West Leprechaun Canyon (Shamrock)

[Slot Machine]

Tony and I descended West Lep on June 25th, 2012. It is nearly as good as it's neighbors, and enjoyable even in the summer heat. It was 87 degrees when we left the car and 102 when we returned.

We made one mistake on the first rappel- we should have extended the anchor to prevent rope grooves. Once we got to the bottom we verrry gingerly whipped the rope while pulling it to prevent one. If you visit this canyon in the near future please consider extending the anchor through the mini-potholes. Also, it will make your pull a lot easier.

A really creepy thing happened to us on our descent. We climbed under the rockfall and into Belfast Boulevard and were enjoying to cool air and the tremendous view above. As our eyes adjusted to the darkness we noticed a few daddy long legs scurrying onto the walls above. Tony mentioned that there were about 30 on the wall above him and many more down canyon. I unzipped my pack and removed a flashlight. I turned on the flashlight to find a cluster about 75 of the buggers about a foot from my face! I looked down canyon and saw three more very large clusters about head high.

I frantically turned off the light and went for my backpack. Just then the zipper busted spilling some of my stuff on the pitch black ground below. Frantically, I stuffed my cargo shorts with stuff and hauled my busted pack out of the slot while avoiding a facefull of spiders. Sheesh, it was a little too Indiana Jones-ish in there for me.

The photos below will tell the rest of the story. Enjoy.

Bob













http://amazingslots.blogspot.com/201...eprechaun.html

[PG Rob]

Bob... Nice TR

[ratagonia]

A really creepy thing happened to us on our descent. We climbed under the rockfall and into Belfast Boulevard and were enjoying to cool air and the tremendous view above. As our eyes adjusted to the darkness we noticed a few daddy long legs scurrying onto the walls above. Tony mentioned that there were about 30 on the wall above him and many more down canyon. I unzipped my pack and removed a flashlight. I turned on the flashlight to find a cluster about 75 of the buggers about a foot from my face! I looked down canyon and saw three more very large clusters about head high.

I frantically turned off the light and went for my backpack. Just then the zipper busted spilling some of my stuff on the pitch black ground below. Frantically, I stuffed my cargo shorts with stuff and hauled my busted pack out of the slot while avoiding a facefull of spiders. Sheesh, it was a little too Indiana Jones-ish in there for me.

Sweet. Love the "chamber" picture.

They are only Daddy Longlegs. They ain't spiders. Can't hurt you if they wanted to (which they don't).

Tom

[Slot Machine]

Sweet. Love the "chamber" picture.

They are only Daddy Longlegs. They ain't spiders. Can't hurt you if they wanted to (which they don't).

Tom

Yeah, if I said "I was trying to avoid a facefull of arthropods", well that just sounds a little too nerdy for my taste.

Anyway, last year my wife rappelled into a large grouping of these arthropods in the dark. The arthropods didn't scurry down the wall but instead they simply ran all over her. She had a least 35 or 40 of them running over her shoulders, down her tank top and around her bare waist. I was belaying her and they were falling on me.

She literally still has nightmares about it.

So, 20 arthropods in the sun? Im cool. 500 arthropods in the dark? Eh, I get the willies a little.

Here is a picture of that rappel. Steph's bare left sholder went directly into the large grouping of arthropods on the left. I had no idea they were there when I was taking the photo. The flash shows them nicely however.

[AJ]

I too have run across many spiders encounters; in caving especially. Sometimes they were inches thick, literally blanketing the walls. A few times, they would all pulsate in unison; the whole wall or sometimes even the whole room, moving in sync. I thought it was pretty wild (but I could see arachnophobes having a horrible time ), and remember trying to research to find out why. If I ever did find out the reason for it, I don't remember it. If someone knows, I'd love to (re-)learn...

[Slot Machine]

If someone knows, I'd love to (re-)learn...

After doing a little reading on these harmless arthropods, also known as harvestmen, I've discovered the leading theories on their strange behavior:

Harvestmen likely group together because of limited space that provides cool shelter away from predators. Belfast Boulevard is an ideal location for these little guys, so are caves.

They also release a very small defensive secretion when threatened. Supposedly these secretions are more evident when harvestmen are clustered in large groups. I couldn't smell anything when I was near them.

Their bobbing behavior is presumably to confuse predators. When bobbing individually they are somewhat difficult to see. I don't think this is a very effective strategy when in large clusters, but it is certainly interesting to watch.