Choprock 3/14/14

[TommyBoy]

Waking up at 6:30 wasn't fun, especially with the knowledge that I would have to strip naked in the freezing weather, just to put on a frozen wetsuit. The shoes were frozen too, so I defrosted them by dipping them in the river. Who's dumb idea was this trip, oh that's right it was mine. I looked at the temps and thought they were reasonable, I just didn't think to factor in the part about wetsuits not drying over night when the temps are in the mid 30's. The reason for suiting up at the start was that the river was waist deep and we didn't feel like getting our clothes wet so we put on the suits.


Here we were up on top of Choprock Bench just getting ready to hike the 3.5 miles across the desert to the top of Choprock canyon.


Looking down at the canyon system








This drop was set up as a rappel and we couldn't figure out why, isn't this supposed to be an advanced canyon? I know some people don't like DC's but this one wasn't even a moderate one, it was not steep and had great features all the way down. Oh well if you want to waste time rappelling that's your prerogative.



Even with everything kind of deadish the riparian section was quite beautiful, I guess I just need to come back later in the season when everything is in bloom.

I didn't get many pictures of the happy section, but I have to say it was way better than The Subway in Zion. I'm glad the difficulty and remote nature of this canyon cuts back on the number of visitors



This is the end of the Happy Section

On to the Grim





This room was just awesome, the water was just barely a swimmer at this spot

More swimming through narrow twisting halls

And here's another great exit rappel after a great canyon day

[jman]

Wow, great pics!

[ratagonia]

Wonderful. Thanks for the memories.

How much wetsuit were you guys wearing, and was it enough?

T

[TommyBoy]

Wonderful. Thanks for the memories.

How much wetsuit were you guys wearing, and was it enough?

T

For HH, Neon, and East Baker I wore just my 4/3, and I only got cold in Neon. I did take my 5/3 vest out about 3/4 of the way through Baker because I got tired of it taking up space in my pack, not because I was cold. In Choprock I wore the suit and the vest and stayed warm the whole time except for about 20 min after stopping to pee. It took a little while to warm up after that. In Raven I just wore clothes and was fine except for the very end where we went through a couple of potholes with some nice water. It wouldn't have been too bad except I got my pack jammed behind me going down into the first one and while I was trying to tug it free it popped loose and I tumbled backwards and went for a swim in waist deep water. In retrospect it wasn't that smart of me to try and tug the pack free, I should have just climbed up and loosened it from above.

My buddy who is a little less warm blooded than me wore his vest in HH, Neon, and Baker, and he wore his suit in Raven. The only time h got cold was when we stopped in Choprock because of me and in Neon because we weren't working very hard. The few times we were cold it wasn't to the point of being dangerously cold, just uncomfortable.

[Kuya]

Awesome TR! Some of those pics are amazing! I can't wait do see this canyon for myself! :)

[Taylor]

Nice report. Curious, you say you had your wetsuit on but got cold when you stopped to pee. Doesn't everyone just pee in the suit when swimming? Instead of getting colder, the opposite. Tell me I'm not the only one...

[Brian in SLC]

Nice report. Curious, you say you had your wetsuit on but got cold when you stopped to pee. Doesn't everyone just pee in the suit when swimming? Instead of getting colder, the opposite. Tell me I'm not the only one...

Staying well hydrated...win win...

[TommyBoy]

Nice report. Curious, you say you had your wetsuit on but got cold when you stopped to pee. Doesn't everyone just pee in the suit when swimming? Instead of getting colder, the opposite. Tell me I'm not the only one...

Some do, some don't, I think for me it would depend on just how cold it was. As in if it would be life threatening to cool off for a few minutes then yes I would just pee in the suit, of course I don't think I would be going if it was really that cold. I just don't want my suit to reek, but thats just me.

[MrAdam]

Some do, some don't, I think for me it would depend on just how cold it was. As in if it would be life threatening to cool off for a few minutes then yes I would just pee in the suit, of course I don't think I would be going if it was really that cold. I just don't want my suit to reek, but thats just me.

The smell from the stagnant water overpowers the smell of urine every time.

There are two types of canyoneers, those that pee in their wetsuits and those that lie about it.

[Scott Card]

About 13 years ago I started taking notes on who I wasn't going to lend a wet suit to….. a few more names added to my "do not lend" list from this thread.

[accadacca]

Excellent report and photos.