Chambers Canyon

[Slot Machine]

On June 24^th, 2012 Tony and I ventured through Chambers Canyon.

We left for Hanksville from Salt Lake about 8 AM. We drove straight to the trailhead, had some lunch and started hiking around 2 PM. It was 100 degrees when we left the car. This was a bad idea, we knew it, and we did it anyway. I took 3 liters of water, Tony took 4.

We meandered down the scorching sandstone to the mouth of the canyon and discovered that Tony was missing his knee and elbow pads. His pack had somehow come unzipped and dumped out part of his stuff on the way down.

Like any friend would do, I threw on my armor and dropped into the cool shade of the canyon and relaxed. It was about 80 degrees in there. It took Tony 45 minutes to find his pads and return. Finally the canyon was underway!

Chambers is an awesome canyon, extremely physical and dauntingly skinny. Overall, it was just a bit more difficult that Middle Leprechaun Canyon. The canyon is just a little too narrow to make stemming easy.

The crux of the canyon is crazy. It looks just like the rest of the canyon until you try to squeeze through. And you can’t. Then you try to climb up. And you can’t. We were pretty tired and dehydrated by the time we arrived at the crux and it was pretty intimidating. Tony is a pretty good climber (5.11) and he had to fight like hell to get to the top. It took him about 5 minutes to get up 20 feet.

He pulled our packs up and I eventually made it to the top of the crux as well. Whew.

Then we arrived at the subway/cavern section, and it was spectacular! The photos below will tell that part of the story.

We soon arrived at the end, victorious! We were all smiles while we relaxed in the shade. Chambers is truly a classic. We had an outstanding experience.

The hike out was a miserable, hellish experience. It was 8 PM and 92 degrees when we arrived back at the car. I consumed 3 liters of water during the hike, then drank an additional 3 liters of water before my kidneys started working again. Very seriously, I should have packed 6 liters of water for this hike, but that would have been a large and heavy load to haul through such a skinny canyon. Don’t be foolish (like us) and try this canyon in the summer. You simply can’t transport the water needed through the skinnies.

Bob

[ratagonia]

Chambers is an awesome canyon, extremely physical and dauntingly skinny. Overall, it was just a bit more difficult that Middle Leprechaun Canyon. The canyon is just a little too narrow to make stemming easy.

The crux of the canyon is crazy. It looks just like the rest of the canyon until you try to squeeze through. And you can’t. Then you try to climb up. And you can’t. We were pretty tired and dehydrated by the time we arrived at the crux and it was pretty intimidating. Tony is a pretty good climber (5.11) and he had to fight like hell to get to the top. It took him about 5 minutes to get up 20 feet.

...

Then we found the chamber room, and it was spectacular! The photos below will tell that part of the story.

Nice TR, thanks Slot.

"just a little harder than middle Lep" - uh, well, not. It is a LOT harder than Middle Lep, as your own description indicates (unless you guys had a REALLY hard time in Middle Lep).

While there are wonderful chambers scattered through the canyon, the name Chambers comes from the series of chambers linked by slots that makes up the first section of the canyon.

Tom

[Slot Machine]

Nice TR, thanks Slot.

"just a little harder than middle Lep" - uh, well, not. It is a LOT harder than Middle Lep, as your own description indicates (unless you guys had a REALLY hard time in Middle Lep).

While there are wonderful chambers scattered through the canyon, the name Chambers comes from the series of chambers linked by slots that makes up the first section of the canyon.

Tom

Yeah, Middle Lep kicked my butt, but I was wearing a hoodie over a bunch of layers (in January). I looked like the kid that was overbundled in 'The Christmas Story'. It's very tough to traverse in there wearing that kind of layering. I'm sure it will seem much easier the second time around.

Huh, I didn't know that is why the canyon was named Chambers. I fixed my description above.

Bob

[Deathcricket]

Damn dude, nice TR! Some crazy pics you got in there. It's weird reading one TR about a guy getting hypothermia in Heaps, then right after another guy getting heatstroke because he "only" brought 3 liters of water for a 6 hour trip through Chambers. That's about what I bring for a full day. What a crazy sport we enjoy!

Anyways, another awesome story! Some good TR's rolling in lately.

[bellabianca]

Thanks for sharing - the pictures are amazing!!!!

[Mountaineer]

Great pictures and report. We did Cable a couple of weeks ago, and 4 liters was not enough. The heat IS brutal this year.

[Slot Machine]

Great pictures and report. We did Cable a couple of weeks ago, and 4 liters was not enough. The heat IS brutal this year.

Thanks!

Cable with only 4 liters of water? Wow that would have been rough.

We originally hoped to do The Squeeze the day after Chambers. We also hoped that Muddy Creek was dry to shorten the hike by a few miles. (Muddy it isn't dry btw, it's fed by a spring I think).

So, we figured it would take 8 liters of water per person and a 2.4 mile hike out in the scorching sun to do The Squeeze. Uh yeah, we'll do that another day.