North Wash, March 17th

[mrbrejcha]

I'm headed out to the North Wash, I should get there the night of the 7th and leave the night of the 9th. Anybody want to meet me out there?

By the way, for those of you who've been out there before: what canyons do you reccomend, there seem to be a lot of canyons and forks to choose from, what are the top three-ish (in your mind) and why?

[goofball]

foolin around - love the alternating nature of open and close. really pretty and fun.

maidenwater south - very cool. walk. drop. swim. walk. drop. swim. do it again... at leasty if your lucky. when i have done it it has been really full. me like. the big granite boulders that have washed in from the mt hillers give it a really cool character.

hog 2 - fun and pretty.

gotta do blarney left as well. short but WAY spectacular !

[shaggy125]

7th - 9th of March right? I have something going on each of those days but I have done pretty close to every beta'd canyon down in North Wash. Some I haven't done are the Poison Spring canyons so I might not be much help there. What canyons will be your favorite usually depends on what you like. Some of my favorite canyons, others have said are just OK because they like canyons for different reasons, but here are my favorites.

My favorite is probably Shenanigans. It has a lot going for it, lots of deep twisty narrows, some good downclimbs (the two best many rappel) and of course the REALLY tight narrows, if you can't fit then escape before the end.

Second is Trail Canyon, it can be pretty serious though if you can't fit through its super tight spot you have to go a good 40 feet off the deck to get out of the canyon. Trail isn't as scenic as Shenanigans and is pretty short, but packs a lot of bang for the buck.

Third I'd say Middle Leprechaun, it's also really tight and challenging. None of these are beginner canyons so read up on them and make sure you are up to the task.

If you want to do the longer drive out to Hard Day Harvey and Good Day Jim, I'd place them on the same level as Shenanigans and Trail. Hard Day Harvey is the best of the two, but don't overlook Good Day Jim, it is pretty close to just as good... just a lot different. Both of these can be serious too, Hard Day Harvey has some serious stuff, and Good Day Jim can have some killer keeper potholes.

Pretty much everything in North Wash is worth doing. Shellelah and Lucky Charms were fairly mediocre in my opinion, but everything else has been great.

[nat]

Yeah, I have to completely agree with Shaggy. For North Wash, Shenanigans is number one, followed in order by Hard Day Harvey, Good Day Jim, Trail, and Middle Leprachaun. These are all great, although all a little stiff in their own ways. Look up the details on Shane's or Tom's websites, or Kelsey's book before dropping in.

After these, the east and west forks of west Butler (Monkey Business and Fooling About), and the Poison Spring Stuff (Arsenic, Slidenide and Constrychnine) are pretty good but a definite step below the above slots.

[Iceaxe]

Right Fork of Leprechaun is my favorite

A word of warning.... some of the canyons I've seen mentioned require advanced canyoneering skills.

.

[shaggy125]

A word of warning.... some of the canyons I've seen mentioned require advanced canyoneering skills.

.

Shane is right, these are our favorites, but don't get in over your head just because we like them so much, if you get hurt then they won't be fun at all (a story from Middle Leprechaun (easier than Trail and Hard Day Harvey) http://climb-utah.com/Powell/leprechaun2.htm) If you are ready for them, they are REALLY fun. If you aren't, then they would be scary and really suck.

[mrbrejcha]

Right Fork of Leprechaun is my favorite
.

gotta do blarney left as well. short but WAY spectacular !

I was looking at these two, as well as shillelay. Are they pretty staright foreward once yer in the canyon?

[Iceaxe]

I was looking at these two, as well as shillelay. Are they pretty staright foreward once yer in the canyon?

I consider the Right Fork of Leprechaun and the Left Fork of Blarney to be the perfect intro to North Wash area canyoneering. These canyons would be considered easy by North Wash tech standards, but would probably be considered intermediate by Zion standards.

[mrbrejcha]

I consider the Right Fork of Leprechaun and the Left Fork of Blarney to be the perfect intro to North Wash area canyoneering.

That's what it seemed like to me from what I read.

Anyone want to go with? I might be able to free up the 10 and 11th too.

[mrbrejcha]

Bump.

I still "need" a partner.

[rockgremlin]

Soooo...what was your final plan of action? Are you going through the weekend, or will you be leaving on friday night?

Which canyons did you settle on?

[mrbrejcha]

Soooo...what was your final plan of action? Are you going through the weekend, or will you be leaving on friday night?
Which canyons did you settle on?

If I'm going by myself, I won't be taking the weekend off and I'm going to do Shillelagh, Blarney and Leprechaun.

If someone wants to go, I want to do W. fork of blarney and leprechaun, then whatever, as long as it's not stoopid or terrifying. and i might* be able to get that weekend off.

*I filled out my work schedule yesterday, so, i can't get the 10 and 11th off anymore unless someone will trade shifts, so I might be able to get that weekend off, and probably can if i know i need to in the next couple days. by the way, i have had HORRIBLE luck with climbing partners bailing this season and don't want to take work off just to have someone crap out at the last minute, so I'm reluctant to commit these days.

[mrbrejcha]

by the way, i have had HORRIBLE luck with climbing partners bailing this season and don't want to take work off just to have someone crap out at the last minute, so I'm reluctant to commit these days.

This is kinda "funny", but about ten seconds after I posted this, my partner for my castle valley trip called and shaved a day off the trip, at least he didn't completely bail.

Anywho, now I'm getting to the north wash tuesday night late (march 6) or wed. early (mar 7.).

[alusul]

Im pretty much always trying to find a trip on friday-saturday, return sunday.
I've done each of the canyons you're planning on, didnt find anything I'd call a problem (not too narrow, all rappels obvious) then again Im so skinny the only problem I had in middle leprechaun was my helmet and partner size :)
ahem, I must admit I did get the only rope i had stuck on the second shilaleigh rappel once... flake out!!! oh well, had an exciting time descending webbing to get it back
in blarney I had to ascend what we call a "rodeo rappel" cause the anchor didnt extend past the constriction and so I got it stuck and had to rerig it, glad I learned to ascend rope the previous day! I've since lead it at night no prob

Wondering if you're still staying through the first part of the weekend, as I'd be more than happy to go through which ever canyons you hadn't tried yet.
PS If any skinny bastages have the friday/sat open am looking for a partner to tackle shenanigans with.

[rockgremlin]

PS If any skinny bastages have the friday/sat open am looking for a partner to tackle shenanigans with.

That's Fri/Sat the 9th and 10th right? Does Shenanigans require wetsuit? It's got a pothole or two right?

[mrbrejcha]

My truck exploded so I have no way to get there anymore.
I can't get the weekend off anymore and I have to use my spring break to go car shopping now.

PS If any skinny bastages have the friday/sat open am looking for a partner to tackle shenanigans with.

I'm hopefully piking up a car in denver on that wednesday (7th) and if everything goes as planned I can be out there on thursday and have all friday to do whatever. I should know by tommorrow if I can pull it off.

[Johnlithon]

That's Fri/Sat the 9th and 10th right? Does Shenanigans require wetsuit? It's got a pothole or two right?

Shenanigans was completely dry as of 02.27.07 except a knee deep wade at the final rappel.

[ratagonia]

That's Fri/Sat the 9th and 10th right? Does Shenanigans require wetsuit? It's got a pothole or two right?

Shenanigans was completely dry as of 02.27.07 except a knee deep wade at the final rappel.

There is a pothole in upper Shenanigans that CAN hold water, and is sometimes a swimmer. It does not hold it for long.

The final pool is passed by a small-holds traverse on the left. Some people fall off this. Packs can be zipped down to make the traverse easier.

In both cases, might be a good idea to strip to the undies and drybag everything. Then do it, then re-dress. No real reason to bring a wetsuit.

Tom

[alusul]

PS If any skinny bastages have the friday/sat open am looking for a partner to tackle shenanigans with.

That's Fri/Sat the 9th and 10th right? Does Shenanigans require wetsuit? It's got a pothole or two right?

Yep, 9th and 10th I'll be headed down to nwash from slc, actually it looks like I'll be going with small (green) groups the following 2 weekends with some spare time if those weekends work better, but I'd be pshyced to get shenanigans done this weekend otherwise I'll just be soloing some easier ones or joining mrbrejcha if he makes it.

[rockgremlin]

Hey mrbrejcha - did you make it down to the N. wash this past weekend?

Alusul - Are we still on for Shenanigans this weekend?