Christopher Creek Canyon - AZ

[mzamp]

My First Winter Canyon. Just a short one, but enough to get my feet wet so to speak. It is nice to be able to park right off the highway for this one. The only trouble is, the highway is under construction so the mile marker is missing and the parking area seems to have changed from what the beta reads in Todd's book. There is really only one available pull out where the construction yard is so it is not too difficult to locate.


Surveying the route



The first crossing on sun warmed ice.



I love Kelli's expression as she falls all the way through the ice.

[COLOR=#000000]

Beached Whale on ice was working until the ice broke again.



Downclimbing into the shade proved stable.



Nice shot of the pink granite looking down canyon.



Probably crawled more than we had to at first, but hey that's party of the learning curve right?



I was the guinea pig going first most of the day. Here I am pointing out a place to down climb so they don't have to go into the water where I broke away ice.



Some of the down climbs were covered in ice and snow so we had to be creative at times. Not to mention what would be an easy 4 foot jump into water is different when jumping onto slippery ice.



The different ice formations and colors are incredible.



The first rap of the day off of 2 bolt hangers.



Deeper into the canyon the ice got thicker.



Hollon braving it in his wetsuit. Brrrr!!!!!



Kelli located this single bolt anchor that was burried in the snow. She patiently waits her turn.



Kelli sporting her Christmas present...a new dry suit.



Enjoying the day!



Dubbing this one

[jman]

Those are sweet pics! Looks like a fun adventure. Ill bet in the summer - that's a fun canyon

[Sombeech]

Great report! Thanks for posting.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Eric Holden]

Beautiful!

[tcott]

That looks great!!! Nothing like a good icy canyon.

[dweaver2130]

Looks awesome!!

Any chance you have some intel on how parker is right now?

[Mountaineer]

Great pictures! Nice job, and you look well prepared.

[MrAdam]

Any chance you have some intel on how parker is right now?

Parker had 2' of snow in it a couple weeks ago. We bailed on it due to high winds and cold, cold temps though.

[dweaver2130]

Ouch, I was thinking of making a Parker run this week.

[MrAdam]

Ouch, I was thinking of making a Parker run this week.

I was thinking the same thing...... then I just heard that all the swims are deep and covered with ice that breaks away easily..... maybe if I had a drysuit.

[mzamp]

Yes, but it is 40+ degrees warmer this week then back then.

[Slot Machine]

Great TR! Nice photos!

[mzamp]

Looks awesome!!

Any chance you have some intel on how parker is right now?

Now I do. See my Parker trip report. It was flowing too heavy for us to go through this weekend.

[wnorton]

My First Winter Canyon. Just a short one, but enough to get my feet wet so to speak. It is nice to be able to park right off the highway for this one. The only trouble is, the highway is under construction so the mile marker is missing and the parking area seems to have changed from what the beta reads in Todd's book. There is really only one available pull out where the construction yard is so it is not too difficult to locate.

GREAT Pics!!! Thanks for sharing!