Alcatraz Canyon Rescue

[ratagonia]

Shane, I haven't done them, but I have it on good authority from reliable sources that there are some X and R canyons in the Sams Mesa Box complex. This is from some of the same crews whom have done many of the R's and X's in Escalante, so I trust that the ratings are accurate.

... Interesting..............

T

[burley]

So a quick follow-up, I thought this post would be most appropriate on this thread than a new one, as it really speaks to the impact of my time stuck in Alcatraz.


After a summer of doing straightforward Zion canyons I finally got back into some more challenging canyons. We did a warm up in Wonderland Canyon and then descended Pandora's Box the next day. I strongly considered not going and had a pretty sleepless night the night before, but after re-reading beta several times and discussing my concerns as a group we felt good about it.


It was a first time through Pandora's for all of us, and was especially physical for a bigger guy like myself. What I hadn't really expected, but should have, was the emotional toll that Pandora's would take on me, and how the emotional impact made the canyon even more physical and draining. In addition to the mental and emotional exhaustion, there were several tight spots where I probably went higher than necessary (and thus worked harder) because of some flashbacks. One section in particular was very reminiscent of the spot where I was stuck, and once I got through I had to take a couple of minutes to gather myself together. I wouldn't hesitate to say that the emotional impact alone caused us to take a couple hours more than we otherwise would have (we were about 13 hrs car to car).


I had some great partners who were incredibly patient and very supportive emotionally and even physically a few times (thanks again for those knees and shoulders!). It was an incredible and beautiful canyon, and a good reminder of the 'softer' side of canyoneering and life.