Shelf Canyon. 2/17/13

[2065toyota]

We decided this was a good time of year for this. Shorter days and the water is still pretty frozen. We stopped by to the Visitor Center to get a permit, and 30 minutes later we were finally on our way. Neither of the rangers knew how to issue a Shelf Canyon permit. Kind of a waste of time, but we do our part to obey. We then started the long hike up to East Temple. It's a good thing we did it in the winter because it would be brutally hot any other time. It seemed like the never ending slickrock mountain. We then hit the north side that was covered in about 3" of snow. It really emcompasses the word 'slickrock'. We slowly made our way down, faster at times in a semi controlled slide. Once to the canyon, I checked the existing single strand webbing. I know some people used it a month or so ago, but it was really faded and stiff. We decided to add another length to double it up for safety. Sorry that one of them is purple for whoever ends up actually seeing it. It was a piece I had bought as a joke one day and decided to use it up since very few will ever see it. We rapped into the canyon including Eric's 8 year old daughter who rapped on her own down the 200' deep crack. It's an easy rap, but a 200' for a kid was impressive. Then the short hike back to cars. It's a long approach for a single rap, but we did it more for the fun and adventure than the actual rap. I would recommend it for anybody looking for something to burn a half day. Early start would be preferred


Looking back down to the canyon overlook trail

[arnellfam]

Great TR and photos. What a brave 8yo!

[Aj84737]

Nice pics bud. The ranger wasn't sure how to print our permits for shelf either but finally figured it out. That's a brave 8 year old for sure. It's a unique rap being you can't see the bottom until your really close to the bottom. It looks never ending. I agree good way to spend a few hours but that approach hike would be terrible in summer sun.

[2065toyota]

Nice pics bud. The ranger wasn't sure how to print our permits for shelf either but finally figured it out. That's a brave 8 year old for sure. It's a unique rap being you can't see the bottom until your really close to the bottom. It looks never ending. I agree good way to spend a few hours but that approach hike would be terrible in summer sun.

We have had it on our to do list, and when I seen your post a month ago it kind of motivated us to head out. Thanks

[tanya]

Very cool stuff!