Burro Wash

Some friends of ours are headed to Capitol Reef tomorrow, staying through the weekend. I am thinking about going down Friday after work and introducing these folks to canyoneering with a run through Burro Wash Saturday morning, weather permitting. I haven't done Burro, what do you think about this canyon for slot virgins? Anyone know the water levels in there right now?

I'm also wondering if anyone has used Pleasant Creek as a return route, thereby avoiding the car shuttle. I have mapped it out with TOPO! and it looks reasonable, probably 10.5 miles round trip with about 700' of elevation gain for the return leg through PC. Ideas or advice?

I went through Burro Wash once several years ago. My memory is known to be faulty, so take this with a grain (or lick) of salt.

I thought it was pretty tame as far as technical slots go, but also a lot of fun. By 'tame' I mean I don't remember doing any high stemming, or difficult down climbs, or awkward starts to rappels. I seem to remember a spot were you had to skirt around a deep pothole and along the side of a cliff to get to a tree anchor for a rappel. I thought it was easy to get to the tree, but if you slipped there would be heavy penalty points.

Getting to the head of the canyon may have been the hardest part. We got a little lost, and on our path out there we had to climb a crack to get up a cliff band. I remember it being easy climbing, but once again there were penalty points if you slipped. If you don't get lost this may not even be an issue. That said, I don't think the navigation should be difficult.

We did it as shuttle, so I can't help you with the return hike. The canyon can hold water, but I wouldn't expect it to hold much. I also remember it being fairly open as far as slot canyons go, and any water will tend to get more sunlight than in a lot of other slots.

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Originally Posted by Taylor

I haven't done Burro, what do you think about this canyon for slot virgins?

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Burro Wash was my daughter Sierra's first technical slot. She was 5 years, 32 days old when we did it.... :2thumbs:

So as long as you have competent leadership you should be golden, it's a great slot.


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Burro Wash Route Description

Pleasent Creek should make for a great loop.

I took a few canyon virgins through Burro last Labor Day. It's perfect, with good leadership. I don't know about the return hike, as we also used a shuttle, but I think AJ Roadtrips has that option on his description.

Thanks for the replies. Looks like we will go through Burro tomorrow. Will report on conditions...

If you do the Pleasent Creek - Burro loop let us know how that turns out.