Raining Canyon questions?

[dandyj]

We were planning on doing cheesebox this weekend, however, with a large chance of rain we aren't. We want to do something and were thinking about Cameltoe and Tierdrop or some of the other Arches canyons. Climb-utah doesn't say anything about flashflood danger in these. Are these relatively safe canyons for when it is raining?

[canyonguru]

Well in my opinion i don't think any canyon is safe when it is raining. If you have rain right on top of the canyon its going to flood. that is how slot canyons are created by water carving out the canyons. If you are talking about how large the drainage is, well that is a different story. I don't know that area very well i am pretty sure someone else will chime in with the answer.

[DWayne27]

tierdrop should be fine. the only complications would be rain making the rock wet and possibly slippery. that route you climb up a big rock formation, then rappel down the other side of it- there is no slot and you arent down in a canyon. unless it was raining unbelievably hard directly above you- you should be fine. it is also only a couple hours, but it is pretty fun and you get some incredible views

[dandyj]

routes in the area that may be rain safe?

[shaggy125]

If you get a serious downpour it's always fun to throw on the rain gear and hunt for waterfalls. I've seen some really impressive ones dumping out of some of those canyons. Word on the street is that Sunday and Monday could possibly throw down some pretty serious rain. I'm a big wussy boy when it comes to going down canyons in the rain so I don't have any suggestions there.

[ratagonia]

tierdrop should be fine. the only complications would be rain making the rock wet and possibly slippery. that route you climb up a big rock formation, then rappel down the other side of it- there is no slot and you arent down in a canyon. unless it was raining unbelievably hard directly above you- you should be fine. it is also only a couple hours, but it is pretty fun and you get some incredible views

Couple other complications:

1. rain makes the rock weaker, and some anchors that are 'safe' when dry, could be not-safe when wet. Also, downclimbing, upclimbing, cross-climbing, etc, certainly possible to break holds of a certain kind, because they are wet.

2. The rope and rock being wet makes things stickier and heavier, sometimes complicating rope retrieval. Some of those Arches canyons have long rope pulls to do with zero impact, and some of these might be really difficult when the rope is wet and the long pulls have a lot of friction.

3. Because of #1 and #2, your rope pulls could have unacceptable impacts on the rock, cutting grooves in the rock, etc.

Rain-time is a good time to go hiking in Arches..

Tom

[snap101]

talking about crappy canyon weater. i have a question a few years ago i did pine creek and keyhole with quite a bit of water flowing through them both they were both running clear and i haven't been able to do either of them or any canyon flowing like that since. so my question is. is there a safe time when a canyon is flowing after a flash that you can do them or are you always up for super high flash risk by doing a canyon in zion flowing like that??

[Ryebrye]

talking about crappy canyon weater. i have a question a few years ago i did pine creek and keyhole with quite a bit of water flowing through them both they were both running clear and i haven't been able to do either of them or any canyon flowing like that since. so my question is. is there a safe time when a canyon is flowing after a flash that you can do them or are you always up for super high flash risk by doing a canyon in zion flowing like that??

I'd avoid it just because I believe in an afterllfe, and I believe in that afterlife I would never be able to live down the "Oh, so YOU are the guy who died in Keyhole" comments.

I'd be more likely to go into a canyon that is flowing due to spring runoff than I would one that is flowing due to rain.

[trackrunner]

I'd avoid it just because I believe in an afterllfe, and I believe in that afterlife I would never be able to live down the "Oh, so YOU are the guy who died in Keyhole" comments.

QFE

I'd be more likely to go into a canyon that is flowing due to spring runoff than I would one that is flowing due to rain.

QFE

On April 19th I did an epic trip through the Subway while flowing with spring run off. It turned an easy canyon a lot more challenging.

[snap101]

funny you mention keyhole flashing
we went after some older folks who were doing that in a rainstorm
after us. they almost got a first hand experience with meeting a flash flood in keyhole! it was pretty intense watching two flashes coming through keyhole just before the technical section in probably 30 mins!