Neon canyon in end of May'14 - route, and conditions questions

[nkanarik]

Hi all,
I'm new to this forum, and this is my very first post :).

I plan on doing Neon Canyon shortly after Memorial Day Weekend this year.
[LIST=1]
Does any of you know if we should expect cold water; therefore carry wet-suits with us?
Should I be concern about deer flies?
I have the route from "http://climb-utah.com/Escalante/neon.htm," and noticed that the site shows a path that drops to Fence Canyon, where I read somewhere else (http://www.annestravels.net/neon-beeline/) that there is a shorter route "Egypt parking area, located 37

[ratagonia]

[QUOTE=nkanarik;555419]Hi all,
I'm new to this forum, and this is my very first post :).

I plan on doing Neon Canyon shortly after Memorial Day Weekend this year.
[LIST=1]
Does any of you know if we should expect cold water; therefore carry wet-suits with us?
Should I be concern about deer flies?
I have the route from "http://climb-utah.com/Escalante/neon.htm," and noticed that the site shows a path that drops to Fence Canyon, where I read somewhere else (http://www.annestravels.net/neon-beeline/) that there is a shorter route "Egypt parking area, located 37

[TommyBoy]

As Tom said lots of time between now and then, check candition.com right before you go and see what the latest report says. My guess is unless the water is really low you will want the suit.

[nkanarik]

Thanks - this helps...will take the Bee Line route, and prepare for the cold water and deer flies/Cedar gnats.
FYI for all of you out there...besides long sleeves, I plan on trying the blue caps solution, seems silly, but I hope it works :) (Trolling Deer Fly Trap (http://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/MizellRF/deerfly_trap.htm))

[ratagonia]

Thanks - this helps...will take the Bee Line route, and prepare for the cold water and deer flies/Cedar gnats.
FYI for all of you out there...besides long sleeves, I plan on trying the blue caps solution, seems silly, but I hope it works :) (Trolling Deer Fly Trap (http://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/MizellRF/deerfly_trap.htm))

Choice of campsite can be very important. Might have to search around to find a spot that is Cedar Gnat and Deer Fly free. There is a ledge up high near the mouth of Neon where we do rappel practice sometimes, that can be used and might have enough wind. You can also climb the hill at the start of neon to the top, and camp there up on the bench. Might have enough wind.

The Trolling Deer Fly Trap: I think they describe our flies as Yellow Flies (that attack the legs), because they attack the legs. Seems to me you were just trolling, but yeah, it would not work. Wearing a wetsuit works.

T

[nkanarik]

Thanks Tom. I truly appreciate your replies, and effort you put into them!
- We'll be wearing long sleeves and bring our wet suits with us
- Neon canyon - planning on a day trip and camp next to the Egypt trailhead the night before, and camp the next night next to the Headless Hen / Raven campsite as this is our next route.

Counting the days :)

[lucach]

My group is planning to do Neon+Choprock on memorial day weekend (May 25-27). If I forget, send me a note remind me to update this post.

[nkanarik]

Will do if I remember :)...I'm going to be in Zion then, and hoping to get access to the web via my phone. Will be great to know conditions about these two canyons.

[nkanarik]

My group is planning to do Neon+Choprock on memorial day weekend (May 25-27). If I forget, send me a note remind me to update this post.
Heading to Escalante in a couple of days...any update on Neon conditions and whether wet suits are required?

[Brian in SLC]

We did it last Saturday...plenty of water. We wore 2 to 3mm wetsuits. Talked to a group that didn't use wetsuits...and...they said "doable"...but...they were fairly solid fellers (ha ha).

Hard thing to offer. I'd say, if the day is hot, and, you have reasonable cold water tolerance, then, probably be ok. Most of the water is waist deepish, but, there's a swimmer in a spot or two.

Anchors are fine. No keeper in sight. Plenty of folks doing it. My bet is half the traffic we saw over the Memorial Day weekend were going into Neon.

[Jolly Green]

We did Neon last Thursday. We dropped in where the forks meet. A few sections of swimming- first keeper is chest deep with water and the last keeper is still a couple feet over the lip. It was the day before the rainstorm, so if anything there would be more water. I was quite comfy in a 4/3 wetsuit. Deer flies and no see ums are definitely out but honestly weren't as bad as I was expecting. Ringtail is a good add on if you have an extra couple hours.

[Suede]

We are heading out there June 8th. Where did you guys camp? Were bugs an issue there? We were thinking of camping at the trail head, but we were thinking there might be a lot of bugs there.

[Brian in SLC]

We camped prior to the Egypt trailhead as I'm fairly sure its illegal to camp at the trailhead (not posted, but...information is out there so...).

I didn't think the bugs were too bad either, but, I do have some itchy bites. Might be poison ivy though...ha ha.

[Michael_WB]

Maarten and I will be in the Egypt area early next week. We descended Neon in a relaxed fashion last September when it was tippy-top full of water, and this time hope to explore even higher than Tom's 'more fun' entrance we used last time, and condition-dependent are musing about Choprock. All assuming we recover from a brutal 2 days in the Right Fork over the weekend and then Imlay Sneak today...

[Suede]

We camped prior to the Egypt trailhead as I'm fairly sure its illegal to camp at the trailhead (not posted, but...information is out there so...).

I didn't think the bugs were too bad either, but, I do have some itchy bites. Might be poison ivy though...ha ha.

Thanks!

[nkanarik]

Thanks for the info...We ended up not doing Neon, as one of the guys broke his leg while doing Echo canyon so we headed back home...wait for my "Echo Canyon" trip report for the full story.

[ratagonia]

Thanks for the info...We ended up not doing Neon, as one of the guys broke his leg while doing Echo canyon so we headed back home...wait for my "Echo Canyon" trip report for the full story.

Yikes!!!!

[lucach]

Is 4th of July bad time for Neon/Choprock? I hear it gets really hot and nats are nasty...

[ratagonia]

Is 4th of July bad time for Neon/Choprock? I hear it gets really hot and nats are nasty...

You heard right...

though, both vary about the same amount. CAN be reasonable. Alarm clock essential.

T

[Bootboy]

Is 4th of July bad time for Neon/Choprock? I hear it gets really hot and nats are nasty...

Hot. But the bugs (gnats) are definitely much less present. They are generally at their worst from mid may through mid June.


LNT

[Suede]

Did short route for Neon on 6/9. We camped about .5 mi down Egypt Road after Hole In Rock Road junction. Excellent campsite. Initially very few bugs. However, two days later I had to retreat to my car until it got dark. Temps are starting to increase as well. Started down at 8am and temps were very reasonable. Be sure to start off left of Fence Canyon. Gnats and flies were present at Fence Camp (and beyond), but not that bad (just keep moving). River level is calf high. Plenty of cairns on the hike up to the drop in. All anchors are in great shape. Water is cool in the canyon. I used a 2mm shorty, but I could have done without honestly. I think from now on temps are going to spike up, so the water in the canyon will feel good. Keeper is full of water, so no problem. Plus I could stand on the sand on the bottom. Canyon took us less than an hour to complete. Hike up can be a death march, if temps get any higher :) Just about everybody used 3L of water, but I suggest 4 for safety. Total trip time was 9 hrs, but we spent at least 1.5 hrs in the golden cathedral eating lunch and snapping photos. Good time had by all. Pic below shows water level of the keeper.

[Michael_WB]

Keeper is full of water, so no problem. Plus I could stand on the sand on the bottom.

Yes, when we were there on June 5th the last keeper was not an issue. However for those doing the "More Fun" or further up entrances, be aware that there is a pothole very much in keeper mode, but bypassable by a bolt high LDC.
On the way in, the bugs didn't bother us much, but walking between Neon and the Fence Camp on the way out, we both got eaten by deer flies. Even keeping moving they would settle and bite pretty much instantly, so once out of the wading sections at Fence Camp, we re-zipped on the long pants extensions, in preparation for the trudge back to the TH in the afternoon heat.

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