WorkBad
04-17-2013, 04:16 PM
14 March 2013 me(Andrew), the wife(Natalie) and @skiclimb3287 (http://www.bogley.com/forum/member.php?u=19511) (Ryan) broke out of Alcatraz. This canyon was a blast and I can’t wait to do it again sometime soon. I recommend going with a minimal amount of gear for ease of passage and greater enjoyment. We left the 220ft rope at the top and took with us a 110ft rope (could have brought 45ft with pull cord), harnesses (Ryan fashioned a webbing harness), 5L of water between the 3 of us, personal anchor w/locking biner, small backpacks, ~50ft of webbing, rappel/ascending gear, and a handful of locking biners.
Google Earth overview
65265
And a view from the top looking down
65272
Standing on the canyon rim early in the morning it was about 45 degrees with wind gusts to 35mph, it was cold! Eventually we shed our windbreakers and warm fleece jackets and dropped in. The anchor is off the frame of my truck, just behind the front wheel. The weather was awesome in the canyon, warmish, no wind at all.
Natalie getting ready
65266
Ryan dropping in
65267
Natalie dropping in
65268
After rap 1, Ryan situated the rope to make an easy pull once back to the vehicle. Minutes after leaving the rope we stemmed our way to the first cool down climb with a giant pool of water at the bottom. With our experience in Larry the day before (very wet, muddy) none of us were very surprised at seeing water.
Ryan committing to the down climb
65269
Natalie at the end of the down climb, about to get soaked.
65270
We squeezed (nothing alarmingly tight), and stemmed for another ~10-15 minutes or so and were then confronted with the semi-keeper pothole. Honestly my first instinct was to climb around the lip of the hole. For anyone who is interested in doing this canyon I don't recommend this method. There is a 40ft drop on the other side of the lip and very little to stop yourself from falling. Even if clipped in the risk of shock loading the anchor (choke stone) could possibly make it fail. Instead we hit it face first and decided to toss our packs over the lip tied to the anchor. I climbed out first using the pothole features and the taught backpack anchor line. It was semi-challenging and took me a couple of tries. I then pulled Natalie up and she rapped to the bottom and kept the line taught so Ryan could again use the anchor webbing to assist in his escape.
Myself, sitting on the narrow lip between the 40ft drop (left) and the 8ft pothole (right)
65271
Moving past this point the canyon really starts to narrow. I'm 200lbs 6'2" and it didn't really feel that tight to me. Middle Lep is way tighter.
Ryan in a dark section next to a silo
65274
Natalie in the thick of it
65275
Natalie stemming high
65276
Natalie dropping into a pool (waist deep)
65277
There was one more rap of about 15 ft off a piton and an aluminum rap ring. Shortly after that we found the crux of the canyon which required all of us to stem up and over. This wasn't bad at all because there wasn't any exposure really.
Picture looking back at the crux
65278
One more pool after the crux
65279
A little more stemming
65280
AND!! we're out!
65281
The hike back to the rim was a small slog but not too bad. There are two immediate exit options out of the wash, we picked option 1 which was up and then down then up. Option 2 goes further down the wash to the next drainage and gains elevation slowly.
65283
Here are a few tips for anyone who hasn't done this one yet. Once out of the wash and onto the first major tier stay to the east of the giant sandstone mountain looking thing. It looks like the West route will eventually cliff out. Also when traveling east don't gain too much elevation because eventually you might find yourself going back down and wasting a lot of energy. Here is a picture with a diagram from the exit rim looking back toward the southwest.
65282
We had a ton of fun in this canyon and we will probably go back and do it again soon.
Google Earth overview
65265
And a view from the top looking down
65272
Standing on the canyon rim early in the morning it was about 45 degrees with wind gusts to 35mph, it was cold! Eventually we shed our windbreakers and warm fleece jackets and dropped in. The anchor is off the frame of my truck, just behind the front wheel. The weather was awesome in the canyon, warmish, no wind at all.
Natalie getting ready
65266
Ryan dropping in
65267
Natalie dropping in
65268
After rap 1, Ryan situated the rope to make an easy pull once back to the vehicle. Minutes after leaving the rope we stemmed our way to the first cool down climb with a giant pool of water at the bottom. With our experience in Larry the day before (very wet, muddy) none of us were very surprised at seeing water.
Ryan committing to the down climb
65269
Natalie at the end of the down climb, about to get soaked.
65270
We squeezed (nothing alarmingly tight), and stemmed for another ~10-15 minutes or so and were then confronted with the semi-keeper pothole. Honestly my first instinct was to climb around the lip of the hole. For anyone who is interested in doing this canyon I don't recommend this method. There is a 40ft drop on the other side of the lip and very little to stop yourself from falling. Even if clipped in the risk of shock loading the anchor (choke stone) could possibly make it fail. Instead we hit it face first and decided to toss our packs over the lip tied to the anchor. I climbed out first using the pothole features and the taught backpack anchor line. It was semi-challenging and took me a couple of tries. I then pulled Natalie up and she rapped to the bottom and kept the line taught so Ryan could again use the anchor webbing to assist in his escape.
Myself, sitting on the narrow lip between the 40ft drop (left) and the 8ft pothole (right)
65271
Moving past this point the canyon really starts to narrow. I'm 200lbs 6'2" and it didn't really feel that tight to me. Middle Lep is way tighter.
Ryan in a dark section next to a silo
65274
Natalie in the thick of it
65275
Natalie stemming high
65276
Natalie dropping into a pool (waist deep)
65277
There was one more rap of about 15 ft off a piton and an aluminum rap ring. Shortly after that we found the crux of the canyon which required all of us to stem up and over. This wasn't bad at all because there wasn't any exposure really.
Picture looking back at the crux
65278
One more pool after the crux
65279
A little more stemming
65280
AND!! we're out!
65281
The hike back to the rim was a small slog but not too bad. There are two immediate exit options out of the wash, we picked option 1 which was up and then down then up. Option 2 goes further down the wash to the next drainage and gains elevation slowly.
65283
Here are a few tips for anyone who hasn't done this one yet. Once out of the wash and onto the first major tier stay to the east of the giant sandstone mountain looking thing. It looks like the West route will eventually cliff out. Also when traveling east don't gain too much elevation because eventually you might find yourself going back down and wasting a lot of energy. Here is a picture with a diagram from the exit rim looking back toward the southwest.
65282
We had a ton of fun in this canyon and we will probably go back and do it again soon.