Dragonfly Canyon - 4/19/13

[jman]

Here is the vid TR from a few weeks ago that 9 of us did on a Friday.

Good weather day and potholes were quite full.

The last pothole before the 1st rap is a complete swimmer. We couldn't touch bottom.

Dragonfly is a short and sweet canyon, and beginner friendly. Not a destination canyon but a good one to tick off the list or spend half the day. I'm sure younger kids will like it a lot.


However, we didn't find the proper exit in the beta and we left a little later (maps at the end of the vid) than we would have liked and hit the road. I believe there should be a clearly defined cairn directing the public out of t canyon and on the slickrock. I looked really hard for the exit, but didn't see it. Maybe it was blocked by all the trees? I dunno. But I think something like that will keep our presence low in the public eye for this canyon.


Anyways, quoted from Jeff's YouTube vid:

http://youtu.be/5aDRHSXja8g


"Dragonfly Canyon has a fun little short section pretty close to the beginning with a long, boring hike out (in my opinion). Park at Mile Marker #6 (There is a small shoulder after the marker that will fit a few cars). Hike out to Dragonfly Canyon which isn't to far of a hike. Please try to not make new trails and to stay on the slick rock and washes as much as possible to avoid stepping on any Cryptobiotic Soil. Climb down into the canyon and have fun! There are 2 potholes that you have to get into that are very cold so bring a wetsuit. Yes, we were cold in the video and wish we had brought wetsuits. Next is a 65ft rappel. walk a little ways the canyon will start to narrow up. This is your last rappel at 130ft. Be careful to stay out of the poison ivy at the bottom of the rappel. Follow the canyon out (long walk). Be sure to watch the right side for the exit point. We missed it end exited further down which added extra mileage and time. Hike back to the road by hiking on the Slickrock and in washes and avoid "busting the crust". Hike along the road back to your car. Check this canyon off your list.

I shot this video with my GoPro HERO3 Black Edition camera 1080p at 60fps and edited with iMovie. I had my GoPro mounted to my GoScope which is a telescoping pole and it works great with the J-Hook mount! Get your GoScope at http://go-scope.com/store/goscope-go...escoping-pole/"

[jguest]

Fun times with the crew, cold water, and lots of GoPro action!

[jman]

Fun times with the crew, cold water, and lots of GoPro action!

Don't you agree Jeff, that some sort of cairn at the "right" exit would help people to exit properly? We looked for a cairn or exit but couldn't find one easily.

Of course you can blame that on poor orientation/ map reading skills, but ill bet a vast majority have not found the revised exit (according to Shane's beta) and eventually hit the road where our presence is definitely noticed then. And that's something we want to avoid here. Or am I just making mountains out of molehills?

[jguest]

Yes, a cairn would definitely be nice.
Sorry for the multiple Maps, I'm trying to figure out how this stuff works and trying to get it to look how i want it to look. I wish there was a way to zoom in on these maps or make them bigger.

[jguest]

[jguest]

[Iceaxe]

Dragonfly is a short and sweet canyon, and beginner friendly. Not a destination canyon but a good one to tick off the list or spend half the day. I'm sure younger kids will like it a lot.

Dang... I have to disagree with this as I think Dragonfly makes a great destination canyon for most groups. I consider it Arches version on Pine Creek. It's beginner friendly, family friendly, fun, takes about half a day, visits some cool stuff.... YMMV...

I believe there should be a clearly defined cairn directing the public out of the canyon and on the slickrock. I looked really hard for the exit, but didn't see it.

WOW again.... I don't think a cairn is required as the exit is easily visible. It's the giant trail exiting Courthouse Wash at the first place that is reasonable to exit. Honestly, the exit trail is pretty hard to miss... as it's a big wide trail leading up the sandy slope onto the slickrock.

I'm guessing your opinion of the route might be slightly clouded by your error in navigation, or not....

[rockgremlin]

I'm guessing your opinion of the route might be slightly clouded by your error in navigation, or not....

Your perception of this canyon may be dependant on your canyoneering experience. I led a group of canyoneering newbies through Dragonfly a little while ago, and they were all highly impressed.

[jguest]

Your perception of this canyon may be dependant on your canyoneering experience. I led a group of canyoneering newbies through Dragonfly a little while ago, and they were all highly impressed.

That is most likely very true! I think Dragonfly is ok and worth doing one or two times, but I don't think it has very much bang for the buck with the pretty short fun section verses the long hike out. I would much rather do Tierdrop anyday (we actually did Tierdrop right before Dragonfly). I prefer the more technical canyons and bigger rappels, but to each his own! Some people in my group are getting tired of Tierdrop, but I still love it after all these many times per year for years worth of of doing it.

[Sombeech]

I wish there was a way to zoom in on these maps or make them bigger.

Hey Jeff, nice video.

If you've got your route exported/imported into a google maps account, you can use our "SAVEDMAP" code to embed it for a fully functional Google Map, including Google Earth Mode

[jguest]

Hey Jeff, nice video.

If you've got your route exported/imported into a google maps account, you can use our "SAVEDMAP" code to embed it for a fully functional Google Map, including Google Earth Mode

Good Idea! I'll have to play around with that to see if I can get it to work.

[accadacca]

Awesome!

[jman]

Dang... I have to disagree with this as I think Dragonfly makes a great destination canyon for most groups. I consider it Arches version on Pine Creek. It's beginner friendly, family friendly, fun, takes about half a day, visits some cool stuff.... YMMV...




WOW again.... I don't think a cairn is required as the exit is easily visible. It's the giant trail exiting Courthouse Wash at the first place that is reasonable to exit. Honestly, the exit trail is pretty hard to miss... as it's a big wide trail leading up the sandy slope onto the slickrock.

I'm guessing your opinion of the route might be slightly clouded by your error in navigation, or not....

I agree that it is a decent canyon. Sure, a destination for beginners. I would choose Pleiades 100x over Dragonfly anyday however for the area. Heck, even the potholes in Willow Spring Canyon are more fun. Don't worry I'll post a TR and beta of Willow Spring Canyon soon.


Going to the exit, I believe I was looking too hard for it and that we passed it because of that. I saw the trees instead of the forest, if you will. But as we were exiting I was looking for other paths or worn trails and didn't see any. Again it's my fault for not marking it properly in the GPS, but at the same time, I wasn't worried a bit since we have done it before and knew that the wash eventually hit the road (as a contingency). So I wasn't too worried about NOT seeing the exit, as I was more surprised as the exit was not more easy for me to identify or see. That's what I'm getting at.

[Iceaxe]

Pleiades is two hours, what you going to do with the rest of the day? Also different seasons as pleiades is still under 5' of snow.

All the Moab canyons are beginner friendly, just the nature of the beast. If you want hardcore Moab is not the place.

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[jman]

Pleiades is two hours, what you going to do with the rest of the day? Also different seasons as pleiades is still under 5' of snow.

All the Moab canyons are beginner friendly, just the nature of the beast. If you want hardcore Moab is not the place.

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

Numerous things. You can easily lap it. You can combine it with entrajo or faux falls easily.

Yea, I agree, Moab is a beginners paradise. A Good training ground.