Right Fork North Creek, the Full Meal Deal, June 2012

[ratagonia]

Mark Duttweiler has put together a nice Rave about his recent trip through the
Right Fork of North Creek:

http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/rave/zions-right-fork-of-north-creek-full-meal-de\
al-june-2012/

Enjoy.

Tom

[2065toyota]

Thanks for the Rave

[Scott P]

Great photos. I've been itching to get back there.

[Brian in SLC]

Sweet!

[Sandstone Addiction]

Beautiful (except maybe for the squirrel), thanks for sharing.

[msmnificent]

More info about the keeper in the Direct...

[msmnificent]

As Mark mentions in his trip report, there is some misinformation out there about Right Fork (Great West Canyon); that it has only "casual pothole problems." Actually, there is an actual keeper pothole in the middle of the Direct variation of the canyon. Like Matt, I first encountered it in pretty full water conditions last summer and was able to escape the pothole by pushing up on the small ledge, which was about a foot under water. Matt describes it as "not immediately obvious holds." Revisiting the canyon this past weekend I was hoping to find the pothole in high water conditions, but alas, the pothole was in keeper mode.

The ledge holds were about a foot above water and were not enough on their own to provide escape (we tried to hook the small ledges but neither of the hook types that we had with us would grip on the ledges--Talon and Cliffhanger). I felt around under water but did not find other holds. I was not willing to dunk my head under water to test the depth of the pothole until we had exhausted other methods of escape first. It was possible (though with much difficulty, due to the geometry of the pothole and the lack of good spots from which to toss) to toss some light weight potshots into a good drop-off on the far end of the pothole. Our lightest person (approx. 105 pounds?) climbed out using the ropes and with two swimmers attempting to spot/push from below. The Direct could have been reversed from this point, but only with great difficulty and with the use of good climbing, stemming, and rope-work skills.

[msmnificent]

Hey, I even took some pictures in between working on getting us out of there and taking steps to stave off the cold...

This picture gives you a little idea of the geometry of the pothole, and if you look closely you can see the swimmer grabbing onto two small holds about a foot above the water level. These are the ledges that make for an easy escape in higher water conditions but do little to provide escape in lower conditions.


These other pictures show one of the obstacles upcanyon that would make retreat tricky, as well as another view of the keeper with a swimmer in it. In this view of the keeper you can see the sandstone ledge in the foreground where our potshot tosser stood. You have to get the potshot nearly all the way to that back wall in the picture.