Granary Canyon 2.25.2012

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e...11063294_n.jpg

Friday night Katie, Kyle, Steve and myself packed up and headed down to Moab do do some canyoneering in Granary Canyon. We got to where we thought we were supposed to be, set up camp and settled in for a pretty cold night. Just before bed Katie and I tried for a few shots of the stars. It was too cold to really take the time to get a good shot. But here are the two I thought looked the best.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-M...22068809_n.jpg

Notice the cool star trails and the airplane trail in this one.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-s...80610224_n.jpg

Saturday morning we woke up early to hit the canyon. We were a little bit lost and found that we had camped on this little peninsula with 400' cliffs 30' in 3 directions from the car. Kind of a surprise to wake up to. But we found our way to the head of the canyon with some help from a GPS app.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1...57816022_n.jpg

We came to the head of the canyon and decided not to rappel in at the 50ish foot drop. Instead we hiked about 100 yards down canyon to a 200' scree pile and just scrambled down into the canyon. After a few easy downclimbs and a frozen solid pot hole, we came to the first rappel (pictured above), about 25-30 feet from the floor, but it had a little landing about 6' off the ground. We got down with no problem and continued down canyon a little ways.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-M...81571982_n.jpg


We then came to a little drop of about 6 or 7 foot overhang with another frozen pool at the bottom. In order to avoid this pool Kyle jumped to the left onto a small mound of sand. Steve shortly followed suit. But right after Steve landed we could tell he had done something to his ankle. He then told us he had heard two pops in his right ankle when he landed and his left ankle was feeling only a little better than his right. After seeing the swelling it was apparent we needed to get out of the canyon, but getting out the bottom wasn't going to be an option. Luckily me and Katie were still on top of the little drop, so I ran back about 20 feet to a big tree and rigged a fixed line we could use to get back up. I went down and rigged Steve up for ascent and then climbed back up the drop using Prussik loops and a little help from Kyle. Then i rigged a 3 to 1 haul system just in case. Steve was able to ascend using his left foot with no problem. I then left Katie and Kyle to climb up on their own and I went to scout out the 25-30 footer for a way back up. The rest of the group showed up soon after I had looked around a bit. Kyle spotted a route up a dome and onto a little sandy shelf with a tree growing on it. The first handhold was well above my head, but with a good partner assist from Kyle I was able to get to it. Using as much friction I could generate on the sandstone with my body I climbed up to the tree. The shelf was about a foot wide and consisted of dried clay and sand, so it was very flaky and soft. But after brushing some off and climbing through the tree and sliding down a little chute under another tree I was at the top of the first rappel. Steve was able to ascend this one on his own as well.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-R...87060025_n.jpg

Here is Kyle at the top of the rappel.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-z...0_427119_n.jpg

Katie and I at the top of the rappel coiling up some accessory cord we used to hold kneepads to Steves knees. The next obstacle was the 200' scree pile. To climb this safely I atteched a 30' piece of webbing to my harness and the other side to Steves. I would go up ahead and scout out the easiest route and then anchor myself in so I could provide a belay for Steve as he crawled out. Kyle was climbing out right behind Steve to provide support as well. After we got to the top Kyle piggy backed Steve back to the car with incredible speed and we were at the Moab hospital within 30 minutes of arriving at the car.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k...30196324_a.jpg

Hanging out in the waiting room, we met a lot of interesting people. Turns out Steve's right ankle was broken in two places and his left ankle was sprained. I cannot believe he did as much crawling and climbing as he did with two bum ankles. It was pretty impressive.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-f...87558636_n.jpg

We then enjoyed an incredible burger at Milt's and then headed home.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-L...1/Capture9.PNG

Here is a map showing exactly where we went.

So I just copied the trip report from my blog (neildjohnson@blogspot.com) so I didn't have to re-type it. So sorry if its a little lame or wordy. But here it is anyway.

Glad you guys made it out okay. :2thumbs:

Glad you guys got back out. I think you better check your beta because the picture you attached is not Granary. There is no large scree pile at the start of Granary. By looking at Google Earth you are in the drainage that has the small granary on the side wall, but you would need to climb out of that drainage and cross over into another drainage to complete the route. Or maybe you already know that and if so disregard the above info.

Mark

I had never been to the canyon before. But i got the beta from ajroadtrips and the the description takes us right to that canyon. It even describes the scree pile we climbed down. I couldnt use the GPS waypoints provided though because i couldnt figure out the format they were in. And we only made it in past the first rappel so we never got a chance to see enough of the canyon to tell it was the wrong drainage. Thanks for the heads up though. I had originally though we were in Upper Granary and we would get into Lower Granary a little ways down. But if you could correct me I would really appreciate it.

That will work if the beta has you climbing out just downstream of where you turned back. Does the beta talk about seeing a small Granary on the South side of the Draw about where you turned back?

It doesn't have us climbing out at all. It says to continue down the one we were in and it would put us into Lower Granary. Now I'm confused, because the route description fit what we were doing exactly.

Maybe someone else can chime in but that is not the drainage that will take you down Granary proper. The route you are following is the route that one of the Guide Services follows but at some point you have to cross over into the Drainage to the South. If you stay in that drainage you will eventually drop into Granary proper but below the best section.

Thanks Mark. If anyone could tell me where I could find a more complete source of beta information on this canyon I would seriously appreciate it. I was planning on going back down in a few weeks to finish it. But I would really like to know the proper route beforehand.

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Originally Posted by moab mark

If you stay in that drainage you will eventually drop into Granary proper but below the best section.

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This^^^^

Climb-Utah.com has the route I am referring to.

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Originally Posted by oldno7

This^^^^

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ndonaldj sent me the beta he has and it does talk about crossing over but not in much detail. If using the GPS coord you should be fine. This route does not require a shuttle, it loops around back to the trailhead. It does not continue out to Jug Handle.

Another thanks to Mark. I just went and became a member of climb-utah.com

Now stop jumping and start rappeling.:lol8: Glad you didn't need a Helicopter.

Great pictures! :cool2: Sorry to hear about the ankle...

Try this - short and sweet: http://adventurerun.wordpress.com/20...ranary-canyon/

Buzz, I actually tried gathering information from your blog right before we left. I asked you a few questions but, no offense, got no useful answer in return.

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Originally Posted by Buzz

Try this - short and sweet: http://adventurerun.wordpress.com/20...ranary-canyon/

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Where Buzz sayeth:

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This sport is most closely related to climbing, but they are utterly opposite siblings in many ways: canyoneering is athletically very easy, just requiring technical knowledge of rope handling, while climbing is one of the most challenging sports in existence. Good climbers have a certain elegance to their movements while canyoneers … well, don’t. Doing a controlled slide on your butt for 20′ is actually considered fine technique, but elegant it’s not. Nor are shoulderstands with your partner, tossing your pack over the lip of a pothole and climbing up a rope attached to it, or many of the other little-boys-playing-in-the-sandbox canyoneering techniques. The upside, is that this sport clearly has the highest fun to effort ratio of any. No kidding. Next time you try running a Marathon you’ll strongly agree with me at about Mile 20.

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Classic...too funny...

Cheers!

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Originally Posted by ndonaldj

I had never been to the canyon before. But i got the beta from ajroadtrips and the the description takes us right to that canyon. It even describes the scree pile we climbed down. I couldnt use the GPS waypoints provided though because i couldnt figure out the format they were in. And we only made it in past the first rappel so we never got a chance to see enough of the canyon to tell it was the wrong drainage. Thanks for the heads up though. I had originally though we were in Upper Granary and we would get into Lower Granary a little ways down. But if you could correct me I would really appreciate it.

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Hmmmm. Glad you are OK. The GPS waypoints on Ryan's site are in UTM coordinates. Change your GPS unit over to UTM, and you can enter in the coordinates. This is a pretty basic GPS thingeemabobee - {Snide On} May I suggest familiariazing yourself with your GPS before heading off into the wild? {/snide} :facepalm1:

Ryan's route is different than Shane's. Interesting terrain up there. Ryan ADDS the upper Granary Section, which could be said to be in the north fork of Granary Canyon, then switches over to the middle fork of Granary just about where Shane enters the canyon (for the "lower section".) Shane adds finishing off by Jug Handle Arch while Ryan shows returning overland before the big raps.

Tom

Thanks Tom. I will admit I'm not good with a GPS, the different formats confuse me, I honestly tried for a long time to figure out what format those were in, and now I feel stupid. I actually just use an GPS app for my phone and I use maps and a compass for backup navigation. Im too cheap to buy a legitimate GPS and my methods have worked fine for me so far.

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Originally Posted by ndonaldj

Thanks Tom. I will admit I'm not good with a GPS, the different formats confuse me, I honestly tried for a long time to figure out what format those were in, and now I feel stupid. I actually just use an GPS app for my phone and I use maps and a compass for backup navigation. Im too cheap to buy a legitimate GPS and my methods have worked fine for me so far.

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Being able to read a map is much more important than being able to read a GPS. Interesting how the two versions of the canyon intersect, but are quite different.

Tom :moses:

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Originally Posted by ratagonia

Being able to read a map is much more important than being able to read a GPS.
Tom :moses:

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QFE