This time I descended the canyon via Bedrock Canyon. I got this info courtesy of two HAZ members. Thanks guys!

This descent is ridiculously steep, so it made sense that I left my trekking poles at home. After a short distance, the trail hits a series of downclimbs that seemed kinda sketchy. I commented to my friend that it will be easier going up....more on that to follow.

At the bottom of Bedrock Canyon we turned left and a 5 minute walk brought us to the confluence with South Canyon. The trail down South Canyon is easy and we made it to the river in about an hour (excluding the descent down Bedrock). I spent a lot of time looking for Anasazi ruins and petroglyphs that I hadn't seen this past spring. In the process, I found some small caves that I hadn't seen before. We hung out for about an hour or two, exploring and photographing extensively.

Before we knew it, it was time to ascend Bedrock. According to my GPS track, it is only .7 miles from top to bottom. Slow and steady is the ticket here and soon enough we were ready for the vertical climbs that I thought would be easy. Boy was I wrong! While technically the climbing is easy, there is a lot of exposure and no way for your partner to spot you. I was totally gripped. My hands were sweating and my pack seemed to be getting in the way, threatening to pitch me down the canyon. That's what I get for schlepping photo gear around I guess. On the rim of the canyon, it was about 100 yards to the Jeep; this seemed to take forever to walk, my quads were totally burning. I never realized how much I depend on trekking poles.

All said and done, this was a great hike and I'd do it again in a heartbeat, only next time with a smaller pack.