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Thread: Choprock Conditions
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03-08-2017, 07:30 AM #1
Choprock Conditions
Have a group looking at doing Choprock in 2 weeks. Has anyone been down yet this year, know water levels in the Escalante area, or seasonal snow pack?
Also would be curious to any knowledge concerning recent log jam difficulties. Ex: if the canyon is still fairly clear in the past couple years or if it has bogged up.
Obviously trying to get a sense of water levels for the dreaded grim zone. Let me know
Thanks - Koda
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03-08-2017 07:30 AM # ADS
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03-08-2017, 10:51 AM #2
This is just a hunch, but I seriously doubt you are going to find any current conditions this time of year without going out and checking them yourself.
I have never heard of anyone doing the canyon before April, but it could be done by a well prepared group.
The chances are slim however, that anyone is going to have current conditions.Utah is a very special and unique place. There is no where else like it on earth. Please take care of it and keep the remaining wild areas in pristine condition. The world will be a better place if you do.
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03-08-2017, 11:42 AM #3
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03-08-2017, 11:55 AM #4
I've read multiple reports of people going in late March. So I've got my fingers crossed. I'm hoping for moderate water levels to make it fun but not deadly. I have been unable to find any good trip reports of people doing the canyon in full water conditions.
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03-08-2017, 01:24 PM #5
I won't be going through Choprock, but I'll be down in Escalante tonight and back Sat. I can give you a general report of the area. I talked to someone who did Brimstone last week and they said there was a swim at the end that was unexpected. I've never done that canyon so I don't know how unusual it is to have water there.
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03-08-2017, 03:11 PM #6Ram and I did Choprock (Kaleidoscope) first week of March in 2001.
I won't be going through Choprock, but I'll be down in Escalante tonight and back Sat. I can give you a general report of the area.
I have been unable to find any good trip reports of people doing the canyon in full water conditions.Utah is a very special and unique place. There is no where else like it on earth. Please take care of it and keep the remaining wild areas in pristine condition. The world will be a better place if you do.
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03-08-2017, 03:48 PM #7
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03-08-2017, 04:04 PM #8
That would be a fun post for somebody to take up if they have the pics for it. Basically a post comparing low, middle and high conditions.
I did chop rock the day after a rainstorm and while it was difficult with some energy-sucking logjams, it wasn't "extreme". There was LONG corridors of just swimming and swimming and swimming and more swimming. They were long. It felt like the black hole but much longer.
Maybe anyone with these extreme or difficult pics can elaborate more?
But there probably is a post on the interwebs about this already...
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk●Canyoneering 'Canyon Conditions' @ www.candition.com
●Hiking Treks (my younger brother's website): hiking guides @ www.thetrekplanner.com
"He who walks on the edge...will eventually fall."
"There are two ways to die in the desert - dehydration and drowning." -overhearing a Park Ranger at Capitol Reef N.P.
"...the first law of gear-dynamics: gear is like a gas - it will expand to fit the available space." -Wortman, Outside magazine.
"SEND IT, BRO!!"
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03-08-2017, 04:41 PM #9Maybe anyone with these extreme or difficult pics can elaborate more?
Tom Jones does have a diagram of what conditions can be:
In the below video from 1988 Turville mentions a canyon with a difficult log obstacle that was very difficult to get around:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsruULnmBsY
The mention starts at at 24:30.
Although the name of the canyon isn't mentioned, it was the SF of Choprock. We had to climb over some big vertical logs too, but it wasn't extreme.
If Turville mentions it as difficult, it must have been.
Unless you are 100% sure of current conditions, hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.Utah is a very special and unique place. There is no where else like it on earth. Please take care of it and keep the remaining wild areas in pristine condition. The world will be a better place if you do.
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03-08-2017, 04:42 PM #10
I've looked, the best I could find is some diagrams, but no pics, if you find some let me know where I'd love to see them as well. My understanding from talking to people is that the water levels in there have only a little to do with recent rain and more with how the last flash flood arranged the sand dams and log jams, which is why even right after a hard rain it might not be in extreme conditions.
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03-08-2017, 04:54 PM #11
That's a good point.
From toms diagram that Scott pointed out (thanks btw!) I would describe our trip through it as "high water" then. We couldn't stand anywhere for a LONG time but there were a few logjams to climb over while treading water. And it was just a log or two or three. It was no log soup. Nothing compared to Imlay's log soup anyway.
Like you said, still would be fun to see photos to compare them.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk●Canyoneering 'Canyon Conditions' @ www.candition.com
●Hiking Treks (my younger brother's website): hiking guides @ www.thetrekplanner.com
"He who walks on the edge...will eventually fall."
"There are two ways to die in the desert - dehydration and drowning." -overhearing a Park Ranger at Capitol Reef N.P.
"...the first law of gear-dynamics: gear is like a gas - it will expand to fit the available space." -Wortman, Outside magazine.
"SEND IT, BRO!!"
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Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likesdakotabelliston liked this post
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03-08-2017, 05:16 PM #12From toms diagram that Scott pointed out (thanks btw!) I would describe our trip through it as "high water" then. We couldn't stand anywhere for a LONG time but there were a few logjams to climb over while treading water.
We had to climb over several log jams, but only one required climbing very high up (I was told we did it in moderate or moderately hard conditions-early May 2011-it didn't seem bad at all-but I personally don't have much to compare it too-it can be much more difficult). From the top of where we had to climb up though, we could look down canyon and could see that if the water was higher, and if there were more logs) we would have to stay high for a long time. Climbing above the first log (30 feet?) (I was first up), all as I could see down canyon were log jams (which was intimidating since it was all of our first times through), but luckily we found that we could squeeze under most of them or didn't have to climb very high to get over them.
The thing about photos is that not many people get photos of the difficult sections of canyons since they are focused on something else.
It would be nice if someone has some.Utah is a very special and unique place. There is no where else like it on earth. Please take care of it and keep the remaining wild areas in pristine condition. The world will be a better place if you do.
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03-08-2017, 05:31 PM #13
The water controls the sand.
The sand controls the water.
While the 'right' combination of sand and water rarely sets up to make it difficult, one should always go into Choprock anticipating that it MIGHT be quite a struggle.
This is one reason I disdain questions of "what is it like in canyon X...". I guess it helps to know what conditions the most recent party found, and then you might or might not find the same or similar conditions, or it might be different. To me the real question is, what is the NASTIEST the canyon can be..., and if it is easier than that then we laugh all the way to the bank. So to speak.
Tom
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03-08-2017, 07:20 PM #14
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