Eardley Approach - shortcut?

[jman]

4 friends and I were able to do Eardley and Zero G, including a stop at Groggs for dinner (yum!) and still make it home by 9pm in SLC yesterday...and... don't worry, a TR is coming. :)


But a quick question before I post that in a few hours - so, on our approach to Eardley (using shane's beta) we come across a class 4 section that allows access into Eardley WAY before the *proper* entry point. Has anyone else used this?

Here is a pic I just made in Google Earth. The route in question is in Yellow.



And here are the GPS coordinates for the route we used. No rappels are needed for the *experienced* down-climber - however, a 100ft rope would suffice to aid.

Shortcut-route start: N38°47'34.23" W110°31'24.58"

[Iceaxe]

There are a couple "short cuts" into Eardley, but I have done none of them. There is supposed to be a really niced bolted rap station that deposits you right at the start of the goodies. I'd really like the GPS waypoint and required rope length for this entrance if anyone has it. I believe one of the commercial guides is using this rap entry. The approach is rumored to be relatively short in comparison to the standard route.

One problem with Eardley short cuts is they are difficult to find a second time without a waypoint as hiking right up the edge of the canyon and looking for them is a bit of a nuisance.

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[moab mark]

That could possibly move Eardley off the Hell No Never Again List. :)

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[darhawk]

I want to give this shorcut route a HUGE thumbs up! Props to Jman for identifying it and posting the route. He neglected the coordinates, but here they are (he messaged me with them; thanks!):
N38°47'34.23" W110°31'24.58"

Basically, you just hug the Eardley rim until it cliffs out. The top part of the route is the sketchiest because of cliff bands below you, but if you stay basically level from where the rim cliffs out and go above a good-sized juniper tree straight ahead of you, then drop down a short rock slide area, you will be at a downclimbable section in the cliff bands. You could belay the first person, if necessary, down the downclimb. After the first one down, everyone downclimbed that section on their own with just a spotter below. Once past the little downclimb, it's mostly walking with a bit of scrambling here and there. It just requires a bit of sensible routefinding. I do NOT like exposure, and found this route quite reasonable. I would do it again in a heartbeat. We took 1:15 to get to this shortcut entry and 45 minutes going down it, which included about 20 minutes of route-finding before committing everyone to it. You could probably get down it in 20-30 minutes if you had done it before.

The route deposits you just before the first (non-technical) potholes in Eardley. Yes, that means you are at the fun part in maybe 1.5 to 2 hours from the trailhead. That includes only half a mile and 800 feet of elevation gain from the mouth of Eardley, if you want to know the gory details. All potholes were full. We jumped or slid into almost all of them. Only the last one was a rappel for most of our group. It was a grinfest. Eardley is game on! All the Eardley haters need to re-think.

[jman]

Sweeeeet!! I'm glad you were able to it test out and not get too lost. :P Thanks for reporting back. (Hopefully this can become the "new" approach into Eardley. Like you, I love this canyon, especially for the potholes that we all jumped (except the last rap) and took the waterslide too. Good stuff).

Everything you said, aligns with the path that I have done. And for someone who does not like exposure, I'm happy to hear that you thought it was "reasonable". To those who are reading, you are dropping 600+ ft in 20mins or so to help paint a better picture in your head.

Your first time, just like you said, will probably be 45min but if you have done that route once, you could probably descend it in 15-mins. But it all depends on your group dynamics and how comfortable everyone is with scrambling and exposure at the first bit.

I'm not sure why my GPS coords initially didn't post.... I have noticed that with some TRs it will just list the first part "N38" and that's it. No idea why.
Anyway, I will copy the GPS cords in your post and add it back to the initial post.

To those care or are thinking about this route, I included a close-up visual of the path that WE took (although this path doesn't have to be followed exactly. Choose your own adventure descent).





And a few pics from the descent:








A picture of my friend Brian about 100 yards from the very bottom. See....it wasn't too bad, after all. :P (It looks scarier that what it really is).



And Jeff Guest representing with his Bogley shirt and approves of this approach too (double thumbs-up!). He wears that shirt all the time, on every adventure, although he rarely posts here. haha.

[darhawk]

Sweet. We zig-zagged about half way down while you took a more direct route I think. But the top half looks the same. Halfway down, we went a bit more toward the upcanyon side. From your pics, I would say you did more scrambling and we did more walking. It's good to know that multiple routes work out. Thanks again! We had a great day. A fabulous canyon.

[Slot Machine]

Thanks for sharing this.

*places Eardley on the to-do list*

BTW, Balance Rock in Helper is really good. Better than Groggs, IMO.

[Slot Machine]

@darhawk @jman

Would you mind sharing your car-to-car time for the 'sneak route'? Thank you sirs.

[darhawk]

@darhawk @jman

Would you mind sharing your car-to-car time for the 'sneak route'? Thank you sirs.

My memory is about 5 hours, which included 20 minutes looking for our rope that sank in the last pool. :) But could have been 6 hours. Still, a fairly leisurely 6. I see where Road Trip Ryan estimates it as 5-8 (not the shortcut route). I'm usually near the high end of his estimates, so I definitely cut time with the "sneak"!

[qedcook]

which included 20 minutes looking for our rope that sank in the last pool. :)

Did you find it? That's a deep pool!

[jman]

Our groups time was similar to @darhawk.

Between 35-40mins from our truck to the "hike-up" on the reef section. Maybe another 20mins up to the "shortcut" and another 20-30mins down the shortcut (no raps).

In the canyon, we spent a LOT of time climbing back up rappels and jumping back in (especially were the "keeper" is). So much watery fun! One pothole alone was 45mins jumping in and out and just floating and doing flips, etc.

On our trip, the water was deep. For those following along, always check depth before jumping in.

The canyon was probably 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Then another 35mins back to the truck. (Although....that isn't including investigating a mine we spotted as we were hiking out. That added another 30mins to the trip).

Good times...


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