Shenanigans TR

[shaggy125]

Tensioin built as we drove down toward North Wash. Jason had worked all night and got off at 3am. With school, work, and everything else he only had the day to hit up his first canyon ever. Rather than him going to sleep and not waking up we just decided to all meet at 3:00 and drive down. I'd drive while he and Roxy slept in the car.

After passing Price we were given a pretty amazing show. Lightning crashed all around us over the book cliffs and the swell, some bolts splitting into multiple lines and landing within a few miles of our vehicle, if not closer. I began getting nervous and wondered if we should detour to Capitol Reef and go hiking instead. Luckily as the sun rose the clouds began to dissapear and we were left with sunny but windy air around us.

The hike in was mellow and the canyon was a lot of fun. Roxy struggled a bit with the downclimbs but luckily she's five foot nothing so we were able to carry her down anything scary. She would catch on as the day went on. At the first pool of knee deep water I was even able to give her a piggy-back ride to keep her shoes dry. Anything to make sure she has a good time... as I knew if she didn't have fun today she'd never come canyoneering with me again!

Everyone had a blast with the canyons twists and turns. Even in the slanted section where the canyon bottom became dark and difficult to maneuver everyone was all smiles. Weather turned out to be amazing aside from the strong winds blowing sand in our faces from time to time.

The final section of narrows was best. We were lucky enough to hit the most beautiful section just as the sun was shining straight in, causing the walls to glow orange and red. It was an amazing site, and one I try to catch every time I do the canyon.

Before we knew it the final drops were in front of us. As usual I forgot how difficult the final downclimb to the anchor for the last rappel is. Out came the rope as Roxy, with her short legs, wanted nothing to do with stemming down a wide chimney with nothing but free air and a hard landing below. She rappeled while we downclimbed.

At the final rappel, I dropped in first. The rope ends on some delicate ledges above a deep pool. If one does not want to get more than their feet wet, they must traverse more small ledges above and below the water to get to the safety of the sand on the other side of the pool. Of course the most difficult move is at the beginning where the water is deepest.

I waited at the bottom as I knew Roxy would need help negotiating the ledges. She was having a great time and I really didn't want her day to be ruined by falling into the pool. Down the rope she came and I did the first couple moves of the traverse to get out of her way, now standing on even smaller, more unstable ledges.

As soon as she got to the end of the rope, the struggle to stay out of the water began. Her shoes did not have the traction mine did when wet and she was very unstable. She grabbed my hand while disconnecting her belay device. Now it was time to do the traverse. I tried to instruct her on how I tackled the first moves, but it was obvious with her shorter legs it would be much more difficult. After the first move she began to slip and screamed for help. I grabbed her arms as she slid into the water, trying desperately to keep my balance as I was on tiny, slippery ledges as well. Soon I was carrying her full weight as she kicked her feet trying to pull herself back onto one of the ledges next to me. Struggling to climb up I could just keep seeing myself slipping and us both falling into the pool. After what seemed like 10 tries, with me trying to tell her where to put her feet, and her continually coming back with "I can't, I keep slipping!" She finally got her feet set and with a strong hold on my hand we did the rest of the traverse across the pool, with her only getting wet just above her knees (thanks to my holding her out of the water).

After the rope was pulled we were running short on time and started to cruise toward the desert above, forgetting to get a group pic at the last drop. :( We were greeted on top with wind gusts probably in the 40mph range. A quick hike to the cars put us back on our way to Salt Lake in time for Roxy and Jason to get to their indoor soccer game that night. Great day and I'm sure the Noobs will be back!

All we had were crappy cell phone cameras but here are pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ericgodf...hRoxyAndJason#

[CarpeyBiggs]

sweet. shenanny always delivers, crappy cell phone cameras or not.

[trackrunner]

awesome as always eric

Just got done doing canyons with Kev. He told me you and he might get something in the next week. I'm jealous.

Keep those TR coming.