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| Canyoneering | 2.34 Miles |
1,204 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 2.34 Miles | 7 Hrs 16 Mns | | 0.32 mph |
| 1,204 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | We decided kind of at the last minute that we'd do Sundance. At first we thought it would be too advanced for us but Joel and I had 4 canyoneering trips under our belts and we had read that Sundance was not in keeper mode. We also had two other people experienced in rock climbing and anchor building so we decided we could figure things out. Granted we did have two newbies with who only had done Meadow.
Now I have to admit that we are not your normal canyoneers. In fact, anyone who thinks of the pool float as an essential piece of canyoneering gear would probably be laughed out of a group of true canyoneers, but hey - you'll see where a pool float is truly a great piece of rescue gear once I post some photos!
Anyway, we moved our cars to the TH for Sundance and Bear and then headed out to find a good route into the canyon through the cliff bands. We did find a nice route!
The canyon was quite lush and brushy where we first entered but that just added to the fun. Soon we were hopping along navigating our bodies down trees and rocks like nobody's business! We even stemmed our way over pools jammed full of logs.
Then came a solumn moment. We found a memorial wreath in the canyon. If that wasn't a wake up call I'm not sure what is. I made a note to research it when we got home. I found that it was for a 15 year old boyscout who had died just hopping around and it wasn't a rappelling accident. It's a very sad story...
We continued on into some narrows. Then we started encountering more water. We found creative ways to not get wet. A man anchored handline in which I thought of as the zip-line was one of them.
We had to slide down logs into pools. In one Carley, one of the newbies, discovered a glove which totally freaked her out. Guess she was looking for the hand!
We took turns at rappeling down first based on fears and joys. I like water, so I would often go first into the pools. We also used some tools I bought to help us get out of potholes: cliffhanger, pecker, and of course the pool float.
For one of the last pools - which we decided was probably the one that is a keeper pot hole at times, I decided to rap down wearing the pool float. Then I paddled across and found a nice little ledge to pull myself up. From there I threw the pool float back across and just in time for the next rappeller to safely drop on top of the float. They were able to paddle over and scramble out. During all this another group caught up and we allowed them to go on past us since we were a large group playing around with a pool float! They asked us if we had appropriate gear for the last rappel - of course we had a 200 ft rope and pull down cord AND a second 200 foot backup rope (we don't really mess around!). We figured out how we could improve on the technique using the cliffhanger to help people scramble out without much effort.
Then finally we reached the grand finale. The 180 foot rappel. The weather was changing and I could hear thunder and it looked like it was going to rain. That added an element of scariness to the whole event.
Leslie and I got to the rappel station first. We had backup rope and the pull down cord tied together with a figure 8 and we set up with a clove hitch on a biner block so that the knot wouldn't go through the rapides. Leslie tossed out the rope carefully and then prepared to go down. I could tell that even though she had a bunch of experience rock climbing (even as much as guiding Denali) that this rappel was a big one for her - even more than we imagined. She started down first and it seemed to take her a long time. Come to find out the ropes hand really tangled themselves up. She was happy she had set up a prusik to autoblock while she sorted through the tangles. She sad this was one of her worse rappels which made me kind of sad.
I was next. Happily I had my ATS device for the single line rappel. I applied a bit of extra friction using the horns as I went down. I will admit that it was a bit intimidating to step of the edge of a cliff that was 180 foot drop. Gulp! But as I went down and entered into the free hang I worked with myself to get over my fears and actually looked around. Awesome! What a great way to end one of natures most awesome obstacle courses! Who needs a Tough Mudder course just try out Sundance!
After Joel came down using his ATS, the ropes were reconfigured with the two ropes and the pull down cord was dropped down. This way the newbies could do a double rope rappel.
After we were all safely down we celebrated with a snack in the rain while huddled under an overhang.
We hit West Clear Creek again and I was surprised at the beauty of this section of the creek. It was so lush and beautiful it makes me want to do the multiple day full creek backpack.
Then up we went through a jungle of vegetation to the top. What a nice way to exit West Clear Creek! We celebrated our success in camp! |
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