Just a heads up since lots of folks are asking us about conditions...
I went down Pleiades yesterday (7/02) to check conditions and it is still raging! It's dropped slightly in the past couple weeks and yesterday was the first time I felt comfortable giving it a go. In the six years of guiding there I've never seen it this high, especially this late in the season. It is very serious business right now and will likely stay that way for another few weeks or more.
The first four raps aren't too bad, but the problem is that when you pull your ropes at the fourth rappel you are committing yourself to the fifth rappel (aka Taygeta). Taygeta funnels the entire flow into a very narrow chute. Even under low flows you get pummeled here pretty good, but now it's downright hazardous. I'm pretty comfortable in nasty water and don't get scared easily and Taygeta required my full attention. I don't get cold easily, either, but even with a new drysuit, layers of heavy fleece top and bottom, wool hat, hooded splashtop over the drysuit, neo gloves and moving quickly by myself I was cold by the time I got to Taygeta - and it's at that point where you really need to be on your game. With the constant spray of very cold water throughout the rappels I wouldn't have wanted to wait around in there for anything, even for a partner.
If you're very experienced, fast and comfortable getting seriously pummeled in very cold, very heavy water then it's a wild challenge right now. We've yet to guide a trip up there this year and until levels drop quite a bit we're staying out. I don't mean to discourage anyone from this great little canyon, I just want to make sure folks are informed. It'd be a shame for an incident to occur here, especially since canyoneering around Moab is a big concern for local land managers. In light of the accidents occurring elsewhere around Moab, the BLM and NPS have their valid concerns about safety in the canyons they manage. It'd be a bummer to add the Forest Service to that list.
Have fun and be safe!
Cheers,
Matt
