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| Canyoneering | 8.29 Miles |
3,256 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 8.29 Miles | 11 Hrs 12 Mns | | 1.16 mph |
| 3,256 ft AEG | 4 Hrs 4 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | We got up early and drove to the trailhead. I did not have my notes from last year, so we made a typical mistake because the directions in the book aren't complete. We figured out the problem pretty quick and got back on route.
A party of two pulled up as we were getting organized. We only saw them on the hiking part and the top if the first rappel.
The route down the ridgeline is starting to get beat in, but there are still times where people go different ways so it disappears and you have to go a few steps to pick it up.
The route up the hillside is followable and very pleasant compared to what it could be! Remember it's all relative 
We took a break on the top before we headed down another ridge and then contoured into the canyon.
Steve stopped to wrap his sprained ankle. But he still had to move pretty slow and the chute down to the first rappel was disconcerting for him as he would have to weight his ankle more than he had been while rock hopping.
The one thing I learned quickly about Voodoo is that it is pretty well chocked up with deadfall. We had to negotiate a lot of debris.
This was Mana's first canyon with rappels with difficult starts. Overall she did great!
This canyon has many rappels. None of which are very long. The anchors on some of them are interesting. The second anchor was tied tied to a big chunk of deadfall that was pointing straight at the rappel! Another anchor was a cairn AKA deadman. Knowing how to start rappelling and gently weight the anchor while adding as much friction as possible to avoid shock loading the anchor is important. We also backed it up with meat (Joel)!
NoNot had improved some of the anchors and we spent a bit if time improving a few more. We cut off the old webbing on 3-4 and added new. Plus we replaced some of the single hollow rap rings (which if used should always be used in pairs and really shouldn't be used for canyoneering due to the risk of cracks cutting your rope).
Part of the fun of doing Voodoo is the section in Secret Canyon! You've taken off your techie gear and get to tackle some interesting problems. One is the old log that is propped up against a waterfall. You go up the log. This year the log is looking quite worn. But it wasn't as slick as last year. We almost lost Mana on it, but Joel caught her by her pack and Steve made a few foot holds with his hands and Mana managed to get up. The other notable problem is what I affectionately call the Wood Chip Pool. Last year we found wood chips in our pants all night. This year it wasn't as bad. Joel attempted to do some lumberjack moves to get across and failed hilariously. The far side of the WCP smelled pretty bad. At least we got to ease ourselves into the stink!
This year we aced the exit out of Secret. But towards the top of the drainage I was getting sick of log hops and choose to go up a slightly different ridge. When we topped out I was tired and could see what we needed to do on the GPS but I tended to just walk parallel to where we needed to go. No matter what, I kept doing that. Finally Joel got us going in the right direction. And with his route we got on our exit ridge higher than planned and therefore we only had a short time in the ridge which was welcomed by all!
Back in camp, I fixed the Dutch Oven Pasta Bake I had planned and it was excellent! |
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