Aardvark Canyon - South Fork

[Slot Machine]

On May 31st, 2016, Steph, Tom, Wayne, Christian, Cole and I conquered the South Fork of Aardvark Canyon.

This day was a fight. It took two attempts to gain the mesa, so by the time we reached the top of the canyon it was hot and easily past noon.

We dropped in without knowing what was in store. We were surprised by the number of potholes we encountered and by the quality of the canyon overall. When we reached the halfway point we knew our effort was going to be worth it.

There were perhaps ten tight sections where some elected to go high and over the top. There was a dark section where it was very difficult to see the floor looming below. There was a LOT of water to negotiate; wet hallways and full potholes around every corner. There was also a HUGE pool where the North and South forks converge (easy to get through).

The final rap sequence was tricky and involved a large pothole that contained two crows; one dead and one still alive. The live crow left us alone and we left him alone. The rap into the riparian area at the end of the canyon was a fine way to round out the day.

We worked HARD for about 11 hours to get this route done. If you subtract our first summit attempt and some rehydration time, we had a car-to-car time of 8.5 hours. Now that we know what to expect, we could repeat this canyon today in about 7.5 hours. This canyon is best suited for advanced canyoneers. Full beta to be published soon at Climb-Utah.com (http://www.climb-utah.com/).

South Aardvark was awesome. I can't wait to go do the North Fork!! :mrgreen:

-Bob

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The following photos are courtesy of Wayne H. I think he did an excellent job capturing the essence of this canyon, particularly with his action shots.

Thank you for sharing these Wayne! :2thumbs:

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Beta for this route is now available here:

http://climb-utah.com/Escalante/aardvark.htm

:bandit: :rock::happy046:

[dakotabelliston]

Looks awesome !!! Going to have to get down & run this one !!!

[Scott P]

Interesting. MK and I scouted that one out several years ago. We spent one day scouting, then one day doing a different canyon in that area. On the last day we had to decide between this one and Halfway Hollow. We decided that Halfway Hollow probably had the most potential of the two (this was before Google Earth existed) and we did that one.

As it turned out Halfway Hollow was sort of a dud and judging from your info, it is obvious that we made the wrong decision! On the plus side (or minus depending on how you look ar it) the canyon never made it into the book.

Anyway nice job.

[Iceaxe]

The guy that originally uncovered this canyon did it while flying back from AZ about 12 years ago. An airplane easily trumps google earth.... hahaha...

Just curious Scott, didn't MK use an airplane a few times to scout out potential canyons? I considered doing it a few times but never got around to it.

[Scott P]

Just curious Scott, didn't MK use an airplane a few times to scout out potential canyons?

Yes, but not until after Google Earth existed. The aerial flights flights were to get photos for his books. I know he did so for the Lake Powell and San Rafael books; I don't know about any other times.

Personally, I don't know if there really is an advantage over Google Earth. Most or all of the CP is actually covered with great detail in Google Earth. It certainly has taken at least some of the mystery out of looking for canyons.

[Slot Machine]

Interesting. MK and I scouted that one out several years ago. We spent one day scouting, then one day doing a different canyon in that area.

Interesting.

I'm curious, how did you guys get the top of the mesa when you were scouting? If there is more than one way up, I'd love to know.


it turned out Halfway Hollow was sort of a dud and judging from your info, it is obvious that we made the wrong decision!

LOL! Great story! I didn't think Aardvark was going to be that good. Then I saw some recent pictures of Aardvark and mistook it for Big Tony (which is magnificent). While it isn't as good as Big Tony (not as deep, not as continuous, not as fun) it has spots that are just as photogenic.


Anyway nice job.

Thanks @Scott P (http://www.bogley.com/forum/member.php?u=213) ! It was a group effort and I'm thankful to those that helped make it happen.

[Scott P]

I'm curious, how did you guys get the top of the mesa when you were scouting? If there is more than one way up, I'd love to know.

I scouted a route alone out of the canyon north of Aardvark. On paper, that route would be shorter than yours, but it was a real pain the *** and time consuming and easy to get lost in the maze of find. It also has exposure. I would not recommend coming in that way.

In addition to the route you used, there is also a historic constructed trail to the rim a bit farther down Horse Canyon that goes to the rim. It is a very easy route and passes two springs, one of which presumably always has water, but it's a little longer than your route. With a car shuttle it wouldn't be a bad route to use, but would require more road walking without one.

Anyway, other than the section of Horse Canyon from Wolverine to the river while make the Little Death Hollow-Wolvernine Loop, I have not been back to The Gulch or Horse Canyon since Halfway Hollow and the next canyon system north turned out to be mostly duds.

[qedcook]

Any trip report on the North Fork of Aarvark that you were planning on doing another time???

[Slot Machine]

Any trip report on the North Fork of Aarvark that you were planning on doing another time???

Not yet. SOON!