Zero Gravity Slot Canyon - Questions

I thought this was the best forum to post this but I also know I might catch some flack as I'm not a canyoneer and I was out of my safe zone with this slot. My question is about the very last part of the slot. At the very end is a boulder wedged about 20' up. But let's start at the boulders right before that one. I got to that point and was confused. I had read that you want to drop into that last boulder but this means you'd not want to drop down on the second to last boulder? Does that mean you'd want to chimney, 20' above the bottom over to that last boulder? I had read about going over or down the "rabbit hole" so I thought they were talking about this second to last area as those are options there. Okay, I ended up rappelling down here.

Moving on to that last boulder... I wanted to rappel down this area rather than using the wedge method as I was worry about getting stuck. Disclaimer... you are not going to like this next part... I did not want to risk getting stuck as I was alone. Moving on... but now I was about 10' below that last wedged boulder. I did not see any place I could attach a line. I did see one botl above the top boulder but it was pretty far back. I'm guessing I needed to be up on that bouler? How was I supposed to get there?

Let me also be very honest. I went rock climbing once and that was about 10 years ago. I bought the rappelling gear the night before as I wanted to be as prepared as I could be. Actually, rappelling was about the safest thing I did in Zero G (I even used an auto block/Third Hand).

Anyway... those are the main questions I have. I would include photos but it was getting late in the day and I had kind of turned into survival mode at that point.

The other area that gave me a scare was that deep hole about 1/2 way in. I could not reach ground and the water was pretty cool (a little cold). I did not see how I was going to get up and over that ledge. I know I needed to get out as quickly as possible and I knew I was not going to be able to get up with my pack. So I worked on throwing it up onto the ledge. As I was holding the strap and got it up, within a fraction of a second, I felt it pull on my arm (I did not know there was a 5' drop on the other side). So I instinctively held on. This was how I got up that wall. I don't want to think about what I'd done if I let go.

Edit: Today I read some more about those two areas, better understanding them having been there. I saw most people who made it out to that last boulder having a rope leading back. Some people mentioned going down the rabbit hole, before that last boulder so I think I did it one of the correct ways. I also read up on that deep hole I was in. I think I hit it at the perfect time at being very difficult. The water was _just_ high enough so I could not touch bottom but still left me about 3' below that ledge. I tried to stem but the side with the crack in it was very slick and it was difficult to lift up my legs while treading water. The few times I managed to lock my feet I was trying to throw my pack up and each time my foot slipped.

At the deep hole it sounds as if you accidentally discovered the pack toss method of escaping keeper potholes.

At the last rappel. You climb out to the farthest boulder you see. You also use the same boulder as your anchor point, which makes for a very awkward start to the rappel as you are standing on top of your anchor point.

The bolt you saw was installed be SAR a couple years ago during a rescue. SAR asked that it be left in place to aid future rescues.

You can down climb the final rappel anywhere you feel comfortable doing so, just understand the slot narrows as you drop.

That which does not kill you--only makes you stronger:mrgreen:

until it doesn't....

I was just there a few weeks ago. Sounds like the pools are coming down a bit, as they were tippy top full when I was there.

Here's that final drop that got you all screwed up. There was a short rope hanging down from the boulder up there and I used it as a landline to drop about 10' then I just came down the rest freestyle.

You've got to make the moves to get up to that boulder. If you can't, then don't go alone again. Glad you made it out in one piece...falling down this stuff, even though you land in a pool, can get you jacked up real bad.

canyoneering alone, as a novice, with no training, will get you injured, rescued, or killed. you are a Darwin Award candidate. take a class, or two. go with a group, including someone with some experience.