Checkerboard Canyon

[Slot Machine]

On July 20th, 2013, Steph, Julie (@Spiderzak ), Nick and I ventured through Checkerboard Canyon.

It was a fun, but very long day. The logistics were intense. Racing the sun across the sky seemed impossible at times. It is a pretty canyon, but one we probably won't visit twice. It's simply too much work.

We were so busy that there was little time for photos. Hopefully Julie posts a few of her's...

Throwing the rope bag on rap #1.


Julie on rappel.


Nick in a big canyon.


Julie heading down the final 200ft rappel.


Steph at the top of the final rappel.


Nick heading down the flute.


Nick on fireman belay, bottom of the final rappel.


Here was our timeline:

4:00 AM : Wake up
5:20 AM : Start driving to the trailhead
6:35 AM : Start the approach
10:30 AM : First rappel
5:15 PM : Complete final rappel
9:00 PM : Reach the shuttle
9:50 PM : Seated at Oscar's, rehydrating

We were moving very quickly for 14 hrs, 25 min. We did not stop for lunch. It's the most calories I've ever burned during a day of canyoneering.
_______________________

Free advice:

The beta on Climb-Utah is excellent and helped greatly with the approach.

On the approach, stay high and right most of the way. There is a sweet ridge that will get you to the top of Dakota Hill with little effort.

Don't bring wetsuits during the summer. This canyon is very warm. Don't bring knee/elbow pads, they aren't worth carrying the extra weight.

For rope, we used 3 X 100' and one 200 footer. This was a good combo to leapfrog down the rappels. I think we did 15 rappels.

4 people is probably the ideal group size for this adventure.

If you miss the 9PM shuttle, you will not get a seat at Oscar's (powerful motivation).

I hope you enjoy this canyon as much as we did,

Bob

[ilipichicuma]

Nice! I really need to do that one when I get back to the states.

[jman]

Cool - thanks for the specifics Bob.

Good looking pics...but what a long day.

[tcott]

Don't bring wetsuits during the summer (possibly never). This canyon is very warm. Don't bring knee/elbow pads, they aren't worth carrying the extra weight.

Summer no, but I wouldn't say never. I have seen a very wet and cold checkerboard in days past.

[Iceaxe]

Nice to see you made last call at Oscars.

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[Slot Machine]

Cool - thanks for the specifics Bob.
Good looking pics...but what a long day.

Thanks, and yes very long! If we were to do it over, we would have started earlier. Getting on the trail at 5:45 AM would make the approach and exit a little more enjoyable.

Summer no, but I wouldn't say never. I have seen a very wet and cold checkerboard in days past.

We were wondering that yesterday, so thanks for answering that question. Looking at the walls, it was tough to tell how much water that canyon could hold. The only water we faced was in a couple of small potholes. I could imagine the very scenic, dark section filling up and getting chilly in cooler weather.

Statement edited above.

[Mountaineer]

Congratulations. And glad you missed sleeping in the bathrooms by making Oscars.

Great advice and timeline. Thanks for sharing it.

And of course, rest up. Lots of canyons still out there... :-)

[peakbaggers]

Nice & useful report, Bob. Your report & others I've read do make it sound like an intense day. Congratulations Julie! Hope to see you soon for some canyons.
One more peak to go and we'll have these Colorado 13ers done & out of the way.

[Scott P]

One more peak to go and we'll have these Colorado 13ers done & out of the way.

Which one is last? I saw that you already did Lizard Head.

[Slot Machine]

Congratulations. And glad you missed sleeping in the bathrooms by making Oscars.

Thanks Mark!

Last time I was in The Narrows the water was very murky which made the hiking slow-going. This time was similar, so I knew we couldn't mess around because it was also going to get dark, and even slower going. Once I painted the picture of the four of us sleeping in a bathroom, we suddenly had a second wind.

One more peak to go and we'll have these Colorado 13ers done & out of the way.

737 peaks... WOW! A fantastic achievement! I wasn't aware you were on pace to do that. Congrats Tim and Carrie!

Don't forget, we need to do a lap through No Kidding this fall. And need to talk Iceaxe into joining us.

[TommyBoy]

Best way to get an early start on this one is to set up a car shuttle the night before and camp out at the TH.

[Iceaxe]

Best way to get an early start on this one is to set up a car shuttle the night before and camp out at the TH.

^^^THIS^^^

[2065toyota]

Thanks for the report. That's our plan this Saturday, camp so we can get an early start and a full nights sleep. Probably still going to try up the Narrows so I will see how that goes.

[Slot Machine]

Best way to get an early start on this one is to set up a car shuttle the night before and camp out at the TH.

Hmmm... yes.

However, it was nice to eat in town and get a solid night's sleep before the hike. It was easily worth the loss of time (spent driving to the TH) the following morning. That part of the logistics comes down to personal preference IMO. I just don't sleep that well in a tent when it is hot, windy and raining.

[Slot Machine]

Thanks for the report. That's our plan this Saturday, camp so we can get an early start and a full nights sleep. Probably still going to try up the Narrows so I will see how that goes.

Sweet! You will love it. I would like to see your timeline (like I wrote above) when you get back. NOT a race or anything like that, I just think that your way might be less painful, especially if you have some nice cloud cover in the afternoon. *prepared to eat crow*

It was quite hot and humid in The Narrows; with the murky water, boulder dodging was much more work than I expected.

Kody, how do you plan to do the stretch between the Chamberlain Ranch gate and the Checkerboard TH campsite?

[2065toyota]

Stage a vehicle the night before at the lower gate below Chamberlain's ranch. Should only be about a 6 mile hike up the Narrows. I spend around 30 nights a year in a tent anyways between our hunting and hiking so it really doesn't bother me that way. I've been told it's both a good and a bad idea so it's hard to say what will play out. Either way it wont be a big deal. I just think we can hike the 6 miles up faster than 8 miles down and with less effort. Especially with the lower water levels. We have 6 people going so I'm sure our time will still be longer, but hopefully with less effort.

[Slot Machine]

Stage a vehicle the night before at the lower gate below Chamberlain's ranch. Should only be about a 6 mile hike up the Narrows. I spend around 30 nights a year in a tent anyways between our hunting and hiking so it really doesn't bother me that way. I've been told it's both a good and a bad idea so it's hard to say what will play out. Either way it wont be a big deal. I just think we can hike the 6 miles up faster than 8 miles down and with less effort. Especially with the lower water levels. We have 6 people going so I'm sure our time will still be longer, but hopefully with less effort.

So you will have two cars, one at the ranch and one at the TH? Saving you 4 miles of slog after the hike?

Also, the hike downstream is 6.9 miles to the shuttle, so it's about 9 miles upstream to the gate.

[2065toyota]

So you will have two cars, one at the ranch and one at the TH? Yes, they will be parked about 20 minutes apart from each other.

Saving you 4 miles of slog after the hike? I think we will hike about a mile further, but the majority of it will be on hard ground rather than wet underwater river rock.

Also, the hike downstream is 6.9 miles to the shuttle, so it's about 9 miles upstream to the gate? Maybe 9 miles to the main parking area, but you can park at least a mile, maybe 2 lower than that.

Will it be better / faster / easier, I'm not sure.

[Slot Machine]

A few more photos, courtesy of Julie M (@Spiderzak )

[ratagonia]

Also, the hike downstream is 6.9 miles to the shuttle, so it's about 9 miles upstream to the gate? Maybe 9 miles to the main parking area, but you can park at least a mile, maybe 2 lower than that.

Will it be better / faster / easier? I'm not sure.

Please note for the record that I have advised agin' it!

It looks to me like the furthest you can park is about 1.1 miles past the river crossing, but I'm not entirely clear exactly where the end is, on the map. We parked a halfmile short of that.

I get 9.6 miles less that 1.1 = 8.5. Would probably be faster than when we did it with, you know, light in the sky, and maybe more than one headlamp.


Tom