Water Canyon, Big Spring NW and High Spur - April 25th - 28th 2012

A couple friends and I made it down to the Roost last week for a well-planned canyoneering trip. It was the first time for one of them in some good slot canyons so we introduced him first to relative easy, yet exciting and beautiful High Spur. This canyon never fails to disappoint, but I must say it should be renamed "Cameleon Canyon" since it is constantly changing. The dry fall that was formed a few years ago was much shorter than it was last year by a couple feet or so. The sand is starting to fill it back in.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_9885.jpg
The pothole at the entrance of the corkscrew is also 3 or 4 feet DEEPER than last year. It was apparent that the corkscrew had been flooded and has held water for quite some time. There was still a section of knee deep wading and a trudge through red, cow dung smelling mud. The entire section was much different than last year.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_9897.jpg

The exit and rappel is still spectacular and the anchor is in good shape.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_9900.jpg
We camped all 3 nights at the High Spur drill site. I've nicknamed the area Hurricane High Spur and it was windy the entire time we were there. I'm surprised my tent held up as it was nearly blown flat a couple times.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_9866.jpg

Next up was Big Spring NW fork. I attempted to do this canyon back in November 2011 and wasn't prepared for all the water that we found at the bottom of the first rappel. It was completely full and we decided not to do it then so I was glad to do it. If you haven't done this canyon yet I highly recommend it. It was some nice climbs, fun rappels and is actually a very scenic canyon. There are only two options listed for the first rappel that requires either a deadman in the watercourse or rappelling from a hook. There aren't very many, if any, good places for a hook and the flatness of the watercourse does not provide a place for a decent deadman, so we opted to find a third solution. On the east side of the canyon, up above the entrance is a fairly stout tree/bush. We tossed some webbing around it and away we went. Picked it up after we completed the canyon. This is the view from the anchor.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_9905.jpg

Like I said, it's a beautiful canyon with a lot more to offer than the various reports mention.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_9911.jpg
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_9915.jpg

The third canyon planned for this trip was Water Canyon, located to the North of High Spur and to the North and West of Big Spring. Be sure to have the coordinates marked for the trailhead of Water Canyon, because it's about 2 miles to it from the Tidwell drill site and difficult to find. I was very impressed again with this canyon. It doesn't read as a worthwhile canyon either, but I recommend it as well. 5 or 6 rappels, some difficult down climbing, a nice stroll to Horseshoe canyon and to see rock art and an easy climb/hike back to the car.

This is the rappel from the deadman anchor, which getting down to the anchor was a challenge in an of itself. I used a hook to hand line down to it after lowering the other two. It is a good 14 ft drop, which doesn't offer much of a way to down climb. There was an anchor built when we arrived, but a two handed tug pulled it completely out of the ground, which caused one of my buddies to panic. He became very concerned about rappelling from it, even after I rebuilt it even more robust than before and found a large rock upstream to aide in anchoring it.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_9918.jpg

This too, is a very dynamic canyon, with many different types of formations, rappels and scenery.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_9925.jpg

The final rappel is a good one. Stay away from the edges of the rappel as it's getting thin underneath and there is no telling when it could break away.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_9929.jpg
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_9933.jpg

And then the various galleries down in Horseshoe canyon, which was very lush and green. It was a perfect day, not hot and a nice cool breeze during the walk back.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_9936.jpg
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_9940.jpg

Lastly, Saturday was supposed to be Red Spur day and I was most looking forward to this canyon than any of the others. Being the first trip for one of my friends and the other having been spooked a bit by the deadman anchor, neither of them wanted to rappel from a hook, which is required in Red Spur, so we ended our trip early. My brother-in-law and I will be tackling Red Spur sometime this year!

Until then, enjoy the Water Canyon video I put together. Not quite as spectacular as the trailer, but good enough. :2thumbs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGEKE...hannel&list=UL

Nice TR:2thumbs:

Oh yes, hooks and deadmans and rapping off a gnarled blackbush...always a crowd pleaser!

The video and pictures were excellent! :2thumbs: Looks like a very fun and exhilarating adventure. Thanks for sharing it.

Added Big Spring NW Canyon video,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_kA5-nZWWY

:2thumbs:

And a brief High Spur 2012 video. As you can see, the down climb in the upper section is filling in with sand again and not nearly the drop it's been in previous years. The pothole as I mentioned, is deeper and the corkscrew is holding water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiBNBa4cRHU

Nice TR and great pics.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Audilard

...neither of them wanted to rappel from a hook, which is required in Red Spur, so we ended our trip early. ...

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Required by whom?

Federales with AR-15s?
Perhaps them UN guys with the Black Helicopters!?!
Irritated NPS Ranger ready to write you a citation for using some other anchor?

Required by whom?

Tom

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ratagonia

Nice TR and great pics.



Required by whom?

Federales with AR-15s?
Perhaps them UN guys with the Black Helicopters!?!
Irritated NPS Ranger ready to write you a citation for using some other anchor?

Required by whom?

Tom

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Required by me since I had the hook and no other means to get down. :haha:

I believe the beta simply says there isn't any anchor building material in the area where the hook is "needed". It does say to find another suitable method of getting down if you aren't comfortable with the hook.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Audilard

Required by me since I had the hook and no other means to get down. :haha:

I believe the beta simply says there isn't any anchor building material in the area where the hook is "needed". It does say to find another suitable method of getting down if you aren't comfortable with the hook.

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When Mr. K uses the hook, he usually/often "enhances" the placement with his G-Pick. He claims the little hole he makes is so natural-looking that no one could be bothered by it ---- you can find these holes in various canyons next to perfectly good natural anchor opportunities and no, they don't look natural, they look like someone pecked out a hole with a geology pick. :facepalm1:

He also claims he only does it on first descents... like when he did Quandary Direct with me in 2003, when it was already a popular canyon. :facepalm1:

Many of us consider this vandalism. :nono:

I have rappelled off a hook exactly twice, without enhancement. Maybe only twice because I don't carry one because I have never found it necessary. Mr. K tends to look for a place he can chip a little hole and use his hook; and once he has that, there "isn't any other anchor options in the area". Bullcrap!

So, when Mr. K's book says "the only anchor is a hook", take a big black marker and blot that out in your book. It ain't true. :cool2:

Tom

I'm pulling this information from Shane on the Climb-Utah description of Red Spur.

I'm quoting here from the Red Spur beta on his site. (This is probably from the "member" section so if I need to I can remove it)

" This rappel is a little tricky and is anchored by a hook. If you are not comfortable rappelling from a hook please find anther route appropriate with your skill level. Locate the solid hook placement on the south (left) side of the canyon. The biggest problem with this rappel is that the hook placement is so solid you can not get your hooks to release by flipping the rope after you complete your rappel. Test your method of hook release before you rappel. There is very little anchor building material in this area and if the potholes have water there will be little sand and no place to dig available.

Following is how we did rigged this rappel, you are free to devise other anchoring methods such as a sand trap or possible deadman. Bolting this rappel is not an option and any bolts found will be removed so go prepared. To retrieve our hook we tied one 50-foot rope to the hook to rappel from. We clipped a quick-link to the handles of a potshot. We placed the potshot filled with sand 3-feet behind (up canyon from) the hook. We tie the second 50-foot rope to the backside of the hook, ran the rope backwards, through the quick-link attached to the potshot, and than back over the edge to act as our pull chord. After the last man rappelled we tugged on the pull chord, which pulled the hook from its placement, snagged on the quick-link attached to the potshot, and allow us to pull the entire setup down."


I don't know if Red Spur is in K's book.

I stand corrected.

Shane is a much cleverer anchor-getter than Mr. K. Still...

Tom :moses:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Audilard

I don't know if Red Spur is in K's book.

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Kelsey hasn't done Red Spur... one of his many quirks is that he doesn't use Google Earth or aerial photography to find canyons, which I believe is the reason he missed Red Spur.

FWIW: the only thing my use of hooks and MK's use of hooks have in common is that we both use a hook to complete a task. I don't believe in "creating" hook holds.... in fact I've never seen the need to create a hold as I've always found a reliable hold with a little searching. Using hooks is about like any other anchoring method (sandtrap, deadman, knot choke) in that you will become skilled in its use and understand it's limitations and pitfalls with practice and experience. I like hooks for the simple fact they weigh almost nothing and take up very little space in my pack. YMMV.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Iceaxe

Kelsey hasn't done Red Spur... one of his many quirks is that he doesn't use Google Earth or aerial photography to find canyons, which I believe is the reason he missed Red Spur.

FWIW: the only thing my use of hooks and MK's use of hooks have in common is that we both use a hook to complete a task. I don't believe in "creating" hook holds.... in fact I've never seen the need to create a hold as I've always found a reliable hold with a little searching. Using hooks is about like any other anchoring method (sandtrap, deadman, knot choke) in that you will become skilled in its use and understand it's limitations and pitfalls with practice and experience. I like hooks for the simple fact they weigh almost nothing and take up very little space in my pack. YMMV.

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:2thumbs:

"you will become skilled in its use and understand it's limitations and pitfalls with practice and experience."

Meaning, once you get a couple ropes stuck, one becomes good at not getting ropes stuck.

Tom

Very nice TR and Video's

Nice Trip Report Darin! Strong work on the videos and editing. :2thumbs:

Holy cow, :moses: replied X4 and didn't give you crap about your helmet situation?? He's off his game. :lol8: (Just joshin' Tom)

I'm a big fan of helmets since my wife tested hers out in Zero G last weekend, jus' sayin'. :mrgreen:

Bob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Slot Machine

Nice Trip Report Darin! Strong work on the videos and editing. :2thumbs:

Holy cow, :moses: replied X4 and didn't give you crap about your helmet situation?? He's off his game. :lol8: (Just joshin' Tom)

I'm a big fan of helmets since my wife tested hers out in Zero G last weekend, jus' sayin'. :mrgreen:

Bob

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I've moved over to a Darwinistic viewpoint for a while. The flood of helmetless noobs here on the Bog is just too much... :cry1:

Tom :cool2: