Pine Creek TR - 5/28/09

[twebb]

We did Pine Creek canyon yesterday, Thursday the 28th of May. This is my first canyon of the season. Got a new rope, the imlay fire 8.3 at 220 feet and it worked great.

I read on this forum that there was at least 1 swim and lots of wading, and since there had been rain since then I knew there would be at least a few swims and lots of wading. We don't have wetsuits yet, waiting for one to be shipped from sportsmans warehouse, and didn't want to rent one. We all knew that this would be somewhat masochistic but were in for the adventure.

We had 4 in our group, me and my girlfriend Anna have been through many canyons before, including pine creek several times. The other 2 members of our party were inexperienced, 1 proficient at rappeling and rock climbing but never having been through a canyon before, the other we took through a little canyonito at lambs knoll a few weeks ago, where he became good enough at rappelling.

The regular parking area at the bathroom above the tunnel was full, so we went up a mile or so and parked on a pullout. We hiked down the hill where there is a bridge over the wash that the road goes over. This added about a mile of great non-technical canyon, which made for a good warm-up as well as being very scenic. We knew at this point that we were in for a very wet day as this section of canyon was totally full of water with at least 2 swims, whereas a week ago it was bone-dry. I would recommend this addition as pine creek alone is quite short.

We arrived at the real beginning of pine creek, already wet. We talked about how much swimming there would be and how potentially miserable it would become without wetsuits, but everyone wanted to go on anyway, even being presented with the opportunity to just wander around on dry land, doing the overlook trail or something. We hesitated on the brink of commitment for only a few minutes, but everyone was still committed, come what may. In we went, dropping into the first pool, which was a full swim for at least 10 feet. We set up the first rappel, which has a shallow pool and ledge about halfway down. Then we could see that we were definitely going to be swimming for much of the canyon, with rope hanging into water with no land in sight from above.

I was the first one down, doing a floating disconnect from my atc and swimming about 20 feet to a shallow part where I was only ankle deep, from here I could see the end of the first rappel and provided a belay for the others. Everyone rappelled and disconnected with not too much trouble, just a bit of awkwardness. Since I was holding the end of the rope for a belay, everyone could pull themselves to me using the rope as a hand-line and saving some time and energy from swimming.



Anna is the last to rappel (I'm no longer belaying, but still holding the rope at this point, ready to turn it into a hand-line)

It was very cold, even though the sun was baking the world above. Everyone agreed that we should have brought wetsuits.

Next up we did the short awkward 10 foot 2nd rappel off the long. We could stand with the water at about elbow level at this point to disconnect and wrestle with a big log that was floating in the pool.

I connected myself with a sling to the anchor for the great cathedral rappel, backing it up with an equalized quick-draw. This was I could hand the rope to all members of the party without any slip into the abyss. The floor was quite wet and slippery here, with a slight trickle from the pool at the second rappel. Anna went first this time, heading down to search for a sand-bar so the others could avoid the floating disconnect. She didn't find one, and dropped her ATC in the water here. Luckily we had 2 extras and she swam through the arch to a small spot of glorious sunshine. The echo is so strong here it is difficult to understand what the others are saying despite being less than 100 feet away. There is very little light that penetrates the canyon floor since the walls are so twisted, and so any patch of sunlight was like water in a desert.



I was the last to rappel and swung far to the right to get to a ledge for this photo. They pulled the rope and waited for me in the sunshine. I descended from the ledge by going to the left around the pedestal formation. I swam a bit and found a sandbar that was about elbow-deep, walking for a few feet before swimming again. I took only a moment in the sunshine since I knew there would be more swimming in the next chamber.

This section proved to be the longest and coldest swimming of the day. I wanted to stop for photos but couldnt access any ledges to get my camera out of the dry-bag. We came to a big dry room with sunshine at the distant end and ran to the light.



At this point everyone we reiterated that we should have wetsuits, but everyone was having a great time and laughing despite the shivering and teeth-chattering. I was reminded everyone that I had brought my backpacking stove and some hot-chocolate mix for the wide open area before the last rappels, where there would be sun and lovely flat boulders to sunbathe on. After another swim, we arrived at a very dark chamber. I was the last of the group to reach this room and was informed in a whisper that there was an Owl sleeping on a ledge and that they had walked to within 10 feet of it. It would glare over its shoulder if we were noisy, but seemed very comfortable with our presence. I took alot of photos, but since I only brought along my super-wide angle lens (sigma 10-20mm) and it was so dark in this chamber, the owl is but a lightish blur in the top left corner of all my images, taken at full zoom 20mm.



2 other canyoneers from california, whose names I have forgotten, caught up to us at this time. When they arrived they asked "How are you guys not freezing your asses off?" to which we replied "We are." Everyone laughed about this, and we let them pass us since they were in full wet suits that they had rented that morning. We were a bit jealous but in good spirits as we knew the next section of canyon would be the last swimming before the big open area with abundant sun. We descended the log into the pool of water that is visible in the last picture, and luckily it was only elbow-deep wading rather than full swimming. We waded through this section of canyon pretty quickly. If we had wetsuits we would have been able to enjoy the surroundings a bit more, rather than rushing through the wet parts. We had to descend 1 more log and swim another short section before we got to a wading part and finally the wide flat area with rocks and trees and supposedly sunshine. However, the sun was behind some big gray clouds at this point and did not grace us with its presence here. Everyone had towels and sweaters in their dry-bags. I set up the stove and got some hot chocolate ready in just a few minutes.



We had a break for about a half hour on this boulder, getting warm, drinking hot chocolate and eating baklava and apples.

We went to the 4th rappel and descended easily, avoiding a pool after disconnecting. This section has always been dry in the past when I've done pine creek, but this time had yet another mandatory swim, which Anna did first. Here disembarking from an awkward start.



We got to the final rappel and scrambled up the little slab, which seems a bit sketchier than before. I think the slab itself is the same as before, but I believe that something in the potential landing zone must have caved during the rockfall, making it seem worse. Setting up the final rappel was the same story, nothing seemed different in the little gully approaching the anchor, but the anchor itself seemed farther away than last time, forcing me to lean out rather precipitously over the edge. This was the only part of the day when I felt very scared, and the strong wind didn't ease my mind. I clipped a runner from my harness to the bolts, backed up with an equalized quick-draw, to thread the rope through the anchor. I remained connected to this anchor to help everyone else set up for the rappel. Anna went first and it was weird to see her in the rubble instead of the lovely spring-fed pool that I remember. This rappel is definitely shorter than before, but not by very much, maybe 10-15 feet of rubble.




We all descended easily and took off harnesses anticipating the hike out.

Bo told me a story about a trail that offers a sketchy alternative to the final rappel, where a trail has been cut into the wall with a gap in the trail being spanned by an old warped 2x6. This lead to the "stope" which was used for clearing debris out during trail construction. I didn't think to take a picture of this trail or the stope itself, but thought the story was really interesting and got a photo of an old rail that was apparently used for hauling tools up this 45 degree tunnel leading to the main tunnel itself. If anyone who reads this could contribute any further information I'm sure all my facts are messed up.



The hike out was a nice end to the day, boulder hopping and down-scrambling back to the car.





We were hasty and missed the real trail that leads up to the car. We took a trail that has been well used but took us a full tier higher on the switchbacks than we wanted to be. Be careful when choosing the correct ascent trail, as this took alot more effort than the real trail, and then I just had to walk back down steep loose stuff to get to the car.

Overall a great trip, way way way more water than I've ever seen in here before. Although we had fun and didn't become hypothermic, it was really cold, we had to swim at least 8 times in cold water, maybe as many as 12, I can't really remember. One of the swims was very long, maybe 100 feet in a narrow slot. It would have been better on a sunnier day, but we at least had intermittent sun. We all wished that we had brought wetsuits many times and I would definitely recommend them for the current conditions.

A note about the last rappel: I think that the current anchor placement should be re-evaluated. Since the rockfall the slab approach seems needless and a bit sketchy. The anchor itself is very far out, necessitating either longer arms than mine, or a scary lean-out over the abyss. I'm not sure if the ledge eroded a little bit since last time, or if I'm just being a baby, but I think next time I will bring a cam to set up a hand-line to the anchor (there is a good crack about 6 feet to the right that can be accessed easily, I wish I had evaluated the size more closely) which I will pull out after the final member has rappelled. I don't know if this is really a good idea but seems like a good alternative. I think a new permanent anchor (although natural, there is plenty of debris and logs I think) could be set up in the main watercourse but I didn't want to spend any more time in the canyon, craving beer and tacos. I don't know much about the ethics surrounding canyoneering anchors, but it doesn't seem totally safe in its current state.

Also, I know we should have been wearing helmets, I don't really have a good excuse for this. Next time wetsuits and helmets.

[trackrunner]

A note about the last rappel: I think that the current anchor placement should be re-evaluated. Since the rockfall the slab approach seems needless and a bit sketchy. The anchor itself is very far out, necessitating either longer arms than mine, or a scary lean-out over the abyss. I'm not sure if the ledge eroded a little bit since last time, or if I'm just being a baby, but I think next time I will bring a cam to set up a hand-line to the anchor

Some people will loop a safty teather and or handline to the arch. Once the person gets to the anchor a saftey teather is clipped into the anchor until ready to rappel.

[twebb]

Great idea, i didn't even think to use that little arch. Definitely going to do that instead of messing about with a cam. This arch/big threader is directly left of the anchor as you head down the little gully thing. That would have made me feel immensely more comfortable, you can disregard my whining.

[trackrunner]

It has also been discussed in other threads how the canyon and anchors have changed over the years. The last rappel use to descend the main water course. If you were to do this now you'd have to leave a lot of webbing since the boulder for an anchor is 10ft back I believe.

When I first did Pine Creek, the anchor was the arch. This caused a lot of deep rope grooves to form and difficult pulls. It was then moved to the present location.

Nice TR by the way

[sarahlizzy]

Thanks for this. I'll be part of a group doing Pine Creek in 5-6 weeks time, and reading your report was really useful.

[zoeimogen]

Thanks! We're doing Pine Creek on the 6th July - I'm a little unsure about the floating disconnects as I'm not that used to them, but I have a Petzl Pirana which should make things easier. We also have wetsuits, which we didn't have when we did Zion last year -but then we didn't even try Pine Creek last year. :-)

How long did it take you?

[twebb]

thanks for info trackrunner.

the conditions will probably be totally different by july, the water is only this high because it rained like 3 days ago. be prepared though, hopefully there will be another tr with current conditions for july. youre welcome though, glad to be helpful. have fun its a great canyon.

[ratagonia]

thanks for info trackrunner.

the conditions will probably be totally different by july, the water is only this high because it rained like 3 days ago. be prepared though, hopefully there will be another tr with current conditions for july. youre welcome though, glad to be helpful. have fun its a great canyon.

It will be somewhat different in 4 weeks when the Brit Gals make their appearance, but likely still cold and wet.

Nice TR, nice pics

How'd ya like that rope??

Tom

[ratagonia]

The Stope -

The tunnel was actually cut from the Galleries to each other, so they started by climbing the wall below the big window there above the last rappel. It started out as a ladder built onto the face, but the workers thought it would be better, and not a whole lot harder, to build a stope, which is essentially a small vertical shaft with a ladder in it to get to the gallery level. There was quite a bit of activity centered on that Window, since they first climbed UP, then chiselled out the gallery, than began tunnelling in both directions.

There was a trail from the main part of Pine Creek up to the stope, which included some scaffolding to pass a cliff section (to get around the last rappel). My understanding is that the final piece of that that allowed passage finally fell off just a few years ago.

Tom

[ratagonia]

Great idea, i didn't even think to use that little arch. Definitely going to do that instead of messing about with a cam. This arch/big threader is directly left of the anchor as you head down the little gully thing. That would have made me feel immensely more comfortable, you can disregard my whining.

Sketchy reach, largish natural anchor almost within arm's reach - didn't think of it???

May I suggest that people turn their brains ON when wandering through our canyons. Increases your life expectancy. No point in lambasting you about not wearing a brain-bucket, if the protected grey matter is not brought into action...

Tom

[twebb]

the rope seems great so far, definitely feels secure and looks great. really easy to pull after rap. can't think of any complaints.

we probably spent about 7 or more hours but were taking our time and did the up-canyon addition which was about an hour. it could have been done in about half the time i think but we were enjoying it.

tom, definitely next time helmet=on and brain=on. love your book and thanks for stope history.

[Cirrus2000]

Great TR - really enjoyed it! I was through exactly a month ago, with a whole lot less water. I'm glad that was the case, being solo on that trip - I think if conditions then were like they are now, I'd have preferred to have a partner or three. Somehow I didn't find the last anchor that scary to reach or anything, and I'm usually a total pansy when it comes to exposure. I guess you never know what will or won't be uncomfortable from one person to the next...

[cilantro13]

Thanks for the TR. Going to be in SoUt over the 4th and considering a pine creek afternoon. Nice to know I will freeze, even in my surf suit (like I do every time).

[nonot]

Great pics, that's way more water in Pine Creek than I've ever seen!

[ridefire]

We got our permit for pine creek on friday, with a 30 % of storms we thought we would get one for keyhole as well thinking we could get through quickly if rain looked eminant. It unleashed on us while in key hole, pretty good flow in the canyon, kind of scary, got out just in time and went to the pine creek bridge to have a look see ,and was happy as hell not to be in it, big water flowing, looked awesome from the top, good reminder to stay out even when chance of rain is low. I'll try and add the video of the flooding later

[Iceaxe]

Nice TR, great pictures.... thanks.

[twebb]

ridefire: a video of the flooding would be awesome. please do post that.