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View Full Version : Trip Report Choprock April 5, 2013



ilipichicuma
04-11-2013, 09:11 PM
Holy new favorite canyon! Choprock was awesome, and we had an excellent trip. It was Gavin's and my spring break and Anthony and Jayson came with us down to Escalante. We left early Thursday morning and got to the Egypt Trailhead around 9:00 to see about nine other cars there. We were worried that all of the good camping spots would be taken, but we were able to secure a pretty nice one at the mouth of Fence Canyon. We set up camp and then headed downriver for the afternoon. We made a quick stop at the Golden Cathedral and then went down to Ringtail. We just went up from the bottom, but it was pretty awesome. One of the darkest slots I've ever been in. We went up that canyon until we ran into a group of about 12 really loud middle schoolers and then turned around and headed back to camp to relax and turn in early in preparation for our big day.

On Friday we woke up before the sun, and then wasted the fact that we woke up before the sun as we wandered around in the dark trying to find the weakness in the canyon wall that Shane talks about in his Choprock description. Once it started to lighten up outside we found it and headed up. The approach was pretty dang long, and included a fair amount of trudging through sand, but we eventually dropped into the canyon.

Things were just starting to leaf out in the Riparian Ballroom, and all of the poison ivy was dead, though we weren't sure if it was still potent like that or not, so we steered clear of it. Eventually we hit the Happy Section, and about four steps into it I yelled something to the effect of "Holy crap! This is amazing! That whole approach just became worth it!" Seriously, though, the Happy Section of Choprock beats the crap out of the Subway as far as beauty goes, in my opinion. It's amazing.

The Happy Section turned into the Grim Section rather abruptly, I thought, and it did start out pretty grim, with a tall log jam to climb (a big log at the top going lengthwise down the canyon made it a pretty tight squeeze for me) and then a really tight narrow spot. However, after that things were pretty tame. I'm not saying that they always will be, and there was definitely a lot of challenging stuff. Several spots of high stemming, a whole lot of narrow cracks to slide down, and a few spots where we had to swim. Light was excellent down there, and after one swim we got out and stood in the sun and found that we were steaming! I guess we're just that awesome. The Grim Section turned out to be a great time, and I even got to use my strength to break a log jam! All too soon we were hitting the final rappel and leaving the technical section behind. A hike back to camp and a good night's sleep, and we were out of there. Awesome trip! Highly recommended to anyone with the skills! Here's some pictures (We were a little busy in the grim section so we only got a couple in there. We have some video, though. I'll post it once I have it edited. Our photographer, as usual, is the amazing Anthony Dunster.):

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Mountaineer
04-11-2013, 09:26 PM
Very cool. Looks well worth the trip. Can't wait to visit.

Thanks for posting!

spinesnaper
04-11-2013, 09:42 PM
Great country back there!!:2thumbs::2thumbs:Good job.

Ken

mcweyen
04-11-2013, 10:06 PM
Very awesome! Thanks for the report! Going there in late May. How much neo did you guys have on?

ghawk
04-12-2013, 04:01 AM
We had 7mm but it was a little much at times because the grim section seemed dryer than typical (We awaited the 100 yard swim in vain). However, in a month conditions could change a lot and I could see 7mm being ideal. The best solution would probably be to bring a 3 or 5mm full and then a vest to add on in case things get a little chilly. In my case, all I've got is the 7mm right now, so better safe than sorry. Awesome canyon, though. :2thumbs: Super pretty and highly recommended. Though as cliff noted, if you leave so early it's still dark it can be tricky to find the weakness that lets you onto the bench. If you take 15-20 minutes the day before and scout it out when there's light it's pretty clear, so that's what i would recommend doing.

Sandstone Addiction
04-12-2013, 01:53 PM
I enjoyed your TR very much. Beautiful canyon and pics. :2thumbs: Thanks Cliff.

Eric Holden
04-15-2013, 06:14 AM
Beautiful!

Sombeech
04-15-2013, 06:19 AM
Gorgeous canyon! Thanks for the report :mrgreen:

hesse15
04-15-2013, 10:38 AM
Very cool. Looks well worth the trip. Can't wait to visit.

Thanks for posting!

Mark
I want to do Chop, i need to beef up a little more are you interest?

Mountaineer
04-15-2013, 12:45 PM
Mark
I want to do Chop, i need to beef up a little more are you interest?

Definitely. Need to get it on the calendar. Looks like a long one, with a lot of careful planning and prep.

Kuya
04-15-2013, 02:18 PM
Thanks for the TR! Can't wait to do this canyon too. (yet another one to add to the ever growing list!)

hesse15
04-15-2013, 03:26 PM
Definitely. Need to get it on the calendar. Looks like a long one, with a lot of careful planning and prep.
probably the best will be taking extra sweet time and camp there!!!
i still need to beef up my endurance and the cold water issues, and check on the map for the possible escape route (love to have the piece of mind of an escape route)apparently it is suppose to be one half way ,that is how they guide the canyon to customers.
i will bring tons of bug spray but prefer summer temp at leastreducing a bit the ipothermia deadly danger! and possibly with the lowest water conditions!!!!
looking forward to train in cable, squeeze and witch cauldron and looking for safe/strong people with a good attitude!!!!!

ilipichicuma
04-17-2013, 05:52 AM
Got the video edited! I now have much more respect for all you people who do videos for every canyon. We had over an hour of footage and it wasn't particularly easy to trim that down to a video that people might have time to watch. Enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0Co6kd9nnwo

Sandstone Addiction
04-17-2013, 10:12 PM
Awesome video! This canyon looks sweet. :2thumbs: Thanks for taking the time to share it.

mcweyen
04-18-2013, 04:38 PM
Exactly the video I've been trying to find for almost two years! Thanks! Can't wait to see it in person. Wish the water was higher though.

Taylor
04-18-2013, 07:25 PM
Outstanding! Choprock has been high on our list for a while now. I guess we better get back down to Escalante soon...