ATTENTION: Heaps Canyon - serious debris

[Lizzard]

Cross post from yahoo

Aug 31-Sept 2, 2012. I have done Heaps before, easily in 2 days! This was supposed be a 2 day fun adventure. It took us three and was extremely difficult. Allow a minimum of 4 extra hours if not a day. The debris left from the last 2 flash floods will seriously impeded your progress. The debris in places is nearly impassable with giant logs and thick piles of debris on the water that you can barely pass through.

BE AWARE that your last chance to camp is about an hour in from the last big wall rappel. There is a sharp U-turn with a sandbar at this point that you can camp at, should you run out of daylight.

If you go past this point, there is at least 1 more hour of tight dark slots before you reach the big wall. Don't get caught going down the big wall in the dark. There have been fatalities at this point 2-3 years ago!

Make sure you have extra webbing, at least 50 feet, we had to replace several of the anchors due to damage caused by flash flood devastation.

I don't get back to this website as often as I should so please,feel free to call if you have questions, Chuck 801-209-0725

[Taylor]

Sounds fun!

[Iceaxe]

I was thinking the same thing. I was also thinking someone will blast it in a day this weekend for the chest thumping value.

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[Bo_Beck]

I was thinking the same thing. I was also thinking someone will blast it in a day this weekend for the chest thumping value.

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A friend of mine that I had the pleasure of doing a 9 hour car to car in Heaps maybe 12 or so years back went and hiked Heaps last weekend. He took his 10?Y.O. son and another friend. They hiked up the West Rim and camped near the entrance to Phantom. Got an early start (AM) and it took them 13 hours. Apparently the debris, etc. is quite thick and lots of new log jams to sort out?! FWIW

[kilo]

We did Heaps via the Phantom Valley entrance on Saturday 9/8 with a group of 3. This was my second time through Heaps, the first being June 2011. It was the first trip through for the other two members of the party. We had a 5 am start from the Grotto and our total car-to-car time was around 13 hr 15 min.

We had been planning on the trip for a month or two, and we weren't in it for any chest-thumping or speed records. Doing canyons like Heaps and Imlay, I'm always happy to get everyone through safely, get all the ropes pulled without issue, and to move efficiently enough to avoid having to bivy. We made it to the last rappels around 2 pm. From there we took our time and had a snack, warmed up a bit, and then got the last rappels all set up safely with clean rope pulls.

We read the previous post prior to our trip and were on the lookout for new, difficult log hazards during the trip. I did notice that there was some new log debris in the 3rd set of narrows (aka the "Endless Slot") after the Crossroads. However, we did not find that any of the new log debris was any more difficult than the other log jam obstacles in the canyon, most of which I remembered from my trip through in June 2011. We were able to swim through and climb out of everything without any issues and without having to do any lassos, potshots, or other escape techniques. Maybe we were the beneficiaries of the other groups that have been through since the flash floods and have cleaned out some of the troublesome areas and set up the new anchors? We did add one anchor to a log jam that we did not see an anchor for and were not excited about downclimbing.

The water levels were high in all 3 narrows sections, albeit quite a bit murkier, organic, and smellier than they were when I did Heaps in June 2011. None of the potholes were in keeper mode.

Kevin

[Iceaxe]

I'm always happy to get everyone through safely, get all the ropes pulled without issue, and to move efficiently enough to avoid having to bivy.

That pretty much describes a perfect trip to me.

Thanks for the update.

[Taylor]

Well done. My first trip through Heaps was also last June and I would be interested in how conditions are different after the recent flashes. Photos?

[ratagonia]

I was thinking the same thing. I was also thinking someone will blast it in a day this weekend for the chest thumping value.

Extra Baggage Charges do apply...

or as Yvon used to say: "If you bring bivy gear, you WILL bivy."

T

[Kuya]

Just finished Heaps this last Friday. We camped at Site #4 and took our sweet time on Friday descending through the narrows. It was a glorious experience! The "Log Soup" was a bit technical, but it didn't take to long to press through it. All the log jams didn't seem to bad either.

[Iceaxe]

Thanks for the update.

[Kuya]

Thanks for the update.

No. THANK YOU for the beta to help me get through the canyon safe! You and Tom are invaluable resources!