Headdress Canyon

[ilipichicuma]

Ahoy the forum! In case anyone was wondering, we didn't die in Korea. We have since moved to Phoenix. It turns out there's a lot more canyon action in this state than I thought there was. Just today we went up to Headdress Canyon, a short but sweet one near Tortilla Flat in the Superstition Mountains. It had a couple fun rappels, a two or three downclimbs, and a pool of water that was nice on a hot day. It took us under three hours to finish. We learned something about the Superstitions, though. Pretty much everything that grows there has thorns. Bushwhacking is not advised, though we didn't see any way around it for the walkout of this canyon. But, despite the many scratches we accumulated, we all had a good time. We got our beta on this one from hikearizona.com. That site actually has tons of cool-sounding canyons on it. I'm looking forward to checking them out! Here are some pictures.

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[Taylor]

Nice. Rough time of year to be canyoneering near Phoenix. Try Minnow Canyon in that same area. North of the lake is also Parker and The Jug of Salome Creek. Of course, you will find all these and more in Todd Martin's book. During our annual Christmas trip to The Valley of the Sun (14 years running now) we try to hit a canyon, weather permitting. Lots to do around Phoenix, including mtn biking and climbing. Quite the contrast to the climate of Korea.

[mzamp]

Welcome to Phoenix and our skin ripping flora. Just around the corner is prime season for these desert jewels. Especially if you can catch them with some flow after a rain. Thanks for the trip report.