Dam Canyon (Superstitions) - May 2015

[Triggerfish]

Dam Canyon is a brutal, if varied experience. Fun enough to be worth doing, but I won't repeat it.

My son, his friend, and I pumped up my 3-man inflatable kayak, paddled about a mile to the other side of Canyon Lake, and tied it up at a relatively low puncture-risk bit of shore, about as near as one can get to the float line blocking boaters from getting any closer to the dam.

The approach hike was as ugly as a Superstitions bushwhack can throw down - a fiesta of catclaw, palo verde, and assorted cacti. The most hateful of all - teddy bear cholla - was everywhere. This cactus, which virtually throws its evil fruits at you with the slightest bump or breeze, embedding brittle, barbed spines that almost require pliers or tweezers to remove, is like the plant kingdom's answer to sea urchins. Add insistent, if not oppressive heat, and multiple small class 3 and 4 scrambles, and you have a memorably nasty approach. But hey, nice views of the lake and surrounding Superstitions!

Eventually, we crested out and dropped into the target canyon. Crouching down at a small pool to wash some blood from his hands, one of the boys shouted "Rattlesnake!" This fat western diamondback was parked in a great spot to catch thirsty rodents.

We started into about 5 raps, mostly in the 20-30' range, punctuated and sometimes made more interesting by ever-present catclaw. The final drop was about 160' down a high-angle waterfall, also spiced up with catclaw near the bottom. Relatively easy walk back to the kayak, followed by a nice paddle back.