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| Canyoneering | 8.86 Miles |
632 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 8.86 Miles | 5 Hrs 55 Mns | | 2.11 mph |
| 632 ft AEG | 1 Hour 43 Mns Break | | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | We awoke to a day that seemed like it might possibly be slot canyon worthy. So, off we went to the Dry Fork Trailhead. We spoke to the ranger, who thought my plan seemed ambitious, guess he didn't know who we were  Based on his response it meant we had to accomplish our goal! Although we kept his warning about how a drizzle had caused issues for a boyscout group in Brimstone not too many year ago.
We started off with all the tourists and then branched off and checked out Dry Fork which has a nice beginner slot canyon feel to it. Only a couple small moves were required and we had checked it off the list pretty quickly.
We proceeded to Peek-a-boo's entrance which we all agreed seemed harder then we imagined since it is often considered a family canyon. We watched one Dad drag his family up the short entrance climb. While we watched, we got nervous because we hoped we would execute the climb better than they did since we were accustomed to climbing. After a few seconds we realized we could do it using some caving friction techniques and we were able to scramble up and assist the rest of our group.
Peek-a-boo is one fun canyon! You can do a variety of moves to get through it. We did have one pool to cross, yet somehow Josh executed a move that is likely unrepeatable where he calculated a jump/grab/touchdown flawlessly. The rest of us choose to play it safe and went though the knee deep pool. We had a lot of fun coaching Kathy through some of the sections - canyoneering isn't her normal activity (she seems to prefer those 30 mile stretches of the AZT no matter how high the AEG!).
We continued on and suddenly Joel was saying hi to someone. He spotted one of my coworkers from a previous company! We were so excited to run into someone we knew in the middle of nowhere! We departed with hugs and continued on since they had done the loop in the opposite direction.
Soon we were done with Peak-a-boo and it was time to cross over to Spooky. We made quick work of the cross over trail and soon we were descending into Spooky which is a tighter canyon. Most people have to remove their packs but for the most part I kept mine on unless I had to do a big downclimb. I had brought my REI Flash pack which is pretty low profile and thus perfect for this trip. Unfortunately, we encountered several parties going up Spooky which meant we had to get out of the way. I was happy to stem up and then sit positioned above everyone as they passed me. Soon we were done with Spooky and I was really glad we hadn't just done the typical tourist agenda and had more exploring to do.
We ate our lunch and then continued toward Brimstone and Little Canyon. We decided to overshoot Brimstone and go to Dry Canyon first. After a false start we got going up Dry Canyon until it narrowed down to the point that Josh nearly got stuck. He's an excellent caver and we knew he'd turn around just at the right point. Not all of the team could go with us to that tight of a squeeze. Joel and I nearly made it as far as Josh. One the way down we were able to go the way of the false start - an impossible upclimb. Josh squeezed through a tight twist and then dropped into a dry pothole. From there he partner captured those of us who wanted to try the nearly impossible looking drop.
After Dry Canyon we continued to Brimstone. We spotted a sand dune along the way and Karl, Josh, and I played on it. Karl figured out the plunge step and I managed a modified slide on my pumpkin.
Soon we were in the slot of Brimstone. We continued until we met a pool. First Josh tried it and ended up stemming above to a wide spot he couldn't navigate without getting in the water. Then I tried and choose to go in the water until it was almost up to my chest, then once it seemed like the bottom might drop up I started to stem but didn't get much farther than Josh due to the widening. Karl came in but the thought of the water penetrating his chest pockets were he was keeping his camera and other important stuff caused him to turn around. I would have swam it but not without a partner or a wetsuit, so we turned around. We still had a fabulous time!
We hiked out and returned to camp to celebrate Joel's birthday which was the next day! |
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