Results 1 to 14 of 14

Thread: Hard Day Harvey Beta

  1. #1

    Hard Day Harvey Beta

    How does going over the narrow stuff in Hard Day Harvey compare to going over the narrow stuff in Alcatraz or Middle Leprechaun?

    Thanks in advance.

  2. # ADS
    Circuit advertisement
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Posts
    Many
     

  3. #2
    I'd say the skill set to do HDH is comparable to Alcatraz and Middle Leprechaun. You might get forced a little higher in HDH in a couple of spots, but I was never forced up to the point I felt a slip and I would die. I've done HDH before with a couple of smurfs and I'm not sure they ever came off the canyon floor, so it's certainly one of the fat guys go higher and get worked harder canyons. HDH is definitely a reasonable progression after doing Alcatraz and Middle Leprechaun.

  4. #3
    I thought Middle Lep was definitely tougher than Alcatraz, at least for going higher at the narrow spots. Is it as tough as Middle Lep? Tougher?

  5. #4
    It's been a while since I last did HDH, but as I remember the skinnies come and go so it's different than Lep. HDH doesn't shred my gear like Lep, but you do have to climb more and a little higher. I never really considered Alcatraz to be much of a problem as I always stay high when in question so I'm never climbing, just moving laterally or down. In places HDH is a little easier than Lep and in places it's a little more difficult, it's just different. I'd say anyone that can do Alcatraz and Middle Leprechaun confidently can do HDH. It's hard to compare one canyon to another because the obstacles are not exactly the same.

    I find canyon difficulty also really depends on my partners. When I do canyons with highly skilled canyoneers the difficulty factor goes way down as someone in the group always finds an easy/simple way to defeat the obstacles. When I do a canyon with less skilled canyoneers all problem solving and helping falls on me, and that's a big difference. Alcatraz with a group of pro's and a group of beginner/intermediates is not the same canyon, at least to me, same with most canyons. YMMV.

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by qedcook View Post
    How does going over the narrow stuff in Hard Day Harvey compare to going over the narrow stuff in Alcatraz or Middle Leprechaun?

    Thanks in advance.
    is not that tight, in spots is 25 cm wide but you can just stem higher, just keep in mind could be slippery mud right now requiring some extra sweat!
    here is how narrow will go.
    Attached Images Attached Images  

  7. #6
    We did HDH last spring. The canyon was dry except for a few muddy spots. The canyon kind of suckers you in. The first hour & a half is easy in & out of narrower sections & nothing difficult. It gets much more difficult when it begins to cut through the fin formations. When it runs parallel to the fins, it's easy so you get a brief break. When it cuts through a fin, it narrows up and each narrows section is progressively more narrow. My wife & I are both "skinnies" as Shane describes and we even had to stem up at times whereas in Middle Lep, we never really had to. We've done Middle Lep 3 times. HDH once. HDH is overall a much longer day because of the drive in, hike in and long hike back out. We found it overall to be more physically demanding than Middle Lep, which we can easily do and be completely done with in 4 hours. SO overall, HDH - more stemming & higher up toward the end, more physically demanding overall, much longer day, much more driving to get to. As Shane said, a good next step from Middle Lep. I saw that Slot machine recently went through. Hopefully he's going to post a report soon.

  8. #7
    Hesse makes the skinny slots look easy.


    But just remember you have to put sand in her pockets so she doesn't blow away in a windstorm.

  9. #8
    Content Provider Emeritus ratagonia's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Quiet and charming: Mount Carmel
    Posts
    7,158
    Quote Originally Posted by peakbaggers View Post
    We did HDH last spring. The canyon was dry except for a few muddy spots. The canyon kind of suckers you in. The first hour & a half is easy in & out of narrower sections & nothing difficult. It gets much more difficult when it begins to cut through the fin formations. When it runs parallel to the fins, it's easy so you get a brief break. When it cuts through a fin, it narrows up and each narrows section is progressively more narrow. My wife & I are both "skinnies" as Shane describes and we even had to stem up at times whereas in Middle Lep, we never really had to. We've done Middle Lep 3 times. HDH once. HDH is overall a much longer day because of the drive in, hike in and long hike back out. We found it overall to be more physically demanding than Middle Lep, which we can easily do and be completely done with in 4 hours. SO overall, HDH - more stemming & higher up toward the end, more physically demanding overall, much longer day, much more driving to get to. As Shane said, a good next step from Middle Lep. I saw that Slot machine recently went through. Hopefully he's going to post a report soon.
    What he said, the best synopsis to date.

    But, HDH tends to be quite difficult when wet. It retains water for a while after a storm. The Carmel-layer mud that is in the canyon is especially slippery.

    And definitely more remote.

    Tom

  10. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by qedcook View Post
    How does going over the narrow stuff in Hard Day Harvey compare to going over the narrow stuff in Alcatraz or Middle Leprechaun?

    Thanks in advance.
    We did HDH on Monday. We only went high over one pinch at the end of the canyon, and it was cake. We literally had to leave the ground for one horizontal foot. I'm 155 lbs and Steph is 109 lbs, for reference.

    The exit route and crossjoint turns are more serious matters than any high stemming in HDH, unless you are a really big guy.

    Any water/mud would make that canyon MUCH harder. More so than any other canyon I've been in. So happy to catch it dry.

  11. #10
    Content Provider Emeritus ratagonia's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Quiet and charming: Mount Carmel
    Posts
    7,158
    How were the anchors in there? How are they now?

    Tom

  12. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Slot Machine View Post
    We did HDH on Monday. We only went high over one pinch at the end of the canyon, and it was cake. We literally had to leave the ground for one horizontal foot. I'm 155 lbs and Steph is 109 lbs, for reference.

    The exit route and crossjoint turns are more serious matters than any high stemming in HDH, unless you are a really big guy.

    Any water/mud would make that canyon MUCH harder. More so than any other canyon I've been in. So happy to catch it dry.
    seems shelallah had much more " meat" in it....literally.......

  13. Likes Slot Machine liked this post
  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by ratagonia View Post
    How were the anchors in there? How are they now?

    Tom
    They are good. We did not change any of them.

    There was some extra webbing on one rap. We were carrying wetsuits in Lep packs, so we had no room to carry trash, so we left it.

    The next day we hauled 100 feet of webbing out of W Shill to pay penance for that venial sin.

  15. Likes ratagonia liked this post
  16. #13
    Anyone want to go this coming Saturday (February 27th) while the conditions are so ideal?

  17. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by qedcook View Post
    Anyone want to go this coming Saturday (February 27th) while the conditions are so ideal?
    I am there but doing hogs and poison I will prefer hdh in warmer weather is dark and cold now

Similar Threads

  1. [Trip Report] Hard Day Harvey
    By peakbaggers in forum Canyoneering
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 04-24-2015, 07:31 PM
  2. [Trip Report] Hard Day Harvey
    By Mountaineer in forum Canyoneering
    Replies: 13
    Last Post: 02-28-2014, 10:48 AM
  3. [Trip Report] Good Day Jim, Hard Day Harvey, Woodsy and Woody Conditions
    By AJ in forum Canyoneering
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 04-28-2010, 08:22 PM
  4. [Trip Report] Photos from Hard Day Harvey - 2/19/06
    By bruce from bryce in forum Canyoneering
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 09-15-2009, 08:27 PM
  5. [Trip Report] Short TR - Hard Day Harvey and Good Day Jim
    By shaggy125 in forum Canyoneering
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 03-23-2007, 07:43 AM

Visitors found this page by searching for:

Outdoor Forum

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •