Zigzag Canyon, AZ

2021
ZigZag is now broken up into 4 drops; the first is about 90' into a small alcove. To find the first anchor, cross the drainage and go up and look for the chains. It's helpful if the first person down takes a rope to rig the second rappel which is 190'. With the second drop rigged, you can easily sequence the rest of the group through this alcove to avoid overcrowding. Depending on group size, this is a fairly large alcove and will hold your typical group (6-8) if necessary. For the third rappel, make your way canyon right and look for the chains, not the webbing. This drop is roughly 70’ and will drop you down to a nice flat section where the final drop measuring roughly 170’ can be rigged. This canyon warrants the use of a PSA, due to the fact you're always close to the edge. Once down, head for the road.The exit is now hiking up Fish Creek hill to the lookout at the top. I recommend having a shuttle vehicle to get back to the trailhead from the lookout. The hike back up the road is 2.5 miles and 1000 feet of elevation gain.


2010
From Tortilla TH, walk south on FR213 and drop into the 2nd or 3rd side drainage on the east side. The 4th thru 8th drainages will put you into Minnow Canyon. This canyon has loads of bushwhacking thru catclaw, mesquite, and cactus with some light down climbing before you soon arrive at a major 140-160ft drop with 2 shinny bolts to run some webbing thru. I'm guessing you'd need about 50-60ft of webbing just so you have a clean rope pull since the bolts are back and around a bend. There's also a second drop below this one that's 100-120ft that has some large boulders you can anchor from. You should have a shuttle set up below at Fish Creek Bridge, hitch a ridge, or do a 2-mile road walk back to your ride. Enjoy!

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