Goblin's Lair

[Slot Machine]

Hey, I'm new here.
I'm Bob - and I'm a slot canyonoholic.

Steph (my wife), Tyler (my bro-in-law) and I took advantage of the weather last week and stopped by The Lair on the way to Hanksville. On January 11th, Goblin Valley was deserted, a rare treat. We didn't even see a park ranger while we were there.


Looking up at the 90 foot rap.






Looking into the Chamber from the exit.


Sunset with the Goblins.

Thanks Shane for posting the beta for this hike. The Lair was a nice warmup before we went to the North Wash. No stress, just a bit of pure fun.

http://amazingslots.blogspot.com/201...lins-lair.html

[ratagonia]

Sweeeet! Thanks for the TR.

Tom

[hank moon]

Nice TR, thanks - gotta get out to that one someday :)

Do you have any more shots of the anchor in the first pic?

[Slot Machine]

Nice TR, thanks - gotta get out to that one someday :)

Do you have any more shots of the anchor in the first pic?

Thanks! Sorry, I don't have any other anchor photos. That horn is a good anchor with lots or room around it for two two guys to stand and set up. I know much of the stone in that valley is crumbly and soft, but the stone for that anchor is bomber. There are other boulders/features nearby you could use for backup if desired.

[oldno7]

Was the Red webbing in bad shape?

Why did you leave the red after installing your green?

[ratagonia]

Was the Red webbing in bad shape?

Why did you leave the red after installing your green?

Please, allow me to uncharacteristically play the good cop. Slot machine is new to the sport, and knows not the way of technical canyoneers.

Slot machine - a couple small things you should note for future trips:

1. If you don't like the webbing on an anchor, sure, replace with your own. But please remove the webbing that you did not like, and carry it out for reuse or disposal.

2. Two slings are not any safer than one. If you cannot make one sling safe (ie, tie correct knots, carry correct webbing) then you should acquire training, or do something else. Bowling rarely involves life-changing decisions.

3. Yes, i know, many many anchors have two sets of webbing on them. There are many noobs out there.

4. Webbing you carry for leaving behind should be a naturalish color, like black or grey or tan. Electric Red is a color that occurs in nature, but it is not naturalish. Same with electric green.

Don't be afraid to clean up messes left by others. It is all our duties to keep the canyons clean.

Tom

[Slot Machine]

Please, allow me to uncharacteristically play the good cop. Slot machine is new to the sport, and knows not the way of technical canyoneers.

Slot machine - a couple small things you should note for future trips:

1. If you don't like the webbing on an anchor, sure, replace with your own. But please remove the webbing that you did not like, and carry it out for reuse or disposal.

2. Two slings are not any safer than one. If you cannot make one sling safe (ie, tie correct knots, carry correct webbing) then you should acquire training, or do something else. Bowling rarely involves life-changing decisions.

3. Yes, i know, many many anchors have two sets of webbing on them. There are many noobs out there.

4. Webbing you carry for leaving behind should be a naturalish color, like black or grey or tan. Electric Red is a color that occurs in nature, but it is not naturalish. Same with electric green.

Don't be afraid to clean up messes left by others. It is all our duties to keep the canyons clean.

Tom

Hmm... I agree that we should have taken the red anchor. It was 1/2 inch tubular with a tiny chain link (barely enough for a 8mm rope) likely purchased at Home Depot. As a group we agreed to install some 1 inch webbing with a nice Petzl rapid link. ("a lovely shade of forest green that DOES occur in nature" according to Steph) .

Is the green anchor that much safer than the red anchor? Meh, in hindsight not really, but the three of us use the same knots and same webbing for all of our outings. 1 inch tubular is our standard requirement for a bomber anchor. I figured that was everybody's standard, and was surprised to find the 1/2 inch sling on that stone horn.

The sun was setting as we were building the anchor and I managed to cut my thumb earlier and was bleeding quite a bit. Getting out quickly and safely was our priority. Garbage removal was a finer point that got overlooked.

When we got to the bottom of the rap I even said "somebody is going to give me crap about that anchor if they figure out we left it like that". Steph and Tyler rolled their eyes and said "lets get outta here so we don't freeze."

So Tom, we were aware of canyon ethics 1-4 above and simply neglected to take the red anchor. We made it out safely using our bomber forest green anchor linked to the red anchor (I acknowledge a newbie move) and left a nice rapide for others to use. (to whoever left the red anchor: seriously, spend 3 extra bucks and leave something a little better for others).

We hauled out every piece of garbage we found in Goblin Valley (minus the red anchor) and in Middle Leprechaun the next day. Choosing to haul extra stuff through Middle Lep seemed like a bad idea, but wasn't that tough.

Finally, bowling sucks and I refuse to do it. Thanks for your advice Tom.

[Audilard]

Love the "goblins at sunset" pic. Nice report!

[Iceaxe]

Love the "goblins at sunset" pic.

x2

[Rob L]

I thought it was called "Chamber of the Basilisk" or similar?

I hope Shane pays a commission to Scott !

[Iceaxe]

I thought it was called "Chamber of the Basilisk" or similar?

On my website I called the route "Goblin's Lair" and the chamber "Chamber of the Basilisk"

http://climb-utah.com/SRS/goblinslair.htm

I asked Scott if he cared what it was called and he said it didn't matter much to him. Goblin's Lair was coined on the hike back to the trailhead.

I hope Shane pays a commission to Scott !

Over the years Scott has shared many routes with me and many others (many of Kelsey's routes are from Scott). Anyhoo... he doesn't get anything in actual dollars that I'm aware of but he does get a membership from me every year.

The Canyoneering Comunity is lucky to have a guy like Scott with his large amount of knowledge and his willingness to share.

[Rob L]

I know that; my post was tongue-in-cheek.

[accadacca]

Nice report. Dig the goblins too and FJ Cruiser!

[Dan-wild]

Way to go! Looks like a good time. Is it basically just one rappel into a chamber and an exit close by? Or is there any slot sections, or walking distance when you get in there?

[Iceaxe]

There is only one rappel, and that is into one of the most interesting natural features I have ever witnessed. The pictures and video do not do the chamber justice.

You climb up, over, around and through goblins to get to the rappel... after the rappel you hike out through a slot canyon which I believe is known to the park rangers as "Carmel Canyon".

I would describe Goblin's Lair as more of an interesting route than a slot canyon, which is also how I'd describe routes like Lomatium, U-turn, Mideval Chamber, ect...

This video pretty much shows the entire route.

[Dan-wild]

There is only one rappel, and that is into one of the most interesting natural features I have ever witnessed. The pictures and video do not do the chamber justice.

You climb up, over, around and through goblins to get to the rappel... after the rappel you hike out through a slot canyon which I believe is known to the park rangers as "Carmel Canyon".

I would describe Goblin's Lair as more of an interesting route than a slot canyon, which is also how I'd describe routes like Lomatium, U-turn, Mideval Chamber, ect...

This video pretty much shows the entire route.

That looks really cool. I might have to head over there when I head to North Wash in a couple months. Sweet video!

[Iceaxe]

Because of its length (couple of hours) it makes a great on the way there/on the way home route.

Beta is here:

Goblin's Lair

[Slot Machine]

Because of its length (couple of hours) it makes a great on the way there/on the way home route.

X 2.

Be sure to use Shane's GPS coordinates. There is a smallish slot that leads to the rappel anchor that is not easy to spot on the map.

[Scott P]

his willingness to share.

Yes, but I still keep my secrets too.

I asked Scott if he cared what it was called and he said it didn't matter much to him.

This is true, but I should have talked it over with the kids first. They were a bit disappointed that it is going to be called Goblin’s Lair since they are the ones that came up with the Basilisk name. I know they would be happy if it could be called “Basilisk”. Before they came up with that name, I just called it the generic Goblin Slot. See below for story.

Or is there any slot sections, or walking distance when you get in there?

There is an interesting mini-slot, less than 100 yards long just before the rappel.

The pictures and video do not do the chamber justice.

Both trips, I was unable toget decent photos of the chamber. It is really hard to photograph!

Story behind the Basilisk namefor those interested:

On May 14 2011 my son Kessler and daughter Shaylee (this was to be their birthday trip as Shaylee turned 7 and May 4 and Kessler was to turn 9 on May 17), my wife Kimberly, coworker Justin and I were going to go do Crescent Creek slot after exploring Little Egypt. The weather forecast said hot and dry, but the skies were dark, cloudy and it looked like it could rain. We decided not to do a slot canyon andheaded for Goblin Valley to do some exploring.

We explored around a bit and climbed a highpoint and explored around the mini-slot above the chamber. We didn’t bother taking ropes (I’d never taken them to Goblin Valley before) and we got to a drop which we weren’t sure if we could climb back up so I was thinking maybe we should come back with ropes and see what’s down there sometime. We didn’t expect too much, but it might be a cool place to kill sometime.

On October 16 and during the Bogley gathering Scott (a different one), Brad, Kessler and I checked out a “new route” at White Roost Canyon (funny story). After seeing that we didn’t have enough time to reverse the “new route” and complete the standard route, I mentioned that there was this mini-slot in Goblin Valley (which was more or less on the way home) that I thought would only take a few hours. Brad and Scott were going to drive home instead, but last minute they decided to check it out with us.

This time we took a little wrong turn andended up too far south, but we climbed a butte for some nice views and headedfor the little slot. We followed the mini-slot down canyon and it just disappeared into a hole in the ground(!). We didn't expect anything like this. It didn't drop into a crack or a narrow slot, but just a hole. It was kind of intimidating to just look into a deep and dark black hole in theground since we couldn't see what was down there or if you can get out of it.

I tied a kid’s pack onto the rope and tossed it down to see if it would hit bottom. It did and after measureing the excess rope, we figured that the “hole” was ~90 feet deep. Brad, the other Scott and I still wanted to see what was in the hole so we all decided that we would descend it after we helped Kim and the kids back to the head of the canyon so they could safely return back to the car the normal way.

We would all wait at the top of the hole though until someone rappelled down with ascenders to make sure that the route continued. We weren’t sure if the route was doable. Brad volunteered for the job and nervously rappelled into the hole. On the waydown he yelled “I see light”, but he wasn’t sure if he could climb out of the Chamber to continue the route. When he got to the bottom of the Chamber he walked to the other side and made sure hecould climb out the other side. He then yelled up that he could climb out and urged us to come down. Before we would drop into the hole though, Scott and I got ready to escort Kim and the kids back out of the slot canyon to Goblin Valley proper when seven year old Shaylee said “I want to go down down the hole”. It was a longer drop than they had ever gone down at the time, but we decided to let them. Shaylee had a huge smile (caught on camera) while descending into the hole.

We all rappelled into the hole and found that it opens up into this huge spectacular underground chamber. There were some huge holes in the ceiling so you don’t need a headlamp.

After admiring the chamber we exited and headed back. It was an awesome route and took us four hours (including all the exploratory time, tossing the packdown, measuring, etc.). We discussed names, but the kids wanted the name Chamber of the Basilisk named after the giant snake in Harry Potter and for the huge “snake hole” you rappel into toreach the chamber from the top.

On November 13 during the North Wash gathering, several Bogley members were looking for a short canyon to do on the way home. We volunteered to show the canyon and the kids were really eager to show off the place (since they felt like they pioneered the route). There was a pretty big group of us (all the people in the video) and we drove to the trailhead. With the kids usuallyl eading the way and since we knew exactly how to get there now, we went straight to the entrance and down in. It was all done very efficiently and we all completed the route in ~two hours car to car.

Anyway, a moral to the story might be that no matter how well you think you know a place, there can still be features that you have missed and still room to explore. I’ve been going to Goblin Valley with my parents and siblings ever since I was a small child. My wife and I have been going since we knew each other and we’ve been taking the kids since they have been very tiny as well. The chamber was sitting right there under our noses for all these years before we got to see it. I thought there wasn’t much more to see in Goblin Valley that I already haven’t seen, but (as has been the case with some other areas as well) I was wrong. No matter how well you think you know aplace, there is always room to explore, including in places you’ve walked right by for years.

[ratagonia]

Great story, Scott. Thanks for sharing. C'mon Shane, sounds like the FA'ers went for Basilisk.

Tom