Erik B
09-26-2013, 09:17 PM
Planned THREE WEEKS IN UTAH!!! WooHoo!
ok...so the initial itinerary didnt work out so well:
69578
Roads EVERYWHERE were destroyed when we arrived. Flash Flooding was still rampant and things werent looking good. We had to scrap Paria and head down to Joshua Tree for some climbing to run from the rain!!! Every bloody day NOAA pushed the forecasted sunny weather forward like a carrot in front of a rabbits nose ....always just out of reach... It finally came though and considering the previous three weeks had been monsoons, I feel very lucky that all we had to do was juggle the schedule.
This is how it all went down instead:
69580
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzISgpNtVOo&feature=youtu.be
Thoughts: My goal was to own Canditions recent posts....I had it for a while! :)
HIRR + Egypt Opened the day we left....DANG IT!!! Choprock will be waiting for us next time!
Mud Springs: GREAT GREAT canyon! Red Rocks far exceeded my expectations!
Trachyotomy: hmm... did I even read this route description? Dang...got caught off guard with how tight this one was. First off we probably did about 2 man hours of repair to the road to even get there. We were forced to fix a 3 foot washout with boulders and lots of dirt....sketchy fix but it worked! (see video). The canyon: My pack was WAY WAY WAY too big. Wetsuits, despite recent weeks of rain were entirely unnecessary and were a HUGE liability for overheating. The 12 ft deep keeper was EASILY stemmed over. High stemming was somewhat unexpected: up to 40-50 ft off the deck. Yikes...that was new.
Woody: awesome! splash fest! BEAUTIFUL!
Larry: 7 hrs car to car w/ shuttle but had a HUGE group (8). Stayed at granary springs (which other than the broken glass everywhere, it was a great place to camp ---less wind!!!---) Roads were in shockingly good condition given the weather! Larry cyn: Mudfest! dang! Beautiful canyon
Not Mind Bender: 7.5hrs car to car (no shuttle) didnt have a car shuttle or bicycle. Parked at mindbender trailhead and split approach between morning and afternoon. HIGHLY recommended! GREAT CANYON! MORE MUDDY than larry and we encountered real, honest to god quicksand. Yikes! never seen it. It seems very dangerous, especially if you cant pseudo-stem on the walls. We found an alternate exit, that had obviously been discovered before us, that exited WAY before Shane's escape. That shaved off a ton of time. I do have a GPS spot if anyone is interested.
Down little blue john and up Main fork: 4.5 hrs car to car. One of the most scenic canyons around! I'm definitely planning on doing main fork to horseshoe canyon (ralston route) in the future. Tried the sandtrap just for fun. Passed with flying colors! The climb out of main fork was more strenuous than expected! Bring a small pack!
Poison Springs Hat Trick: 7hrs for all 3 poison springs cyns (car to car) Constryctnine, Slideanide, Arscenic AAAAAAAND Zero G for dessert in one day!!! Home Run!!! canyons are hardly muddy and have just a few wades. Arscenic is my favorite for the scenery. Lots of elevator technique in slideanide! there are a TON of easier escapes that others have obviously used to avoid a long walk out per the beta. We exited straight up from the confluence of Constryct and Slide twice. works well.
Zero G: Fantastic! Splashfest! The road was horridly washed out, however, someone had started a "road" off in the desert that allowed us to access within 0.8 miles of the trailhead. Done right at dark
Cable: Factory Butte road was in surprisingly good condition. Cable was great! One true Keeper. Bought $8 suits at the DI and ran the canyon in style!
Pine Creek: ~2hrs car to hitchhiking. Splashfest! Ran the canyon in the suits and got some great reactions. My favorite line was "weve come for your women...show us to them!"
HEAPS!!!!! After much anticipation we finally got our weather window. Started at 3:45am. 3 hrs to the first rap. WINDY! COLD! canyon was totally full...which is probably good for our first time. FANTASTIC canyon! final rappel sequence was WILD! People say that Englestead is worse....i suppose this is correct if you are excluding the ENTIRE final rap sequence of 500 ft!!!!! Heaps is WAAAAY more intimidating. A HUGE group of tourists sat entirely silent as we rappelled. ovations at the bottom. 11hrs grotto to grotto
ok...so the initial itinerary didnt work out so well:
69578
Roads EVERYWHERE were destroyed when we arrived. Flash Flooding was still rampant and things werent looking good. We had to scrap Paria and head down to Joshua Tree for some climbing to run from the rain!!! Every bloody day NOAA pushed the forecasted sunny weather forward like a carrot in front of a rabbits nose ....always just out of reach... It finally came though and considering the previous three weeks had been monsoons, I feel very lucky that all we had to do was juggle the schedule.
This is how it all went down instead:
69580
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzISgpNtVOo&feature=youtu.be
Thoughts: My goal was to own Canditions recent posts....I had it for a while! :)
HIRR + Egypt Opened the day we left....DANG IT!!! Choprock will be waiting for us next time!
Mud Springs: GREAT GREAT canyon! Red Rocks far exceeded my expectations!
Trachyotomy: hmm... did I even read this route description? Dang...got caught off guard with how tight this one was. First off we probably did about 2 man hours of repair to the road to even get there. We were forced to fix a 3 foot washout with boulders and lots of dirt....sketchy fix but it worked! (see video). The canyon: My pack was WAY WAY WAY too big. Wetsuits, despite recent weeks of rain were entirely unnecessary and were a HUGE liability for overheating. The 12 ft deep keeper was EASILY stemmed over. High stemming was somewhat unexpected: up to 40-50 ft off the deck. Yikes...that was new.
Woody: awesome! splash fest! BEAUTIFUL!
Larry: 7 hrs car to car w/ shuttle but had a HUGE group (8). Stayed at granary springs (which other than the broken glass everywhere, it was a great place to camp ---less wind!!!---) Roads were in shockingly good condition given the weather! Larry cyn: Mudfest! dang! Beautiful canyon
Not Mind Bender: 7.5hrs car to car (no shuttle) didnt have a car shuttle or bicycle. Parked at mindbender trailhead and split approach between morning and afternoon. HIGHLY recommended! GREAT CANYON! MORE MUDDY than larry and we encountered real, honest to god quicksand. Yikes! never seen it. It seems very dangerous, especially if you cant pseudo-stem on the walls. We found an alternate exit, that had obviously been discovered before us, that exited WAY before Shane's escape. That shaved off a ton of time. I do have a GPS spot if anyone is interested.
Down little blue john and up Main fork: 4.5 hrs car to car. One of the most scenic canyons around! I'm definitely planning on doing main fork to horseshoe canyon (ralston route) in the future. Tried the sandtrap just for fun. Passed with flying colors! The climb out of main fork was more strenuous than expected! Bring a small pack!
Poison Springs Hat Trick: 7hrs for all 3 poison springs cyns (car to car) Constryctnine, Slideanide, Arscenic AAAAAAAND Zero G for dessert in one day!!! Home Run!!! canyons are hardly muddy and have just a few wades. Arscenic is my favorite for the scenery. Lots of elevator technique in slideanide! there are a TON of easier escapes that others have obviously used to avoid a long walk out per the beta. We exited straight up from the confluence of Constryct and Slide twice. works well.
Zero G: Fantastic! Splashfest! The road was horridly washed out, however, someone had started a "road" off in the desert that allowed us to access within 0.8 miles of the trailhead. Done right at dark
Cable: Factory Butte road was in surprisingly good condition. Cable was great! One true Keeper. Bought $8 suits at the DI and ran the canyon in style!
Pine Creek: ~2hrs car to hitchhiking. Splashfest! Ran the canyon in the suits and got some great reactions. My favorite line was "weve come for your women...show us to them!"
HEAPS!!!!! After much anticipation we finally got our weather window. Started at 3:45am. 3 hrs to the first rap. WINDY! COLD! canyon was totally full...which is probably good for our first time. FANTASTIC canyon! final rappel sequence was WILD! People say that Englestead is worse....i suppose this is correct if you are excluding the ENTIRE final rap sequence of 500 ft!!!!! Heaps is WAAAAY more intimidating. A HUGE group of tourists sat entirely silent as we rappelled. ovations at the bottom. 11hrs grotto to grotto