San Rafael Swell 9/28/2010

[ratagonia]

from one of my far-flung correspondents...

On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 10:30 AM, <j.........@aol.com> wrote:
Hi Guys,
I don't know if this will be of any value, but a flash flood around early August has RADICALLY ALTERED the landscape of the San Rafael slot canyons. We just returned from what has been an easy trip in the past (Lower Baptist - Upper Chute Canyon Loop) It was desperate. Deep, long, cold swimming and finally a 300' wall climb to escape an extremely dangerous log and debris jam.
It would be good to get the word out that even the relatively easy canyons may be extremely difficult now and require better gear and ability to innovate. I'm not sure who to contact, but I thought you might be interested.
Jim H.

[Don]

I concur. We'll write a full report soon, but we did Knotted Rope and Music canyons over the weekend and both were sloppy muddy wet canyons. Music & the slog through the Chute of Muddy Creek took us about 10 hours.
Saturday morning a group of 13 went down Quandary direct and up Ramp and it took them something like 13 hours (they said they got back into their camp at 1:30 in the morning). (Although, some of their problem may have been the size of the group.)

[ibenick]

Saturday morning a group of 13 went down Quandary direct and up Ramp and it took them something like 13 hours (they said they got back into their camp at 1:30 in the morning). (Although, some of their problem may have been the size of the group.)

I'm pretty sure I talked with this group on their way in Saturday morning, It couldn't have been much later than 8am when they were heading in. Looooong day.

[ststephen]

I concur. We'll write a full report soon, but we did Knotted Rope and Music canyons over the weekend and both were sloppy muddy wet canyons. Music & the slog through the Chute of Muddy Creek took us about 10 hours.
Saturday morning a group of 13 went down Quandary direct and up Ramp and it took them something like 13 hours (they said they got back into their camp at 1:30 in the morning). (Although, some of their problem may have been the size of the group.)

When I spoke (separately) to that group's leader he indicated problems route finding coming up Ramp leading to a long dangerous climb to the top of the Swell in the wrong place. He said going down Quandary was actually relatively easy, perhaps because of how full the potholes were.

Our trip down Music was very fun, probably made more so by the tremendous amount of water and mud

Swimming and wading in the Muddy Creek was interesting too:

[Iceaxe]

Locating Ramp Canyon from the bottom can be a little tricky, I know more than one group has been forced to bivy because of troubles finding the correct canyon. Here is a good story dealing with the route.

In a Quandary
Alicia Scotter

The canyons of the San Rafael Swell have always called to me, but Tom, my first canyoneering Partner in Crime had not yet arrived in my life. When he did, our spirit of adventure was matched only by our likelihood of disaster. Hidden Splendor especially became a Vortex for us, as we wandered lost and mapless, suffering from heat stroke and empty tanks of gas. But a few weeks later, rehydrated, we'd be bumping over roads back to SwaziLand, Steve Allen Bible in hand, asking for more.

About this time, Tom's teenage daughter Mandy delighted us with a request for a desert weekend with her girlfriend Lindsey. Being late June, as we thumbed through the guidebook, the "bitterly cold waters" of Quandary Canyon sounded like a perfect selection. The "for expert canyoneers only" warning was certainly only for those wussy tourist types, or a legal requirement from Steve's legal advisors!

With our usual early departure plan, we started into the canyon at the crack of noon, ready for adventure with not just one, but two harnesses for our team of four to share. All went well until the First Keeper Pothole. With a giant swimming toad watching the whole sad ordeal, we lost both harnesses to unknown depths and had to create swami's from webbing to continue our descent. Those of you who know the delights of Quandary Canyon are probably thinking "Well, they can always exit before the "Big Keeper Pothole" and I learned this too - as I read about it the next day sitting on the banks of Muddy Creek. But following directions has never been my strength and the guidebook remained in my backpack with all its secrets.

Despite everything, the "bitterly cold" waters of Quandary were refreshing until night and the Big Keeper arrived at the same time. One after the other we each ledged over to the bolt and attempted the pendulum onto the lip of the next rappel, none of us succeeding. For the first time I was confronted with the possibility of being stuck in this aptly named canyon. I turned around as Tom also was slowly sinking into the hole, and missed the miracle as he found some crack on the lip and made it onto the edge. Our once happy girls were now tired, stressed and shivering, so like a strange selection of Victoria Secret models. We stripped down to our various underwear and paddled across the pothole, where we looked down, as the moon began to rise, on nothing but a seemingly endless series of descents.

This is when we lost Mandy. The girls had been troopers, but she'd reached her wall and now refused to rappel unless her dad was holding her in his arms. So we slowly negotiated each drop until we exited the canyon at 2:00 a.m. My optimism surged. A 50 minute hike to the east should take us to Ramp, a canyon Tom and I had already reconnoitered, albeit not in the middle of the night; but we'd find it, and be grilling steaks as the sun came up.

But all of you who wander the desert canyons know the illusions of night. Familiar things become mysterious; landmarks are lost. Our batteries dimmed as did our steps. At 3:30 a.m. we lay down, four wet spoons snuggled one against the other. Strangely, as I half drifted in sleep, I was content. The past few years of my life had been an exercise in ambiguity. I no longer needed all the answers and certainties. I had melded with the desert and grown stronger. I had had my tears in other canyons but they'd prepared me for this one. I knew we'd find the triangular marker mountain for Ramp Canyon at daylight and be in camp in a few hours.

At dawn, Tom and I climbed the cliff above us. The Reef spread out, but no familiar peak was in sight. To the west I could see the green edges of Muddy Creek and knew it was our long, but assured way home. I went down and woke the girls up. It was 6:00 a.m. but the heat was rising and we were out of water. Tom had disappeared on our downclimb. I started back for him and found him coming out of a faint. We made him eat orange peels we were packing out and backtracked past Quandary, the Mountain Lion Rock, and to the creek. I pulled out Allen's guidebook. We'd missed the Secret Exit to Quandary, but the possibility of a spring ahead was promising. The description of the location was hazy, but we were getting desperate, so at any possible spot I scouted for it, but found only rattlesnakes. It was just as I gave up that we stumbled onto it. We drank and filled our water bottles and continued upstream to the Hidden Splendor Mine.

We reached Hidden Splendor in the worst of the midday heat. The grueling uphill hike that remained back to our vehicle was, in my opinion, a Manly Moment and we only had one nominee. Tom and I made a bargain that he would take the remaining water and bring the car back, if I would drive all the way home. The girls and I fell deeply asleep in the heat under a bush and woke to the sound of the car arriving, full of air conditioned delights.

We piled in and ate and drank our way home. We made our usual stop in Castledale, but no one would get out of the security of the car, so we pulled back out and continued home. It was still evening as we turned onto my street. My neighbors were mowing lawns and waving as we pulled into the driveway. "Have a good time?" my next door neighbor asked and all we could do was laugh.

[agostinone]

I just wanted to add to the update about how things have changed recently--not just the San Rafael Swell but also Robbers Roost. I took a buddy of mine who thinks he is interested in canyoneering into Blue John on Sept 18 for a nice intro (down Blue John Main and up the West fork). I took some of my mountain biking buddies on the same route in May. The difference between the two trips is pretty impressive. Basically after the first Rap/DC it was stemming (with a bunny strap) all the way to the deep dark portion of the main fork. The beta on the web about this route is that this is noob friendly but after the flooding I think folks could easily get in a bit of trouble acting on the stale beta. Good to get the word out.

KJ

[Scott Card]

Wo, wait, what? Stemming? Blue John? Was this to avoid water? Canyon filled in? Do tell. Details man, we need details!

[ratagonia]

I just wanted to add to the update about how things have changed recently--not just the San Rafael Swell but also Robbers Roost. I took a buddy of mine who thinks he is interested in canyoneering into Blue John on Sept 18 for a nice intro (down Blue John Main and up the West fork). I took some of my mountain biking buddies on the same route in May. The difference between the two trips is pretty impressive. Basically after the first Rap/DC it was stemming (with a bunny strap) all the way to the deep dark portion of the main fork. The beta on the web about this route is that this is noob friendly but after the flooding I think folks could easily get in a bit of trouble acting on the stale beta. Good to get the word out.

KJ

Why were you stemming (with a Bunny Strap)? To avoid water? or because the canyon had washed out X tons of sand and gravel so the slot down below was reveiled? I'm having trouble 'rapping' my brain around this corundum.

Tom

[agostinone]

Hey, so here are a few more details on the Blue John trip. If you are familiar with the main fork you'll recall that after the first DC/Rap it is, or was, pretty much a series of flat sandy narrow sections between DC/rap before the nice deep dark walk through portion. We'll there must have been a good "frog choaker" storm in the area because all the sand is gone. So now instead of a series of DC with sand in between it a long slot, too narrow to reach the bottom, broken by big choke stones (same ones that were there before). All that sand is now further down the canyon. You may recall that in the deep dark walk through section there is a tree jammed across the slot about 8 or 9 feet in the air. I've got a picture from earlier this spring of me standing on a boulder trying to reach it and I could not quite touch it. Now that boulder is buried (or gone) and I can stand in that area and touch that jammed tree. There was also some proof that there had been pools in there deep and long enough to need some swimming (to0 wide a section of the slot for me to stem). When we were there they were just mud pits but I could see the bath-tub ring of mud indicating where the water had been.

Oh yea--one other cool thing. When I was in there in May someone had honked out a giant dirt snake off of one of the choke stones at a DC. Nice pile of turds and t.p. to dodge during the DC. Well, now that mess is gone.

KJ

[ratagonia]

Hey, so here are a few more details on the Blue John trip. If you are familiar with the main fork you'll recall that after the first DC/Rap it is, or was, pretty much a series of flat sandy narrow sections between DC/rap before the nice deep dark walk through portion. We'll there must have been a good "frog choaker" storm in the area because all the sand is gone. So now instead of a series of DC with sand in between it a long slot, too narrow to reach the bottom, broken by big choke stones (same ones that were there before). All that sand is now further down the canyon. You may recall that in the deep dark walk through section there is a tree jammed across the slot about 8 or 9 feet in the air. I've got a picture from earlier this spring of me standing on a boulder trying to reach it and I could not quite touch it. Now that boulder is buried (or gone) and I can stand in that area and touch that jammed tree. There was also some proof that there had been pools in there deep and long enough to need some swimming (to0 wide a section of the slot for me to stem). When we were there they were just mud pits but I could see the bath-tub ring of mud indicating where the water had been.

Oh yea--one other cool thing. When I was in there in May someone had honked out a giant dirt snake off of one of the choke stones at a DC. Nice pile of turds and t.p. to dodge during the DC. Well, now that mess is gone.

KJ

Wow! Incredible! Thanks for the update, although the last part... tmi... Tom

[Matt Lemke]

NO WAY!!! I was there last March and April and saw the same conditions you did in May.
That is incredible!

[Wasatch]

I remember back in 04 or 05 Tom Raty telling me parts of that story. We were going to do Englestead that weekend and I asked if Mandy wanted to go along with us. He said "No Way" she'll probably never want to go canyonering again. She definitely did not want to go. Tom also told me about the time they bivyed in Spry after/during a flash flood, it was dark and he did not realise that they were almost out of the canyon, but stayed high and decided to stay the night.