Headless Hen/Raven

[Erik B]

We got the PNW crew to assemble once again in the Southwest for 9 days of fun and excitement. The itinerary went as such:


Saturday: Depart Cars at 7:30pm and hike to Escalante River
Sunday: Choprock
Monday: West Baker
Tuesday: Neon...skunked on the addition of Ringtail
Wednesday: Hike out + Egypt 2
Thursday: Headless Hen + Raven
Friday: Coyote Gulch
Saturday: Coyote Gulch
Sunday: Peak-a-boo, Spooky, Brimstone


Headless Hen is a gem I've been trying to visit for some time. The complexities of trips out to Escalante, compounded by Road conditions and the overall remoteness have made it challenging to visit but we were fortunate to have good road conditions, decent weather, and the time to go get them.


Camped near Chimney rock.


We dropped into the Raven only to have the ladies bail out at the escape route. The high stemming and the strenuous nature of Raven just wasnt for t hem for them. The canyon itself is a fantastic place with lots of scultped twists & turns, tight slot, and potholes. It reminded me of Trachyotomy, however, I was prepared this time around as I brought nearly nothing unnecessary in my backpack. The lack of bulk/weight made this canyon SO MUCH MORE enjoyable.


After Raven we met up with the rest of the crew ready to hit up Headless. Water conditions were definitely below their high in the Egypt area and appeared to be similar in Raven. I wasnt sure whether to expect a splash-fest or business time in Keeper-Alley....turns out it was business time. We were a team of 6 with varying degrees of experience. We were expecting a 2 hour jaunt. The canyon is absolutely in difficult mode right now with all but one of the obvious keepers in full on, 10-15 foot deep, mode. Ultimately we worked our way through Keeper after keeper taking 5 hours to complete the canyon. FANTASTIC place. All the potholes were defeated with packtosses/partner stacks, however, the true difficulty (as the beta had suggested) was safe capture of the LAMAR. Fortunately we had several ladies in the 120lbs category that safely completed pack drag after partner capture after pack drag.


Headless was better than I had dreamed it would be and would recommend it to anyone looking for some serious practice with KPHs. The beta recommends a minimum group size of 4....I couldnt agree more. At one point our team was dispersed in three separate keepers at the same time and it was very useful to have multiple people to partner assist/ LAMAR capture.

Headless is the real deal!!! In low water I'd consider it equivalent in difficulty to Imlay (but of course is much shorter)


... More photos/video to follow...

[nkanarik]

Nice Pictures. I plan on doing HH (as well as Neon, Choprock, and Ringtail?) a couple of weeks from now...would be great to know what gear you needed for each canyon, and the water level in each...

[Erik B]

Nice Pictures. I plan on doing HH (as well as Neon, Choprock, and Ringtail?) a couple of weeks from now...would be great to know what gear you needed for each canyon, and the water level in each...

Choprock: Water was chilly. I wore a brand new 5/4/3 suit and never got cold. water levels medium??? Did not have to contend with any major log jams.

West Baker: Water levels 2-3 feet below high water. LONG HIKE! I'll be posting an alternate approach shortly.

Neon: Both Keepers TIPPY TOP full. interestingly the rest of the canyon had water levels 2-3 feet below high water. (noticeably lower than this time last year) Water chilly. (see above)

Ringtail: Didnt get to do it because of water. I read there are two keepers in keeper mode that can be easily defeated with pack toss/partner assist.

Headless Hen: Beast mode. DRY DRY DRY. 10-15ft potholes. AWESOME! Bring a big group for difficult LAMAR situations.

[nkanarik]

Awesome! thanks!

Did you use Sandtrap in HH? If not...why?

[Slot Machine]

Awesome! thanks!

Did you use Sandtrap in HH? If not...why?

Stacking potshots is a fun way to do HH. But a Sandrap would be much faster and easier.

To get 'full credit', leave the canyon completely clean. Not that difficult and a fun goal for the group. Grooves are a total fail of course.

[Iceaxe]

To get 'full credit', leave the canyon completely clean.

[Insert eye roll here] Noobs...

To get full credit you must do the canyon barefoot, wearing only a loin cloth, carrying a 50 pound pack filled with sand and not using a rope... at least that's how we do it.

Signed your friend
Totally Awesome

[deagol]

there needs to be a thumbs-down/ unlike this post option...

[Iceaxe]

Erik, you got some great pictures of the pothole section.

[Slot Machine]

X2 on the photos @Erik B , curious, which camera are you using and which photo editor?

Also, you did this drop off a pack drag? YEEEHAW!

[Erik B]

Erik, you got some great pictures of the pothole section.

Thanks for the beta that lead us there.

[Erik B]

X2 on the photos @Erik B , curious, which camera are you using and which photo editor?

Also, you did this drop off a pack drag? YEEEHAW!

I shoot a Sony NEX-7 protected by a small pelican case that I have clipped at my hip. Never have had if fail and it's convenient enough to shoot rapidly with. The NEX series is a bit outdated now...

We did all of the LAMAR captures with a pack drag. We were fortunate to have a couple 120# climber girls to go LAWAR.

[Erik B]

Awesome! thanks!

Did you use Sandtrap in HH? If not...why?

No...because I forgot to fly it down from Oregon.

Truthfully...the pack drag was a much faster option for many of the LAMAR situations, however, there were one or two excellent sandtrap placements in there. If we didnt have petite ladies along with us the Sandtrap might have been a reasonable option.

[Erik B]