Ouray, Colorado - Cascade Canyon

[lisa]

Electrical Storm in Cascade Canyon
Ouray, Colorado
August 12, 2010

It all started at Freezefest around a huge campfire. Snow, frozen water and
zero degree temperatures attract a group of slightly insane canyoneers to the
annual New Year's festival called Freezefest. It takes place each year in
Southern Utah.

"Water canyons in Mexico this summer, who's in?!" says Matt.

"Stoke-O-Loco!" becomes the name of the event. We start to plan our Mexico
canyoneering trip. We're stoked until we find out how much it costs to go to
Mexico. High alpine canyons in Colorado become the plan instead. Now it's
"Stoke-O-BROKE-O" in Ouray, Colorado.



Fast forward eight months. It's August in the high mountains of Colorado.
Stoke-O-Broke-O is here. It rained this morning and clouds still cling to the
steep peaks surrounding the small town of Ouray, Colorado. I drive my van to
the trailhead of Cascade Canyon and meet AJs group. They depart, and a few
minutes later the "Stoke-O-Broke-O" group starts showing up. Matt, Mark, Randi
and I are feeling stoked as we pack our gear. Mike pulls in. He just drove all
night from Flagstaff, Arizona. He's pretty stoked, even after zero sleep. He
quickly packs his stuff and we are ready to go.

We shuttle in my van (called the "free candy van" during this trip) and start up
the trail. It slowly climbs 2300 feet with great views of the surrounding
mountains. I like these approaches, where you do all the climbing at the
beginning of the day. When we exit the canyon we'll be right near our cars and
a tasty restaurant, says Matt. Perfect.

We get to the start of the canyon and wiggle into our wetsuits near the top of a
25 foot waterfall. The soft white water gently pours over a wide lip. Below
lies a floor of colorful rock divided by white rivulets of rushing water and
then the canyon drops steeply out of sight. The recent rain makes the rock look
polished. The saturated surfaces of the rock shine with tones of rusty red,
soft green and dark gray.

We enter the canyon and enjoy several rappels near waterfalls, but not actually
in the water. The rock is very solid and perfect for downclimbing. On some
downclimbs my legs are obscured by gushing water, splashing in the air, tugging
at my feet. I'm accustomed to using my sense of sight for downclimbing.
Downclimbing in flowing water requires use of a different sense - feeling. I
feel with my feet and find my way down rocks I can't see.



Small balls of white hail erupt suddenly from the sky. We laugh and Mike shoots
a short video of the hail. Three separate times that day the sky opens up
suddenly with a dramatic hailstorm. Clouds pass over, the sun comes back, rain,
hail, repeat. The weather holds more surprises for us later on.



A drenching waterfall rappel appears in front of us and Matt gets the rope out.
It's only about 30 feet but it will be my first rappel into a heavy flow of
water. I wonder if I will be able to breathe once I get into the thickest part
of the waterfall. How hard will it push me down the rope? These are the things
I've been warned about when rappelling in flowing water. I rig high friction on
my rappel device and drop down into the rushing water. It shoots down the back
of my wetsuit, intensely cold. I love the sound of the water splashing loudly
off my plastic helmet, like standing under a tin roof while it's raining. Cold
sheets of water hit me in the face, but I can breathe when I need to. I like
this.



It starts to rain. The canyon is especially lush after the recent rain. Pine
trees and bright green bushes crowd the rim of the rocky canyon, and
occasionally a glossy green plant clings to the rock down in the watercourse.
Despite the cold weather and complete lack of sleep for one of our friends, our
laughs and smiles warm the canyon and we forget about the cold. We stay busy on
many fun, wet downclimbs and numerous short rappels.



We arrive at the 150 foot waterfall and find AJ. He's the last in his group to
go down, and he's just getting on rappel. The sun shines as we get ready for
the first of seven remaining rappels. The grand finale of the day will be a 300
foot waterfall - Cascade Falls.

Randi goes to the top of the falls and starts to get on rappel, then stops.
Then, Matt is nearby so he decides to go first. Matt gets on rappel. This
takes about a minute, and neither of them knows it but in about a minute and a
half the creek will start to pulse. I am standing off to the side of the
waterfall, watching. As soon as Matt starts to drop over the edge the flow
increases and softball sized rocks start tumbling down the stream with the
current. Danger.

Matt scrambles hand over hand up the rope. I can't hear anything above the
sound of the water. I can just see the look on Matt's face, and he is not
stoked. He points at the rocks tumbling in the water, mouth open, yelling.

The next couple seconds pass in slow motion. I see Matt at the top of the
falls, now standing on solid ground. The creek suddenly changes color to a
milky, chocolate brown. It could flash flood at any moment and I'm standing on
the brink of a 150 foot waterfall. I think back to all the debris we saw in the
canyon from previous flash floods. These facts combine in an instant, and I
leap into action and fly up the rock to the side of the falls, then up a dirt
slope. I don't even bother to put the items back in my pack. I just toss them
up the slope in front of me. We all claw our way up the hillside and perch on a
dirt slope, safely and helplessly watching the creek increase in volume. The
flow isn't huge, but it's about double what it was earlier. That's a lot for
this canyon.

We cower beneath big trees, and a light rain shower trickles between the
branches. We put on extra clothing and I feel relieved and safe, laying there
under the trees. Mike notices a large, brown, sparkly geode nearby. We admire
it.

Right as we're starting to relax, thunder booms right near us. The whole canyon
trembles. Is it better to be on the slope or under a tree? There's nowhere
else for us to go. Neither seems ideal, so we decide our strategy will be to
hope. We sit and hope lightning won't strike as thunder booms all around us.
The storm passes. We watch the creek decrease in volume over the next hour and
we talk about getting ready to rappel. Suddenly, the flow increases again to the
same level as before. The water continues to move softball sized rocks. We
have seven rappels ahead of us and the sky is gray and misty. More rain is
coming. We can't do these rappels right now.

We talk about how to help AJs group below us. They are between two of the long
waterfall rappels, and might be stuck there until the creek mellows out. While
the canyon is raining drama down upon us, we remain calm. A couple people even
take a short nap on the slope. No one complains, although we realize the
situation could lead to an uncomfortable bivy or difficult exit. I feel
thankful to be with this positive group.

Matt is trying to find a solution. He stands at the top of the waterfall trying
to communicate with AJ down below. The rope became wedged in the rock as the
creek surged, and now it's stuck somewhere in the middle of the falls. Matt
yanks on it for several minutes. Finally it comes loose.

A long session of "canyon charades" ensues, which we watch with great interest.
Matt is standing at the top of the falls trying to discuss options with AJ, at
the bottom of the falls. Only they can't hear each other. The water is too
loud. Matt uses facial contortions and wild arm movements to say everything
from "do you want me to pull the rope", to "let's meet at the bar later on" and
everything in between. After several minutes, an agreement is flailed out
between AJ and Matt. The waterfalls are too dangerous if the creek continues to
pulse. AJs group will attempt to hike out.

We've been sitting by the creek for an hour now. We decide we should try to
hike out, too. Matt apologizes to us for not completing the canyon. Even the
half of the canyon we saw, which was the mellow half, was incredible. It had
still been a pretty awesome day, overall. Now, the unknown exit lay ahead of
us.

As we sit on the slope, we eye a broken down cabin across from us on the
hillside. Mark hikes up to the cabin debris and finds a large cast iron stove
which had to be hauled in somehow.

"It sure didn't come down the watercourse," Mark says and we giggle. We're
still in good spirits.

We hope there might be an old trail somewhere. We go up the hillside and pick
our way across the front of the mountain. We find a faint trail and it's
definitely a welcome route across the steep and rocky terrain. We follow the
faint trail for about an hour, then rejoin the main trail. We hike the rest of
the way out, and are happy to see AJ at the lower trailhead. Everyone is safe,
although it sounds like AJ's group had a rougher hike out than we did. They
hadn't even changed out of their wetsuits before the hike because there wasn't
even a good place to do it. I guess we got pretty lucky with our route.

At the end of the day, we feel good everyone is safe. I think about the tiny
events which protected us that day. I thought about the delay getting on rappel
at the waterfall right before the creek pulsed, our trail in the middle of
nowhere, and the safe exits found by both groups. Cheers to a memorable day in
Cascade Canyon!

[blueeyes]

That is a well written report. Loved reading it. Gorgeous pictures!

Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G using Tapatalk

[Sombeech]

Very cool!

[Cirrus2000]

Already read it, already saw the photos, but it's great to see them together! Very nice, Lisa - must have been a great experience!

[River]

Even better with the pictures!

[The Good Cop]

Hey Lisa, great write-up! You brought me right back to that fun day into a terrific canyon. Your comment about downclimbing by feel instead of eyesight in the water flow stuck with me, I remember discussing that exact topic with AJ. And what a fun (in hindsight) sequence with the flash hitting, I remember as I was providing the fireman's thinking "how odd that Matt's charging back up to the top" and then seeing the burst of brownish water & rocks come over the falls. Again, no injuries equals a fun memory and thanks for bringing me back to that terrific day!

[mmac]

Great TR Lisa! Here are some highlights from my pics.

The full album can be found here


Gotta love those Colorado mountains!


Randi and Lisa getting ready to drop into Cascade


The always stylish Matt Brejcha, donning his wetsuit.


Mark on rappel.


Stunning waterfalls are around every bend, and the views upcanyon are often more spectacular than looking down.


This Pic is a bit blurry from all the water on the lens, but it gives a good idea of the pre-flash flow.


At the top of the first hundred-something rappel in the final sequence. (T-Minus 5 minutes)


Same drop-off, but from on top of the dirt hill we all scrambled up.


The waterfall upstream is the same one shown previously.


More rain incoming.


Arial view of Ouray. What a beautiful place! If you look closely, you can see AJ's group between the to close, bright green trees - safely out of the watercourse.


What an amazing day! Thanks to everyone involved!

[Don]

Nice! I need to get out there...

[middlefork]

WOW! Great report and pictures

[EvergreenDean]

Looks awesome. Wish I could have been there. My family members need to quit visiting during canyon season.

[DSTRBD]

Looks like a great time, Thanks fro the TR and Pics!

[stefan]

many thanks, lisa, great trip report and photos, thanks for sharing them