Red Cliffs Area and Lambs Knoll

[ActionPacker]

Last weekend my son and I decided to go south to warm up and do some hiking.
The weather forecast was not ideal but it did make for some interesting rappels and hiking.

Due to the weather and my young son's experience level, we decided to take it a little easy.

On Saturday we stopped in at Red Cliffs Rec Area near Leeds and hiked up the canyon from the camp grown. The fun summer swimming hole was a frozen skating rink. (sorry the images are uploading sideways)


The trails were snow packed but we had the place to ourselves. The stream had good flow but was iced over most of the way up the canyon. After my Benchmade checked the ice over some of the deeper pools (about 5 inches thick in spots) We did some redrock ice skating.

The ice actually let us get further up the canyon than expected allowing us to cross over some of the deep pools.

On Sunday we made our way to Lambs Knoll for some slot and rappelling practice. With the North side approach we hiked through 6 inches of snow to get to the rocks. We had never been there before and the trail was covered in snow so we just picked our way over toward the knoll. Not knowing the usual route, we found a tight little slot going up and went through. We didn't get far before it opened up into a narrow grotto with no real exit.

The spin drifted snow made for some deep patches and very cold feet.
I stemmed up the back of the grotto to see if there was an exit but slipped on the snow at the first ledge and took a 10 foot fall into the sand. Not too big but definitely and ankle-breaker if I had landed wrong.

We decided that must be the exit route and backed out the small slot. We hiked up the next canyon over and found the route back down the first slot but we decided to top out on the knoll to find the sun and warm up a little.


The snow was deep and slick but once on top the sun felt nice.
On our way back down we found the 2 rappels into the slot. The rappels were icy but fun.


Rap #1


Rap #2 was a bit sketchy for the little guy but he managed it artfully. The rap required a wide split over the ice until the line was long enough to swing to the side of the ice curtain. I was so proud.

Super short excursion but the snow and ice made things beautiful and challenging enough for our group.

We swung by Rockville to see the tragic rock slide area. Very different to see it in person.

[ratagonia]

Let me prove DeathCricket right:

You frakkin' crazy? Taking your young son into a technical slot canyon in WINTER without a HELMET?

That is some crazy irresponsible behavior - you should be ashamed.



p.s. In winter, many many canyons have chunks of ice hanging over the sides that can be released at any moment. Very dangerous in winter. Oh, and yeah, the raps and downclimbs might be more slippery too.

https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/lov...urce=feed_text

[qedcook]

Let me prove DeathCricket right:

You frakkin' crazy? Taking your young son into a technical slot canyon in WINTER without a HELMET?

That is some crazy irresponsible behavior - you should be ashamed.



p.s. In winter, many many canyons have chunks of ice hanging over the sides that can be released at any moment. Very dangerous in winter. Oh, and yeah, the raps and downclimbs might be more slippery too.

https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/lov...urce=feed_text

Thank you mother! jk. You've got a good point, but absolutely terrible presentation. Dial it back a notch and people might respond better.

[ActionPacker]

Good point and duly noted: epic fail on my part. Helmets were left in the car by accident, where they are no good to anyone.

But seriously, not very tactful for spreading the message of safety. I thought you were supposed to be the wise and experienced teacher. How do your students respond to being insulted and ridiculed?

[Slot Machine]

Looks fun. Pretty sure this route is known as Sidewinder. No?

[ratagonia]

Good point and duly noted: epic fail on my part. Helmets were left in the car by accident, where they are no good to anyone.

But seriously, not very tactful for spreading the message of safety. I thought you were supposed to be the wise and experienced teacher. How do your students respond to being insulted and ridiculed?

Yeah, harshness. Bad day or something, thanks for being more than reasonably understanding.

My students don't get insulted and ridiculed. They wear helmets. All the time.

The car was not that far away. Jus' sayin'...

Tom

[Selina66]

Nice snapshots.