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| Canyoneering | 8.00 Miles |
861 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 8.00 Miles | 5 Hrs 29 Mns | | 1.76 mph |
| 861 ft AEG | 57 Mns Break | | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| no partners | | I missed out on chasing waterfalls from the recent rains (other commitments), but there is still plenty of water in the Supes for an enjoyable explore in the drainages.
I had read about this canyoneering route, but was hiking solo, so I decided to "reverse canyoneer" the route and see how far I could get. As it turned out, all the way  But it was touch and go in a few spots.
The drop in from the bottom is steep and rocky. At the base, the dual culverts were doing their job, funneling the flow from the two joining creekbeds.
With temps in the low/mid 30's, the start was nippy but not too uncomfortable.
The first couple of miles are rather pedestrian. The only thing of note is the remnant of an old dam or something similar structure. [It's the remnants of the old wagon-trail bridge. See comment below].
I was about to resign myself to a comparatively lackluster hike, but at the 1.8 mile mark, where an unnamed drainage joins in (marked on my route), the canyon narrows and the scenery improves greatly!
Shortly after that point, I had to commit to getting wet to go further. But, given that it is January, my commitment was limited to mid-thigh! 
From that point, there are three major boulder obstacles to overcome--each of which fills the canyon from wall to wall with house-sized boulders (all marked on my route). The first has a very cool rabbit-hole and lengthy bypass; the second has a partial rabbit-hole bypass, and on the other end of it lies the skeleton of an old motorcycle, sitting in the middle of the creekbed. The final boulder jam was the most challenging. I could find no way around without navigating a swimmer. I was about to give up and return the way I came, when I made one last effort to climb up and over and succeeded.
Shortly after the final boulder jam, I came to another fork, where the route veers left and quickly slots up before reaching what the official route calls a "recommended rappel." The actual rappel spot is obscured from the bottom approach and requires navigating a narrow S curve in the canyon. I couldn't see how deep the water was in the S, but decided to go for it. As it turned out, it was a swimmer, so I ended up fully committed after all. 
The problem was that the "recommended rappel," while not lengthy, is not navigable from the bottom up. At this point, I was close to the top exit point, but was not sure I could get there. But with a little backtracking, I was able to scramble up above the slot. A short distance above the "recommended rappel," is the primary rappel, which on this day was fed by a nice waterfall and a thirty foot drop to a pool below.
The scramble up to the road from there was not bad.
Normally, a road walk back to the car is not an ideal hike ending, but today, it was nice to have a smooth, even surface to walk on after navigating the canyon.
All in all, this turned out to be a great choice. Looking forward to going back and canyoneering it in the downstream direction. :-) |
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