Mystery Springs, there are a few downclimbs and short rappels that were actually quite tricky for a noob.
As you might imagine, there was no water at this time of the year in the seasonal "lake" ahead of the rockfall.
The approach to Mystery Springs is awesome. I could tell it was coming from the pictures I had previously viewed here and elsewhere. I turned a corner and there it was. I thought the traverse out to the anchors would be more nerve-wracking than it actually was. We all clipped into the handline that seemed fairly stable. The rappel was a blast. We each landed on the boulder above the pool and then moved off the boulder into the water. The water was only knee deep, if that. Our last guy out encountered issues pulling our rope back through (our webbing pull line got stuck in some rocks) and therefore had to pull it through at the boulder. He then rappelled off an anchor we found at the boulder.
There are a couple more downclimbs and a few very short rappels before you hit the Mystery Falls. Someone in our group mis-heard the shuttle operator and believed that the last shuttle left at 5 PM. Therefore, we started moving quickly through this section.
When we hit the falls, we saw several hikers and tourists moving through the narrows, and we thus concluded that the shuttle must be operating much later than we thought (which was true). The rappel down the falls was very fun for a noob. I only slipped once, at the very beginning. When I got to the bottom, I realized that in my haste to get down to the narrows and take pictures of those rappelling after me, I had forgotten my bag and thus my camera (I brought a DSLR)! So I don't have any pictures of that section. Too bad. The last guy down thankfully brought me my bag.
The water in the narrows was not that deep, only above my knees a few times.
Overall, these were great canyons for a noob. It was better to do Misery first to get comfortable with rappelling. Great stuff.