Neon & Ringtail 03/24/2017
Thursday Blake, Josh, Luke, & myself set out to the desert of Escalante. Our original plan was Choprock but with incoming Saturday weather we opted for a easier, safer, and shorter trip.
We arrived at the Egypt Trailhead at ~10 pm. Headlamps & multiple GPS units we set off to Neon canyon. We arrived at Neon canyon ~ 11:30. Frost covered the grass & you could see your breathe. We set up camp cold & wet from the river crossing.
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Friday morning we woke around 630 in hopes of a early start. We crawled back in bed & eventually got out of camp around 830. We started heading out to Ringtail.
Immediately dropping into Ringtail we encountered water and donned our wetsuits. The rest of the canyon went as follows:
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Blake in upper Ringtail.
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Josh on the 1st down climb.
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Luke on the 1st pothole. Pack toss & partner assist accomplished. We were surprised to find this pothole empty considering the upper section was full. Pothole depth ~ 8 ft.
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1st pothole AGAIN. accomplished with a pack toss and partner assist. Partner assist I mean Luke staying on my head lol. We used a 2 for 1 to get the rest out.
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2nd pothole made mutch easier.
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Josh went low & got stuck. Stemming up high was much easier.
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The goid stuff in Ringtail !!! We hit this section ~ 1030 and it was pitch black. Headlamps were helpful lol.
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Caving or canyoneering???
!!! WARNING !!! - Beta I had did not mention how tight this canyon gets. Luckily we all fit but with Much scrapping & squeezing. From what I saw it would be impossible to high stem. Larger canyoneers this will be tough lol.
We finished Ringtail around 1130. We dried out & ate a quick lunch before heading back up canyon to Neon. Reaching the top of Neon we immediately encountered water. We donned our wetsuits & went to work.
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Gearing up in Neon.
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1st pothole we opted for the challenge. Difficult partner assist to get into the pothole. To get out we required a pack toss & extremely difficult partner assist. This time I got to stand on Blake's head lol. Sorry I don't have a picture from the bottom of the pothole.
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Luke on 1st rappel. Last year I down climbed this but today it was slippery with mud.
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Dead skunk in the canyon ??? Well that's a first lol.
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Cold & wet.
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2nd pothole was completely full.
!! WARNING !!! - Last year I could Walk out of the exit side where as this year you cannot. The sand level at the exit is ~ 7 feet below the edge. If this dries out it will be a difficult pothole to escape.
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A trip report without a picture of the cathedral would be incomplete. We arrived back at camp at 430 to dry out & catch some early Zzzzz's
Overall this was a incredible trip. The death hike out was not such a great ending but non the less a awesome trip. We polished it off with a burger & shake in Torrey.
Thank you Blake, Luke, & Josh for the trip !!!!
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