Results 21 to 27 of 27
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05-27-2014, 09:01 AM #21
Cheops,
When I first attempted to go through the first set of narrows I became near hypothermic, and had retreat and make a second attempt with a wetsuit (which I had brought with me). The water level was between waist and chest, and like you say the exit climb is very smooth and slippery. If I recall, I boosted my partner from below and he in turn lowered a landline to me after lifting the packs with the same handline. The hardest part of the exit in the first narrows was getting off the ground. It is very difficult to climb in waist to chest deep water. The first attempt I flailed around in the water for 5 minutes before becoming very very cold. That is when we put wetsuits on and devised a plan. I don't recall seeing a bypass around the first set of narrows. I would go back with a wetsuit and give it another go.
Steve Hawkins
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Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likesgerdman liked this post
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05-27-2014 09:01 AM # ADS
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10-12-2014, 12:49 PM #22
Hi everyone -- thanks for the great reports!!! My husband and I are planning to do the Long/Gravel loop at the beginning of November. We are still waiting to get the guidebook in the mail. Can anyone tell us if we need a high clearance vehicle to do the loop? thanks, Coralee
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09-05-2017, 05:12 PM #23
looks like these photo bucket photos that all the comments rave about can no longer be viewed. Anyone know where they can be seen? Are they just from Allen's book
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09-05-2017, 07:19 PM #24
The current work around for the Photobucket ransom is to install the following Chrome extension.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/d...fegnfnflicjjgj
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Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likeskaniukr liked this post
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11-02-2017, 06:28 AM #25
Just re-looked at this & your full photo set. They really are great Steve - no blown highlights and really sharp, especially on the fuller set link. Do you do much post-processing? Wondered what f stop you use in these narrows generally - you must have a really steady hand, I'm always breathing too heavily and with a backpack on probably not that steady.. The water clearly wasn't making you shiver much when taking the shots!
By the way, Kelsey, referring to the area in the vicinity of a rappel in Gravel which goes into a sort of alcove/cave (which generally contains a pool and is somewhere in or just before or after the nice narrow part) talks about a "subway-like slot". It's not quite clear if the subway is just before the rappel or if it's just after. Can anyone tell me please? And is it a particularly nice subway? Any photos? If the subway is just after the rappel I'm thinking it can be hiked to easily bottom up as I think he had it as the last mandatory rappel.
Mind you, as this subway doesn't seem to feature obviously in people's photos it sounds like it's no comparison to the Zion one?(I think he also said that rappel needs a very long piece of webbing)
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11-07-2017, 01:05 PM #26
A group of seven of us took six days to do this loop in early May this year (2017). It was nothing short of spectacular. I plan on doing this loop again in the next few years. Backpacking / canyoneering is my ultimate cup-o-tea. The total length of this loop without any side trips is just under 33 miles. Here is a map of the loop which doesn't seem to be anywhere else on the web and is kind of a challenge to decipher all of the in's and out's perfectly from the book. https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?m...084646821&z=13
The above map is close to exact except for the zig zagging part of the drop off at the end of the side canyon going down into Gravel. That section is pretty easy to eyeball the route once you're at the correct part of the rim so I just kind of drew the drop quickly.
Before the trip, I bought an MSR SiltStopper as did another person on the trip. This was very critical to having our filters survive the trip. Since then, I've learned of the flocculant capacity of Alum. That would have completely done away with any stress we had over filtering water.
The side canyon used to rim walk along and then drop into Gravel Canyon looked extremely awesome to explore, but there were no anchors and the drop lengths were unknown. We only brought a 75ft rope and an 80ft pull cord for the trip so we were not about to go into exploratory mode.
Like Steve says in the book, the connection day between the two is long. It took us 12+ hours because of rain, not getting the drop off the road correct and not immediately figuring out that we needed to go to the end of the side canyon to drop in. Had we gotten these things right and not had a bit of rain, we could have made it in around nine hours is my bet.
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Post Thanks / Like - 3 Likes
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11-13-2017, 09:05 AM #27
A few photos from the trip, pretty close to in order:
The first feature in Long Canyon. There is a walk around on the left looking up canyon.
Camp one in a massive overhang
Hauling packs up through some narrows in Long Canyon
Camp two near the exit of Long Canyon. This entire area is really beautiful. The near by frogs were in full on mating season and having a lot of fun from the sounds of it.
At the top of the exit out of Long Canyon
Jacob's Chair in the distance, nearing the "prow"
The view from the top of the "prow" was magnificent.
Camp three was sub-optimal, but it did the job
A crazy cave like formation with many in's and out's to explore.
That rock anchor broke on the third person, but still didn't put weight on the meat anchor (me). I decided to change over to the bolt after that.
Camp four was stunning, but this photo does not do it even close to justice of what it really is.
A crazy feature towards the bottom of Cowboy Canyon
The hallway / cave like feature below the confluence with Cowboy Canyon was surreal. The lighting was not great since it was lightly raining when we were there. All the more reason to go back someday!
Camp five in the bottom section of Cowboy Canyon was amazing! Mother Nature put on quite a show for us with both Gravel and Cowboy canyons flowing lightly that evening. We watched the rain and waterfalls from this great protected overhang. This photo is out of order with the two above.
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Post Thanks / Like - 7 Likes
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