Arscenic Canyon

[WorkBad]

On 27 Mar 2013 Natalie and I made our way down Arscenic Canyon, located in the Poison Springs area.

We decided to camp at the Arscenic Trail Head which had plenty of space for larger groups. Arriving in the afternoon we decided to waste some time hiking to the first rap. Looking at the anchor I noted that in the morning I'd have to remake it from scratch due to the crazy amounts of webbing and poor extension. It took about 20 minutes to hike from the trail head to the first rap.

To complete this canyon we brought the 215ft, and a the 40ft ropes. We also brought 50ft of webbing to rebuild the first rap anchor to help eliminate rope grooves. The leftover webbing was nice to have in one place to hand-line (about 20ft down). We didn't use the 40ft rope at all, if I did this canyon again I'd leave it behind and take only webbing.

With the 215ft rope we were able to complete this canyon with only one long rappel. There was probably 20ft of rope on the canyon floor when we got down, so a 200ft rope will work just fine. We left our rope with a note and came back at the end to retrieve it. Retrieving the rope at the end proved totally worthwhile and only added a few more minutes.

The temperature was perfect for some Spring canyoneering in this area. In all it took us about 4 hours to complete this canyon including time for lunch and pictures at Arscenic Arch.

This is a great beginner canyon if done with competent leadership.

Here is an overview of the canyon


Me, stoked to tryout a new canyon.


Hiking to the first rap


First obstacle


Natalie at the top of the 200ft rap


Scenery


Scenery


Scenery


Nat


Andrew




Scenery


More stemming


Exit overview


Look for this tree which indicates the exit


End of canyon


Nat on the exit slope, looking back into the canyon




Arscenic Arch




Looking back up the canyon from the rim hike out


Detail of where we went to retrieve our rope


This was a fun canyon but nothing mind blowing. We look forward to coming back to the area and completing the other canyons in the area.

[Taylor]

Well done. Last Thanksgiving, Laura and I did Slideanide and loved it. Seeing Arscenic Arch was just an amazing experience! Sort of. Nice trip report.

[jman]

Love the details, like always.