Bclark29
06-03-2013, 03:06 PM
Folks, Pandora's Box was attempted by me last year and let's just say I've been hiding a secret about that trip for a while now and I should have done my homework a little better before I went on that trip with rookies (maybe one day I'll write about that story). So, what I'm trying to get at is that I needed to hit that canyon again with people of my skill range so that I can finish that bitch from start to finish without flying the "easy" way out.
This past Saturday, June 1, myself and 3 good friends went at it.
We arrived to the trail head around 8 pm Friday night, which was perfect because we had just enough sun light left to set up camp. We did the usual "night before preparation", a nice hot fire, flask of whiskey, and making sure we had all our proper gear and maps ready for the morning.
My alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. I immediately had the adrenaline rush of excitement as I put my canyoneering clothes on. Plus, I was still thinking about my last trip to Pandora's. She's a tough canyon, so I was super excited to do it again, without having to help people all the way through the canyon. We had our last bite of breakfast and last sips of tea, we were off ready to go at 6:30 a.m.
The approach to Meeks Mesa is pretty easy to get to. All you gotta do is follow the well made path by the cows and all the cairns every 100'. We reached the top by 8 a.m. From there it's just an easy stroll heading north east'ish to the mouth of Pandora's Box. Before I know it, she's in front of me, just waiting for us to enter. The canyon gitters always kick in for all of us as we enter a dangerous area, but it's go time. We suited up and were in Pandora's Box by 8:30 am. We easily did the first down climb into a little pool of water, about shin deep. Next up, the sweet rap off a little tree stump that is wedged in the canyon walls. I'm not going to go into full detail on every move and every rap. I'll just say we worked our asses off downing climb, sucking our guts in, and stemming over some sweet tight canyon areas. Before I knew it, we were 3 hours into the canyon...and we were at the final rappel already too. Most folks are in a rush to get out of a canyon, but we like to sit there and take it in before we hit the last 140' out of Pandora's Box. I mean, not too many people do what we do, it's amazing.
The last rap is a 2 point anchor system off some nice chock stones. Our biner block is on, 8mm rope is thrown down and the 6mm pull rope is tied to the 8 mm. We each paid our respects and headed down to solid ground.
There are two exits available in Pandora's, the recommended way is the long way which takes you to the Chimney Rock Parking area and this route also requires very simple route finding. Of course, since that was the recommended way, we decided not to go that way and we did the shorter route which requires 1 3/4 miles hike heading west'ish up a dry creek bed. Then from there, ascend 500 plus feet up a mesa which requires some pretty good route finding skills and then you'll land back on top of Meeks Mesa.
As we were 3/4's up the mesa, I saw the "spot" where I had made a fire for my group to stay warm last year when our exit attempt failed. I stood over that fire, frustrated, so I kicked some more sand on it and continued hiking up. From my old fire pit to the top of the Mesa was only 15 more minutes....15... more minutes.
It was now 1:30 p.m., we hauled ass to get to this point of our trip. We all knew it was all down hill from here to get back to our camp/trail head, so we of course, hauled ass again. The exit from this route, is the same way you got up to Meeks Mesa from the trail head, so route finding was pretty damn easy.
It was now 3 p.m., about 78 degrees out and we were done. Eight hours and 30 minutes to complete Pandora's! Not bad at all.
I was extremely happy, excited, thrilled...whatever you want to call it to finally get this canyon completely finished from start to finish.
The End
Happy Canyoneering.
:mrgreen:
Oh, I didn't have a camera for this trip but two of my friends did GoPRO the whole trip so once that get there pics up I'll post some.
This past Saturday, June 1, myself and 3 good friends went at it.
We arrived to the trail head around 8 pm Friday night, which was perfect because we had just enough sun light left to set up camp. We did the usual "night before preparation", a nice hot fire, flask of whiskey, and making sure we had all our proper gear and maps ready for the morning.
My alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. I immediately had the adrenaline rush of excitement as I put my canyoneering clothes on. Plus, I was still thinking about my last trip to Pandora's. She's a tough canyon, so I was super excited to do it again, without having to help people all the way through the canyon. We had our last bite of breakfast and last sips of tea, we were off ready to go at 6:30 a.m.
The approach to Meeks Mesa is pretty easy to get to. All you gotta do is follow the well made path by the cows and all the cairns every 100'. We reached the top by 8 a.m. From there it's just an easy stroll heading north east'ish to the mouth of Pandora's Box. Before I know it, she's in front of me, just waiting for us to enter. The canyon gitters always kick in for all of us as we enter a dangerous area, but it's go time. We suited up and were in Pandora's Box by 8:30 am. We easily did the first down climb into a little pool of water, about shin deep. Next up, the sweet rap off a little tree stump that is wedged in the canyon walls. I'm not going to go into full detail on every move and every rap. I'll just say we worked our asses off downing climb, sucking our guts in, and stemming over some sweet tight canyon areas. Before I knew it, we were 3 hours into the canyon...and we were at the final rappel already too. Most folks are in a rush to get out of a canyon, but we like to sit there and take it in before we hit the last 140' out of Pandora's Box. I mean, not too many people do what we do, it's amazing.
The last rap is a 2 point anchor system off some nice chock stones. Our biner block is on, 8mm rope is thrown down and the 6mm pull rope is tied to the 8 mm. We each paid our respects and headed down to solid ground.
There are two exits available in Pandora's, the recommended way is the long way which takes you to the Chimney Rock Parking area and this route also requires very simple route finding. Of course, since that was the recommended way, we decided not to go that way and we did the shorter route which requires 1 3/4 miles hike heading west'ish up a dry creek bed. Then from there, ascend 500 plus feet up a mesa which requires some pretty good route finding skills and then you'll land back on top of Meeks Mesa.
As we were 3/4's up the mesa, I saw the "spot" where I had made a fire for my group to stay warm last year when our exit attempt failed. I stood over that fire, frustrated, so I kicked some more sand on it and continued hiking up. From my old fire pit to the top of the Mesa was only 15 more minutes....15... more minutes.
It was now 1:30 p.m., we hauled ass to get to this point of our trip. We all knew it was all down hill from here to get back to our camp/trail head, so we of course, hauled ass again. The exit from this route, is the same way you got up to Meeks Mesa from the trail head, so route finding was pretty damn easy.
It was now 3 p.m., about 78 degrees out and we were done. Eight hours and 30 minutes to complete Pandora's! Not bad at all.
I was extremely happy, excited, thrilled...whatever you want to call it to finally get this canyon completely finished from start to finish.
The End
Happy Canyoneering.
:mrgreen:
Oh, I didn't have a camera for this trip but two of my friends did GoPRO the whole trip so once that get there pics up I'll post some.