Great White Icicle & Lisa Falls

On Saturday 06/18/2016 a group of 5 set out to go rappel The Great White & Lisa Falls. We figured it would be a good way to beat this up & coming summer heat. We got to the trailhead around noon & passed another group while crossing the river. The river this time of year is flowing pretty high so be careful crossing :) We set up the side canyon approach. Honestly not all that bad. You can tell the trail is used fairly often & is pretty easy to pick out your path. We reached the top of the route semi dripping in sweat. I couldn't decide on donning my wetsuit or not. After cooling off for about 10 minutes I decided I would put it on & save the trouble of possibly getting cold. I wore a shorty 3/2 mm wetsuit & was plenty warm the entire route. The 1st rappel I would say was my favorite. Dropping off a tree down into the waterfall about 150 feet to a small ledge on the left. The ledge had 2 bolts & rings. I noticed there were 2 other sets of bolts on the left & even some webbing from a trip on the left up higher. I felt like we chose the best bolts for what we were looking for to stay within the watercourse as much as possible. The ledge was crowded with 3 people & when we had 5 lets just say we had a little bit of a cuddle session on the ledge. It all added to the fun. Rap 2 dropped down to a large flat area maxing out our 200 feet rope. Rap 3 Dropped us back in to the water course & maxed out our 200 foot drop. Nice and slippery so be careful ! Rap 4 was our final rap. There were 3 sets of bolts here (not sure why). We chose the central bolts off a large boulder that was in the middle of the watercourse. Rap'd about 50 feet down to end the route. We must have missed the a exit trail somewhere. We tried to follow the water course back to our car & ended up on a jungle exploration. Ducking & dodging, crouching, & hacking our way through the thickness to get back to a social trail.

After the GWI we ran over to lisa falls for a quick & easy rappel down the beautiful waterfall. There are multiple climbing routes around the waterfall. Looking up from the fall you can easily up climb on the left. Up top you will find 2 bolts & rings on the left the drop you down the watercourse. So slippery I decided to lay down & slide rappel myself down the fall. Made for a great day & a nice way to beat the heat being in a refreshing cold waterfall.

Sorry no pictures here on bogley. I have posted a couple on instagram if you care to take a look @koda_motion5 (Dakota Belliston)

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Originally Posted by dakotabelliston

There were 3 sets of bolts here (not sure why). We chose the central bolts off a large boulder that was in the middle of the watercourse. Rap'd about 50 feet down to end the route. We must have missed the a exit trail somewhere. We tried to follow the water course back to our car & ended up on a jungle exploration. Ducking & dodging, crouching, & hacking our way through the thickness to get back to a social trail.

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Rockfall, variations of climbing up, rappelling down, etc, all have contributed to the variety of bolt stations.

The trail usually leaves the base of the last rappel by hugging the cliff base and travelling to climbers right (left looking down the watercourse). There's a bunch of rock climbs also accessed via this same trail.

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Originally Posted by dakotabelliston

... The ledge was crowded with 3 people & when we had 5 lets just say we had a little bit of a cuddle session on the ledge. It all added to the fun. Rap 2 dropped down to a large flat area maxing out our 200 feet rope. Rap 3 Dropped us back in to the water course & maxed out our 200 foot drop. Nice and slippery so be careful ! ...

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Just a note of Class C canyon experience here:

Sounds like you had just enough rope to do the canyon. I realize it has a really long approach [sarcasm], but... on Class C canyons it is a good idea to bring a bit more rope:

A. ropes get stuck more-easily in a Class-C environment;
2. Having your party get stuck has greater consequences. Your calls for help might be drowned out by the water noise, and being stuck on a wet ledge overnight is considerably less pleasant and more life-threatening than being stuck in a dry place.

It also helps move the party along, rather than being all held on one small, wet ledge while the ropes are being pulled and re-set.

Jus' Sayin'...

Tom (who has had the pleasure of bivying on the GWI, but not when it was wet)

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Originally Posted by dakotabelliston

The ledge was crowded with 3 people & when we had 5 lets just say we had a little bit of a cuddle session on the ledge.

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Dude!!! 5 on that ledge!! > :lol8::fitz::lol8::haha::crazy: My son has a skateboard that is bigger than that ledge! Hilarious!

After a canyon day like that, the first thing I'd do is go talk to my bishop to make sure I'm all square with the Big Guy upstairs. :lol8:

Sadly, I don't have Instagram. @dakotabelliston , would you please post a picture of the cuddle session here on Bogley?

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Originally Posted by ratagonia

Just a note of Class C canyon experience here:

Tom (who has had the pleasure of bivying on the GWI, but not when it was wet)

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Ok. As one who took up ice climbing last winter and one who has descended the GWI in summer, I would love to read the story of your bivy.

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Originally Posted by Taylor

Ok. As one who took up ice climbing last winter and one who has descended the GWI in summer, I would love to read the story of your bivy.

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Ha ha. I've heard it first hand....

Tom, you opened that door...!

:popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:

Kudos for getting out there. But the GWI is a soooo much funner in winter IMHO.

@slotmachine After trying for 15 minutes, and much frustration, it will not allow me to upload pictures to this forum !!!! I was going to try & upload the picture of the ledge with all 5 of us on it. Setting up the 2nd rappel was probably the biggest task with all of us on such a small ledge. I was able to hook up my safety chain & slide to the left in order to get out of everyones ways. My approach shoes luckily have pretty good tread and allowed me to stand on nothing lol.

Tom you are right we probably should have brought enough rope to run both rappels at the same time. First time running GWI for me so you never know what to fully expect. All in all it was a fun day. All we used was 200 ft of rope & a 200 ft pull cord. We had also passed that group on the way in so I knew somewhat of what to expect with anchor conditions. And I as well would be interested in hearing your Bivy story lol.
@alphasteve42 - You talking about Ice climbing the route in winter or rappelling it? I don't ice climb, but I can see how it would be absolutely incredible. I did find a couple washed up ice screws at the bottom of the route buried in the mud. I was looking for my figure 8 which took a ride down the entire canyon & was never recovered.

Wish we would have looked for a better exit trail lol. Next time !!!

Yes. I was refering to ice climbing.... what ya gonna do with them screws ya found...? Want to make a trade?

I only have 1 left in my possession. They were in pretty bad condition. Everything was buried under a few inches of mud while dented & rusted over. I have no need for it (and not sure if it's worth your time for 1 ice screw) but if you really want it you can have it. I live in Spanish fork.

I love Lisa Falls for there is something about the huge White Cliffs here that is magnificent and a waterfall running down them and turning half way is just stunning. It is such a short hike that when I went up there I also checked out the Gate Buttress hike just south of Lisa falls and was able to watch some incredible climbers working their way up another section of these granite cliffs. If you want to see this area in 360 degrees check it out on my blog.]Attachment 92589 Attachment 92590

https://www.shaunasadventures.com/20...-and-gate.html