Knotted Rope & Quandary - April 2008
We headed for the Swell after work Thursday! The group consisted of myself, a couple army buddies; Cody A, and Gonzo, and my ex-bro-in-law Josh.
We were joined Friday night by a couple more army buddies; Tsuya, and Huber.
We camped near the Hidden Splendor airfield which turned out to be really, really windy all weekend. I lost my sleeping bag stuff sack (it's black and has a moonstone label if you happen across it) and had a few restless nights sleep due to wind noise and tent problems We gave up on the tent after a night and just slept out under the stars.
Aside from the wind the weather was great, mid to high 70s during the day and 40's at night.
Friday we did Knotted Rope Canyon, also known as Miners Hollow. We made a rookie mistake early on; we got excited about being out and went past the turn and into Quandary Canyon. We quickly realized our mistake and backtracked to the turn off.
There was very little water in the canyon. We didn't get wet at all until near the end of the canyon where there was an unavoidable pothole, but it was only about knee deep and was quickly exited with buddy assistance. We avoided the 280 foot rappel into Muddy Creek because we are less experienced with long raps. From below it looked fantastic and I would love to go back to try it sometime...
That long slog back to camp through the Muddy Creek Gorge was beautiful, but seemed endless after Knotted Rope.
Saturday we ran into two pairs of canyoneers at the Knotted Rope/Quandary trail head. One pair headed for Knotted Rope, the other pair walked with our group awhile, even took a group picture of us at the natural bridge, but they pulled ahead of us while we played around at an obstacle and we didn't see them again.
We did not do the direct route, and quite enjoyed the view found at the high point of the bypass. As with Knotted Rope there was very little water in the canyon; we did not get wet at all until I jumped into Muddy Creek.
The wind was rough Saturday. There were times in Quandary when we all wished we had brought goggles to keep the sand out of our eyes. I loved that tilted section in Quandary, but did not get pictures of it... next time.
We had planned to do Music Canyon on Sunday, but after having our asses handed to us by Knotted Rope and Quandary we opted for lunch at the Little Wonder cafe in Richfield and a long soak at Mystic Mike's hot springs in Monroe.
I loved every scraping, bruising, aching moment and can't wait to get back!
Photos in Knotted Rope:
Josh coming out of Wayne's Wiggle.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...8009Medium.jpg
On top of Wayne's Wiggle.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...8020Medium.jpg
Josh working the pipes.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...8022Medium.jpg
Cody stemming.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...8023Medium.jpg
Gonzo sitting.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...8024Medium.jpg
In Quandary.
Group shot.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...8031Medium.jpg
I look nervous.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...8041Medium.jpg
Tsuya laughing all the way down.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...8050Medium.jpg
Cody coming down.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...8059Medium.jpg
Love this shot.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...8062Medium.jpg
On top of the bypass route.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...8073Medium.jpg
Muddy Creek slog, but happy.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...8077Medium.jpg
Re: TR: Knotted Rope & Quandary - April 2008
Quote:
Originally Posted by Don
We did not do the direct route, and quite enjoyed the view found at the high point of the bypass.
That is an awesome view.... I took this picture from the By-Pass and it's one of my favorites.
http://climb-utah.com/SRS/Files/quandary1.jpg
