On the Edge of Olivion; a.k.a. The Ledges of Death

[Scott P]

Introduction

This is the story of our grand trip through the Utah and Arizona Canyons that took place between April 11 and 20. The trip began with an email to Todd Martin, a well know Arizona canyoneer/climber. Todd runs the website Todds Desert Hiking Guide and is also the author of the book Arizona: Technical Canyoneering. I had been completely luckless trying to put a group together for a Buckfarm canyon and Saddle Canyon attempt for quite a while, in fact for several years. With the remoteness, ruggedness, climbing required, time and commitment it was hard to find anyone interested in such a trip. I was in luck because Todd had recently attempted Buckfarm Canyon twice and also wanted to complete the descent and climb out. A few others were interested, but it was Rich Rudow and Aaron Locander (who was also on one of the previous Buckfarm Canyon attempts) that committed to join us for this fantastic proposed trip. Plans were made and anticipation and enthusiasm was high.

For more photographs, see the various trip albums:

Buckfarm Canyon/Eminence Break

Silver Grotto/Shinumo Wash

Antelope Canyon

Round Valley Draw

Hackberry Canyon

Stone Donkey Canyon

Yellow Rock


Sand Canyon (Colorado)

April 11 2008

Today I hiked Sand Canyon in Southeast Colorado while alone. There are some nice ruins in the canyon and it

[Scott P]

Antelope Canyon (Arizona)

April 16, 2008

The original plan was a four day trip to Saddle Canyon, also in the Grand Canyon. Saddle Canyon is a pretty popular river stop, but apparently no one has connected the entire rim to river route yet. It was our grand goal for last week, but we gave up on it after being thrashed and beat by the other two routes we did in the previous days.

We attempted to obtain a Navajo permit for Aztec Creek, but were unsuccessful and so we headed to the Hackberry Canyon area of Utah. Before that we did a Quick trip through Lower Antelope since none of us but Aaron had seen it yet.




The Corkscrew section of Antelope Canyon.Round Valley Draw, Hackberry Canyon, Stone Donkey Canyon, Sam Pollock Canyon, and Yellow Rock (Utah)

After Antelope Canyon, we then headed for Round Valley Draw, Hackberry Canyon, Stone Donkey Canyon and Yellow Rock all in one shot in three days.

April 17, 2008

Round Valley is a really nice slot and great fun with some easy climbing. After meeting Hackberry Canyon and continuing down it, we also tried to climb up Booker Canyon. Though the first falls does have a bypass we enjoyed some rock climbing to surmount it more directly. Aaron (a much better climber than me) made a direct hit of the falls and climbed directly up the crack. I couldn’t do it in non-sticky shoes. Rich (a better climber than me) made a climb just to the left of the crack and then a tricky traverse to the falls. I asked Rich to take off his sticky shoes and throw them down the cliff so I could climb. I succeeded in climbed the wall right near Rich’s route, but on the way back could not climb Aaron’s route, at least not with the borrowed shoes that were over a size too big. They kept slipping out of the crack. The only person to attempt the climb up the second fall was Todd (he is also a better climber than me). He made it pretty close, but it looked too risky and I wouldn’t try it. We continued downcanyon and made 13.5 miles this day and camped below the Hackberry spring.




Round Valley Draw. Todd Martin photo.

April 18, 2008

Stone Donkey Canyon was incredible and a very hidden slot tucked way away in the backcountry. I believe we (Brownwyn Adams, Kimberly Patterson, Rusty Northrup and I) did the first documented descent of the canyon from the top some ten years ago. Todd had wanted to do the canyon for a while as well, but had been unable to find anyone interested in an overnighter. The Cathedral Rap, the tight narrows (so dark you need a headlamp in some sections) and downclimbing made the canyon a lot of fun and everyone was very impressed with the canyon. I had forgotten how good it was.




Me rapping into the Cathedral Room in Stone Donkey Canyon. Todd Martin photo.

After Stone Donkey, we hiked down canyon and dropped the packs at Sam Pollock Canyon. We took a trip up to Sam Pollock Arch. One “interesting” even was that Todd, Rich and I noticed some large cougar footprints in the canyon. What was more “interesting” was that Aaron was a few minutes ahead of us and some of the cougar footprints were inside his. After seeing the arch we returned back to the mouth of Sam Pollock Canyon.




Sam Pollock Arch in Sam Pollock Canyon. Todd Martin photo.

April 19, 2008

After a cold night in the mid-20’s, we hiked the rest of the beautiful Hackberry Canyon and climbed Yellow Rock, a fantastic wonderland of multi-colored rock. The other three headed home to Phoenix and I headed north to the Escalante area.




Here we are after climbing to the summit of Yellow Rock. Castle Rock is in the background. Left to right: Scott Patterson, Todd Martin, Aaron Locander and Rich Rudow.Tunnel and Zebra Slots (Utah)

After getting cleaned up I attended church in Escalante until noon. After that I headed southeast for more canyon adventures in Tunnel and Zebra Slot. Zebra was completely filled with tumbleweeds and I couldn’t get through until another flood reams it out. Too bad since I was excited to see it again since I hadn’t been for 16 years and since I was the one that named the now famous canyon (local ranchers had certainly known of it, but I don’t know if they had a name for it or what that name was). Tunnel was scenic as always.

Such ended a very grand trip in some amazingly spectacular country. The desert grows on you and despite the bruises, scrapes and beatings I know we will all be back.




Slickrock near the Zebra Slot.