Boss Hog Canyon (Hog 1)

[Slot Machine]

On June 26th, 2012 Tony and I descended Boss Hog Canyon.

We headed out early when temperature was around 80 degrees. The canyon was cool and welcoming. The scenery was fantastic, the canyon looked like a giant block of chocolate that had been broken in half. There were some very odd and challenging downclimbs that we thoroughly enjoyed.

We found Boss Hog in very pristine condition; no webbing (except at the last drop), no garbage. We committed to leaving it that way from the start. We ended up ghosting 3 of the drops, yes they can be downclimbed by the very skilled but we don't recommend it. The penalty points are high.

At the mandatory rappel we found a large boulder with a sling around it. We high stemmed over to the boulder and put on our harnesses some 30 feet off the deck. Tony hooked up the rope and I elevatored down below the boulder to make sure we had enough rope. (It looks a LOT higher than it really is.) We both rappelled to the canyon floor and started pulling the rope through a very large existing groove that I had not seen (I actually did not stand on the boulder and have a look). This made for a tough rope pull and is the beginning of an ugly scar on a very clean canyon.

If you are part of a future group please consider extending the anchor down the chute below the boulder. You will need an extra 25-30 feet of webbing to do so. It will make your pull a lot easier and keep the canyon looking nice.

Anyway, we headed through the rest of the canyon and down an amazing 35 foot chimney. Then came the hard part...

It was 2 PM and the sun was blazing. We quickly found the exit and were dismayed by the angle of the sun. It was shining directly into the exit reflecting off both of the canyon walls. We considered finding some shade until the sun moved across the sky a little. But no, impatient, we just went for it. It was horribly hot- I'd guess between 120 and 130 degrees heading up the exit. We had no shade on the entire route. It took about 90 minutes to reach the top of the canyon. We had survived. It was 100 degrees at the top.

Was Boss Hog awesome? Heck yes! Would I do it in June ever again? Heck no!

Bob







Our simple retrievable anchor.

[ratagonia]

Ah, Boss Hawg... a classic!

On some of those downclimbs, may I suggest doing them on belay rather than rappelling, when the anchor is suitable for that. That way you can learn those particular downclimbs, and also improve your downclimbing by (safely) descending downclimbs that might look too hard.

In Boss, that first downclimb/rappel I have downclimbed twice - and it is weird and hard, so I usually rappel it. The next two little steps I've got the downclimbs nailed, so I always downclimb them, then spot from below. The lower one was the scene of a tumble and crash this spring - excellent rescue provided by our friends in Hanksville with a lot of support from a wide variety of agencies.

The fourth rap, off the boulder - yeah, I think that will always be a rappel.

Grooves up high? People climb over to the boulder and rig the rope, and generally want to rap from there, comfortably, so the sling is often set up quite short. Would be nice to encourage a much longer sling, and for people to crawl under the boulder (fun!) for the rappel, which would result in less grooviness for sure.

Tom

[Dan-wild]

I love that canyon. nice TR! Downclimbing everything but the last rappel is a lot more fun in my opinion. I like the belay/downclimb routine. The other Hogs are just as awesome I think! Nice work. I looooove the skinny/climbies!

[Slot Machine]

On some of those downclimbs, may I suggest doing them on belay rather than rappelling, when the anchor is suitable for that. That way you can learn those particular downclimbs, and also improve your downclimbing by (safely) descending downclimbs that might look too hard.

Ah! Great idea. We will do that.

In Boss, that first downclimb/rappel I have downclimbed twice - and it is weird and hard, so I usually rappel it. The next two little steps I've got the downclimbs nailed, so I always downclimb them, then spot from below. The lower one was the scene of a tumble and crash this spring - excellent rescue provided by our friends in Hanksville with a lot of support from a wide variety of agencies.

Wow, impressive. Just getting out of tight part of that first rappel is a pain. We got to the bottom and discussed how anyone could possibly downclimb that.

The lower obstacle doesn't look too hard, but an injury is likely if you fail. For some reason I suspected that is where the accident happened when we arrived. We put a sling around a small chokestone and rapped off of it. Then we pulled down the sling. Super easy and very safe.

Grooves up high? People climb over to the boulder and rig the rope, and generally want to rap from there, comfortably, so the sling is often set up quite short. Would be nice to encourage a much longer sling, and for people to crawl under the boulder (fun!) for the rappel, which would result in less grooviness for sure.

The sling was set up long enough that it draped over the front of the boulder. It seemed to be a smart setup for the rappel and the pull looked clean from the bottom of the chute. Once we rappelled out of the chute, the rope draped over a sandstone shoulder just in front of the boulder and dropped into an existing groove. Dropping down the chute is really fun and easy. IMO rapping off that boulder would be a lot of extra work.

Bob

[Mountaineer]

Nice pictures, and it is a tough canyon. A bit more than I was expecting. I took my kids through this one over President's day this year, and it took us a long day. I ended up carefully navigating them under that boulder rappel, and I went up and over it.

[Slot Machine]

Nice pictures, and it is a tough canyon. A bit more than I was expecting. I took my kids through this one over President's day this year...

Whoa... Boss Hog with the kids AND no helmets?!?!?

How long did it take for social services to take your kids away?

Really, is there some story behind your outing to justify such... interesting judgment?

[ratagonia]

Whoa... Boss Hog with the kids AND no helmets?!?!?

How long did it take for social services to take your kids away?

Really, is there some story behind your outing to justify such... interesting judgment?

Thanks, Slot Machine, for taking up the baton...

[hank moon]

Really, is there some story behind your outing to justify such... interesting judgment?

too many kids

[Mountaineer]

Canyons have made some fantastic memories for us. Boss Hawg was a little more than I planned for this crew, but they did great! I think the cold and water was the crux for us, as I stayed wet and shuttled them across to keep them dry. Took forever. Actually, a helmet saved my 10 year old from a falling rock at the Kelsey exit last year, so I'm a huge believer in them. Unfortunately, the helmets sometimes keep getting stuck in the narrow sections (the kids seem to get into the narrowest spots), but we have them on whenever possible.

[ratagonia]

Canyons have made some fantastic memories for us. Boss Hawg was a little more than I planned for this crew, but they did great! I think the cold and water was the crux for us, as I stayed wet and shuttled them across to keep them dry. Took forever. Actually, a helmet saved my 10 year old from a falling rock at the Kelsey exit last year, so I'm a huge believer in them. Unfortunately, the helmets sometimes keep getting stuck in the narrow sections (the kids seem to get into the narrowest spots), but we have them on whenever possible.

Thanks for reassuring us Mountaineer.

OK, you can keep the kids.

Water in Boss Hawg? Yikes, yes, that could be a challenge with kids in February. Where was the water?

Tom

[Mountaineer]

Ha, thanks. Great advice regardless, and well taken.

I seem to remember some water before you hit Miss Piggy. There was a lot of thin ice after Miss Piggy and the elevator down climb. This area was avoidable by some easy stemming, but by that time the kids were tired. Stemming and fatigue probably don't go well together...