Undercover Canyon

[Slot Machine]

On December 3rd, 2012 Steph and I ventured through Undercover Canyon. It is gorgeous, and easy, but the exit is not so simple. Once we were finished, we were not sure if the canyon was worth the exit.

We made our way through the canyon in about 90 minutes, taking lots of photos and videos on our way. We took a leisurely break at the bottom of the big rap, to enjoy a snack and marvel at the beauty of the place we were in.

We headed down undercover and up MMI, soon finding the seam that is the key to the exit. The seam is steep, but not too tough. Once at the top of the seam things began to get sketchy. I headed right across the slickrock to a precarious tiny perch, about 200 feet from the canyon floor. I soon realized that was a big mistake. I couldn't continue right, or up (I tried, and my sticky rubber slipped), and going back to the seam would be very tough, since climbing up is always easier than climbing down.

I couldn't keep my balance with my pack on, so I attempted to toss it to Steph, who was standing at the top of the seam. Unfortunately, I didn't throw it far enough so it rolled about 125 feet down the slickrock and stopped on the steepest part of the cliff face. Very unlucky placement.

I slowly made my way back to the seam and spotted a cairn on a small platform to the left of the seam. Above the platform is a very steep nose with few noteworthy features. Below the platform is a very steep 150 foot slab of slickrock. Between the platform and the seam was a crack, about shoulder width, that we could hunker down in.

From the crack I belayed/lowered Steph down to my pack; the final 30 feet or so was far too steep to climb. I had to drag/winch her back up the face as she returned to the crack.

Looking up at the climb above the platform, we saw no reasonable way to get to the top of the cliff, it all seemed too steep. A fall from there would have been disastrous. It was 3:30 and it was beginning to get cold. At that point, we had been on the sandstone face for an hour.

Looking at the nose of slickrock above the platform, I could see a very faint, steep shelf heading right and then left to the top of the nose. I pinned myself in the crack and belayed Steph as she climbed the nose. Yes, belaying from below is dangerous, but far better than slipping off the nose to the bottom of the face. Steph then belayed me from behind a boulder as I climbed the nose.

We headed up to the final obstacle. We had to traverse left (the beta says right, but our eyes told us left) across the cliff to access the top level. The exposure was daunting. There is a small lip, about 6 inches wide, that leads 100 feet across the cliff face. A slip on that traverse would have been deadly, I double checked on Google Earth, and we were 220 feet from the canyon floor. We scooted our feet, one behind the other, as we made our way across. Due to the stress, we both nearly vomited when we reached the top of the cliff.

Moral of the story: study your beta closely. Take a GOOD look at your route on Google Earth before attempting this exit. It's an easy one, and scary one, to mess up.

Bob


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aea8aAkiFWM

http://amazingslots.blogspot.com/2012/12/undercover-canyon.html

[Iceaxe]

The beta is correct... go right, don't let your eyes trick you into going left. The "sidewalk" heading right is the key to the upper exit.

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[ilipichicuma]

We thought that exit was pretty sketchy, too. We had quite a bit of trouble with it a couple years ago. There was a little bit of snow on it, though, and we thought it probably would have been fine without it. However, I remember it being really sketchy snow or not.

[Kuya]

We met up with a group going through that canyon and they thought that exit was really scary too! I had done it once before and was able to scramble up and down the slick rock and set some hand lines, and without those I'm not sure how long it would have taken us to get up and out.

Where did you exit? Below is the GPS track of where we exited? Is it the same?

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=217163116159446621805.0004d0d115653e422971 b&msa=0

[Slot Machine]

Where did you exit? Below is the GPS track of where we exited? Is it the same?

Kuya, we took almost exactly the same route. That traverse from C to D on my map is the hair-raising stuff. IMO, heading left at "C" is intuitive, because the dirt patch exit is withing throwing distance. Heading right looks just as exposed, and it is much longer. Both are pretty sketchy options.

For those playing along at home, look carefully at the drop between C and D. :eek2:

62039

[Slot Machine]

The beta is correct... go right, don't let your eyes trick you into going left. The "sidewalk" heading right is the key to the upper exit.

Agreed. Although...

You might want to consider adding a pic of Google Earth to your beta, similar to mine above, showing the entire route up the face. It seems that others would find this helpful as well. :ne_nau:

Also, we put a little extra effort into our video this time. It's in 720p HD. Fancy. :cool2: If you want to add it to climb-utah, that is cool with me. If not, no worries.

[Kuya]

Very interesting. It was the section climbing to "C" that was the scariest for the group I was with.

[Slot Machine]

Very interesting. It was the section climbing to "C" that was the scariest for the group I was with.

Ya, going over the nose from that platform will get your attention. It appears that you went higher, above "C", before turning left on your route. Perhaps that was a little saver/easier, making the traverse less scary? Admittedly, we didn't look back and evaluate our route once we were at the top. We just wanted the heck out of there.

[Kuya]

Ya, going over the nose from that platform will get your attention. It appears that you went higher, above "C", before turning left on your route. Perhaps that was a little saver/easier, making the traverse less scary? Admittedly, we didn't look back and evaluate our route once we were at the top. We just wanted the heck out of there.

We might have taken a higher route. We found a "side-walk" that we followed. seemed fairly easy.

[Kuya]

Kuya, we took almost exactly the same route. That traverse from C to D on my map is the hair-raising stuff. IMO, heading left at "C" is intuitive, because the dirt patch exit is withing throwing distance. Heading right looks just as exposed, and it is much longer. Both are pretty sketchy options.

For those playing along at home, look carefully at the drop between C and D. :eek2:

62039

Looks like we did go a bit higher.

62045

[Slot Machine]

We might have taken a higher route. We found a "side-walk" that we followed. seemed fairly easy.

:facepalm1: Oh man... that is soooo much easier than what we did. Now, I wish we would have gone higher. We got fixated on the dirt patches to the left, and didn't consider going any higher. That bottom sandy patch was kind of unstable too. I stepped on the sand, and a slab of it broke off and went down the cliff, like snow does in an avalanche. My foot went all the way through the dirt and slid for a foot or so on the stone beneath. No real danger of falling, but not pleasant.

[Iceaxe]

Send me the Google earth image without any mark ups and I'll sketch the correct exit.

Also, that is a good pic of the sidewalk, but you want to exit stage right (west) and not left (east) as in the picture. Walking the sidewalk is really one of the major highlights of the route. It is just amazing that it goes forever and takes you right to culvert arch.

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[Iceaxe]

Bob, we can't view your video as it is set to "private". You need to chage the setting to "public".

[Mountaineer]

There is a "social" trail through the crypto :nono:, and by steeper slick rock. Very noticeable. You climb out by going up NEXT to it (but stay on the slickrock), then route find to a short crux (~5.5 climb), and up and out.

Took my 7 year old, but put him on belay for the crux...

[Mountaineer]

Looks like we did go a bit higher.



That's it! This is the exact way we did it. It was tricky to find, as we went to that larger crack and said "no way". This path is easy.

Missing routes: been there & done that...missing the right route can turn an easy hike epic quick. Maybe the public betas need a couple of waypoints.

[Slot Machine]

Send me the Google earth image without any mark ups and I'll sketch the correct exit.


Will do.


Bob, we can't view your video as it is set to "private". You need to chage the setting to "public".

Doh! You can now watch a kick ass video at the top of this thread. :lol8:

[Iceaxe]

I have updated the route description on Climb-Utah and hopefully made it easier for everyone to exit.

Undercover Canyon Route Description

(http://climb-utah.com/Moab/undercover.htm)I have also added a map (below) showing the route I suggest. My suggested route should be easy for any intermedate or advanced canyoneer in dry weather. The route visits 'The Sidewalk" which is a very cool natural feature. The Sidewalk goes on for what feels like forever, and you just know it's going to end as it snakes around blind corners and above large drops, but it never does. The Sidewalk is never sketchy.

Note: I have this route rated only suitable for beginners with competent (meaning skilled) leadership. It is the route finding up the exit that is the reason for the caveat.

Canyoneers that have spent a lot of time hiking on slick rock will instantly see the route up the slick rock. Those that have not will struggle as their eye will have a hard time differentiating between dangerous steep slick rock and easier hiking slick rock. The attached map should make things much easier for everyone.

62047

[blamkin86]

Just to be clear- Kuya - if you look at the picture just above, the purple line goes right at "the sidewalk," but your picture you guys went left. Correct?

[Kuya]

Just to be clear- Kuya - if you look at the picture just above, the purple line goes right at "the sidewalk," but your picture you guys went left. Correct?

Yes we went left. It was pretty easy getting to the top by going left once you get to the "sidewalk". Next time I do it though I want to check out the route going right. I want to see the Covert Arch from the top, and that seems to be the way to go.

[blamkin86]

Thanks - this is the sort of stuff that scares the crap out of me. My wife and some friends did this trip and they said I would have hated the exit. I think they actually went left... but they thought the climb up to C was the worst part.

[Iceaxe]

Once you reach the sidewalk the difficulty is over. Going left or right at the sidewalk makes no difference in difficulty. Going right is just more unique.


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[Kuya]

Once you reach the sidewalk the difficulty is over. Going left or right at the sidewalk makes no difference in difficulty.


Agreed :2thumbs: