Pothoez

[Slot Machine]

On March 17th, 2014, Tony (@Absolute Gravity) and I wandered out across Smith Fork and descended Pothoez Canyon.

Smith fork is a stunning complex of canyons when viewed from above. The possible adventures seem endless.

Unfortunatley Pothoez is not as scenic as the surrounding landscape. The top half starts out with difficult high stemming that's ugly and rotten. We had a couple of large flakes break off when stemming 30+ feet off the deck.

Tony working hard with a big pack in Upper Pothoez.


That is followed by a couple of hours of stemming over small potholes, 4-6 feet wide. Being 3 feet off the deck for 2 hours is a serious shoulder/core workout.





Then comes a 30 footer with no anchor options. It would be a downclimb/capture with a large group, but for us, it became a tricky SandTrap problem (fun!).

Our MudGravelTrap


After that is the only pretty part of the canyon, a downclimb into a large cold swimmer.


Shortly after the swimmer is a SERIOUS pothole located halfway down the final rappel (sorry no pictures of it). It is SEVERELY overhung on all sides, a million feet deep, and should one fall in it would be impossible to escape from. Traversing across the pothole proved to be VERY tricky for Tony because the line of the rappel funneled him into the middle of the pothole. Throwing potshots across first would have been of limited utility because the force needed to propel Tony to the exit lip is greater than Potshots could provide. It was the most frightening pothole I have ever seen.

At the end of the day we wandered over to the exit for Phycho D and took a few pictures. It was FAR more scenic than anything in Pothoez.

[Kuya]

Call me crazy, but I disagree with you. The pics you provided of Pothoez are wonderful! Love the pics of Phycyo D as well ;)

[Mountaineer]

This one looks way serious. Congrats.

[ratagonia]

Something missing in some of those pictures, you hard-headed fool!

(said affectionately, just to be clear)

How do you make a fun romp through a canyon not-so-much fun - bring a big pack!!!

Sorry you didn't like it. (psssst, it's not the canyon).

Tom

[Jolly Green]

So how many potholes did you have to go through? Or are they all avoidable?

[Slot Machine]

Something missing in some of those pictures, you hard-headed fool!

(said affectionately, just to be clear)

How do you make a fun romp through a canyon not-so-much fun - bring a big pack!!!

It was funny, I snapped the photo of Tony in the bandana and said "Tom is gonna yell at you for this one!" Rare for us to forget the helmets, even for a the first few minutes of the canyon.

The big packs were unavoidable. We were expecting 'full' conditions. We brought wetsuits, booties, drybags, lots of water, potshots, a Sandtrap... We needed more people to divide all that crap up.

So how many potholes did you have to go through? Or are they all avoidable?

We only had to go through one, it was very full and very cold. The wetsuits were welcome. We stemmed over dozens of other potholes, some intimidating and surprisingly deep (15 feet max).

If you fell in the serious keeper at the end, the cold would be a major problem. Escape would be VERY tough, even with help from outside the pothole.

[PG Rob]

This is the last pothole. It is quite deep, but not that tough to escape.

[Slot Machine]

This is the last pothole. It is quite deep, but not that tough to escape.

Great photo, Rob. The water level was about 4 feet below the lip when we were there, looks about 15 feet below the lip in your picture? Could you stand in the bottom?

Escape seems rough, given the severity of the exit lip overhang (not pictured).

Rob, could you elaborate on how you did this?

[PG Rob]

Great photo, Rob. The water level was about 4 feet below the lip when we were there, looks about 15 feet below the lip in your picture? Could you stand in the bottom?

Escape seems rough, given the severity of the exit lip overhang (not pictured).

Rob, could you elaborate on how you did this?

I actually have never done Pothoez. After finishing Psycho D, I upclimbed to this vantage point from the bottom. I then upclimbed the last rappel, then back down into the pothole. With a rope dropped in from the downcanyon lip, I climbed out. The water was about neck deep. With water overhead and no down canyon support it could be tricky, but escape back to the upcanyon side would not be difficult.

[Slot Machine]

I actually have never done Pothoez. After finishing Psycho D, I upclimbed to this vantage point from the bottom. I then upclimbed the last rappel, then back down into the pothole. With a rope dropped in from the downcanyon lip, I climbed out. The water was about neck deep. With water overhead and no down canyon support it could be tricky, but escape back to the upcanyon side would not be difficult.

So,

you're saying you can climb?

Wow Rob, that's super impressive... with a light dusting of crazy. I never would have guessed climbing that rappel was even possible. Would love to see pictures of you doing this, if you have them.