Trip Report Hogwarts Canyon

On 28 March 2013 Natalie, Jamin, Scott, and I decided to do Hogwarts Canyon in the N. Wash area.

For Natalie and I this was the second canyon this day. Earlier we did Merry Piglet, details here: http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthre...0-Merry-Piglet the two canyons combined made for a perfect day of canyoneering.

We brought with us a 165ft rope, 200ft pull cord, and 60 feet of webbing. It is said that this canyon will take 4-7 raps to complete, we did it in 4. Total time was probably around 4-5 hours. Research for this canyon minted little tid-bits of good information here and there but I still wasn't 100% on the approach. I was also pleasantly surprised by a few fun downclimbs.

Please be careful not to step on the fragile cryptobiotic soil, it's everywhere. We found rocky areas to walk on for 95% of the approach. Please go out of your way to prevent walking on it. :-)

Here is an overview of Hogwarts
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Detail of the approach
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After crossing Hog Springs we started up the steep gully. We stuck to the left (East) side of this gully.
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There are several tiers to this approach. Each time the terrain levels out find the obvious steep rocky ramps on the left (East) to continue higher. We stayed out of the drainage on our right.
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Looking back, gaining elevation as we go.
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Eventually we made it to the ridge line which offered us a cool perspective of Merry Piglet Canyon
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Looking down from the ridge towards the start of Hogwarts we were able to see the first signs of Hogwarts Canyon
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At the head of the canyon looking down
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We downclimbed the first major drop on the RDC and soon came to rap #1 which is from a large boulder RDC.
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Natalie is about to descend rap #2 which is anchored from a large choke stone
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Looking down from halfway down rap #2
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Looking up rap #2
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Scott is 6'7", he and I had no problems stemming across this pothole. Natalie and Jamin both dropped in and were helped out by Scott on the other side.
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Fun downclimb/elevator
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Anchor for rap #3
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Anchor for rap #4
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Rap #4 is a really fun partial free-hang to the floor below
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We all had a blast in this canyon. Of the three "micro slots" this one was our favorite. We plan on doing it again next time down in the N. Wash area.