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Thread: Help choosing between canyons

  1. #1

    Help choosing between canyons

    In May, our group from Boise, Idaho is headed down for 10 days, eight of which we will be able to canyoneer (it's a long drive). We will be in a few different areas. I'm wondering if we should allocate an extra day in the Salt Wash area (The Squeeze, Cable, Quandary, Knotted Rope) or Capitol Reef (Burro Wash, Cottonwood Wash)? One of those canyons is going to have to be bumped out and I'm wondering which one it should be.

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  3. #2
    Hmmm, tough decision. I have done all those and like them all.

    One factor is the car shuttle. Burro and Cottonwood are probably better with them.

    For slots, I'd say that Burro and Cottonwood have overall better slots than those other ones, but on the other hand, the potholes are really interesting in the San Rafael canyons.

    You can't really go wrong with either choice.

    Edit:

    After reading closer you are just looking for which one of the canyons above to skip? I'm tempted to say Knotted Rope, though I still like it and the views on the approach are fantastic. Burro and Cottonwood are very similar as well, though I really like both.

    I guess if I'd have to choose only one to skip, it would be Knotted Rope even though I really like it.
    Utah is a very special and unique place. There is no where else like it on earth. Please take care of it and keep the remaining wild areas in pristine condition. The world will be a better place if you do.

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  5. #3
    Awesome response! Thank you much! That's actually the one I was leaning towards. Can't wait to get out of dodge and see these amazing places!

  6. #4
    I've never done it so I can't say how difficult it is, but it is possible to descend quandary and ascend knotted rope as a loop. That way you wouldn't have to eliminate knotted rope from your schedule.

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  8. #5
    Fantastic idea! That just might have to be what we do!! Super stoked!

  9. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by mcweyen View Post
    Fantastic idea! That just might have to be what we do!! Super stoked!
    Going up Knotted would be pretty difficult. Also, ascending a canyon at the end of the day seems like a good way to get trapped in the dark.

    another option:

    Starting from the Factory Butte side,

    Go up the Quandary bypass, down Quandary Direct, up the bypass a second time to the top of Quandary, over to Knotted Rope, then down Knotted Rope.

    It's something like a 13 hour day and requires a real climber to lead one (maybe two?) tough upclimbs in Quandary.

  10. #7
    I've done them all.... if I was going to bump one it would probably be Cable or Cottonwood Wash.

    A couple things to consider.... I believe Cable loses a lot of it's charm when dry, but when full of water it's a blast.

    A group of talented canyoneers can easily see most the good stuff in Cottonwood by hiking up from the bottom. When you hit the dry falls just back up a couple hundred yards and you can climb around them (on the south side). On the way back down you can rap all the dry falls. Doing Cottonwood this way only takes 3 or 4 hours, so it's possible to do a complete Burro and a Cottonwood bottom up in the same day.

    FWIW: This picture taken in Cable several years ago by a member of Bogley is one of my all time favorite canyoneering pictures.

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  11. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Slot Machine View Post
    Starting from the Factory Butte side,

    Go up the Quandary bypass, down Quandary Direct, up the bypass a second time to the top of Quandary, over to Knotted Rope, then down Knotted Rope.

    It's something like a 13 hour day and requires a real climber to lead one (maybe two?) tough upclimbs in Quandary.
    The Quandary by-pass climbs are easy enough.... but finding the by-pass route from the bottom if you are not familiar with it could be really difficult. I would advise against this option.

    If you really want to combo the Knotted Rope/Quandary route I'd suggest starting from Factory Butte (bottom side). Than if you have trouble getting up Knotted Rope it's no big deal, you turn around and go home. It also puts the more difficult up Knotted Rope in the morning when you are fresh. Doing the route this way should also make the day a more manageable 8 to 10 hours.

  12. #9
    We'll be doing everything from the Factory Butte side. The up Knotted Rope, down Quadary Direct sounds really great! I've got a gps and have dotted the bejezers out of the route. We "should" be good on route finding. That shot in Cable is amazing!!!!

  13. #10
    Here is my all time favorite pic of Quandary, I took this one.... it really shows the giant potholes.

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  15. #11
    When going up Knotted, how does one defeat this pothole?

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  16. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Slot Machine View Post
    When going up Knotted, how does one defeat this pothole?

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    Easy, you climb out! ;)
    CanyoneeringUtah.blogspot.com
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    "As you journey through life, choose your destination well, but do not hurry there. You will arrive soon enough. Wander the back roads and forgotten path[s] ... Such things are riches for the soul. And if upon arrival, you find that your destination is not exactly as you had dreamed, ... know that the true worth of your travels lies not in where you come to be at journey

  17. #13
    Here is my all time favorite pic of Quandary
    Damnnnn, that is an awesome picture

  18. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Slot Machine View Post
    When going up Knotted, how does one defeat this pothole?
    I never enter that pothole.

    We defeat it using the same method going up or down.... climb around to the west side. There are some descent handholds were the two different sandstone layers meet. After the first guy is across we set a handline for those following. Back in the day when the pipes were common we would just pole vault this pothole, which was super easy as you could vault up or down stream... I've also seen this pothole when it's just a swim and you would never know it's there.


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    FWIW: That is the pothole the lady died in a few years back. They were doing the climb around and she fell into the pothole. Her husband couldn't get her out and she died of exposure. Full story here: http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthread.php?26661


  19. #15
    Opps.... the pothole I listed is the difficult crux pothole. The pothole Slot Machine listed was never an issue as we just climbed out up the watercourse.

    This picture gives you a little better look as the actual watercourse is obscured in Slot Machines picture.

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  20. #16
    Ice, the pothole in your photo is not one in question.

    It would take a very talented person to reach those ledges (RDC) without a pole vault. This could pose a serious problem for mcweyen. The distance from the photographer to the ledge is futher than it looks.

    As of last fall there wasn't a pipe anywhere near this pothole and that water was about 6-7 feet deep. Perhaps a shoulder stand would work, boosting a teammate into the crease on the right (LDC).

    ____

    Edit : photo #2 is the pothole in question, with maybe 2 feet of extra water.

  21. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Slot Machine View Post
    Ice, the pothole in your photo is not one in question.
    Damn you're slow.... read the post above yours....

    The pothole in your picture is not a big issue.

  22. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Iceaxe View Post
    The pothole in your picture is not a big issue.
    Perhaps much of the canyon has eroded since your last visit.

    It is a full 12 feet from the sandy bottom to the exit lip. Micah jumped from the lowest perch possible, the spot where an upclimber would have to reach.

    Just. Sayin.

  23. #19
    The pothole in your picture is not a big issue.
    It changes. It was pretty challenging the first time I went through, easy the other times. It depends on how much water and sand is or isn't in the pothole.
    Utah is a very special and unique place. There is no where else like it on earth. Please take care of it and keep the remaining wild areas in pristine condition. The world will be a better place if you do.

  24. #20
    Cool to see others from Boise. Do you guys ever do local canyons, I.E. poison creek?

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