Illusions Canyon (AZ) 4 August 2018
It's been a while since I posted, but I was fairly proud of this trip (it has a great story) and I made a video for the first time in a while, so I thought I'd share.
We hit Illusions Canyon in the Coconino National Forest a couple weeks ago. It was awesome! At least, until the end. The final 100 foot rappel ends in a keeper pothole. Todd Martin's description from Canyon Collective warns that if this pothole is in keeper mode, bear cubs can fall in and drown. I, at least, figured that that wasn't a common thing and that we wouldn't have to worry about it. I was wrong. And it was awful. There was a dead juvenile bear floating in the water. It had probably been there for about a week. This wouldn't have been too bad, but there was also at least one other dead animal in the water that had been there for much longer. As such, there was a film of maggots on the top of the water. It was one of the worst things I've ever done in my life. For those wondering, I would not go into Illusions for several months from now, when hopefully that thing is gone. I don't think that keeper really washes out when the canyon flash floods. The rest of the canyon was filled to the brim with water, but the keeper had a 5-foot climb to get out, so Gavin and I were in there for at least 10 minutes getting the hook situated and hooking out, because we made the mistake of not taking the materials out of our backpacks and hanging them from our harnesses before rappelling.
Anyway, that was the gross thing. Then we decided to do the sneak exit. You guys, it was the worst exit I've ever done in my life. No joke. I've done the MIA and a couple others that were pretty bad, but this one beats them. There are points where you're clawing your way up slidey dirt on like an 80% grade. Also consider that we had to do all of this while constantly smelling the smell of dead bear on our clothes and gear. Considering the other option was to go out Oak Creek Canyon, which is supposed to be one of the prettiest places in Arizona (and where we probably could have submerged ourselves in clean, running water), I think we made the wrong choice. Our consideration was for time, because the car shuttle is about an hour each way on rough roads.
Anyway, here's the video. It doesn't have the dead bear or the exit in it. Dustin, our photographer, said that the dead bear was so seared into his memory that he didn't want any tangible reminders of it. If I had been taking the pictures/video, I definitely would have recorded it. It may have been disgusting, but it makes for a great story!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TkMqws12yk
Happy canyoneering!