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| Marble Canyon RM6.5-8.5, AZ | | -
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| | Marble Canyon RM6.5-8.5, AZ | | | |
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Marble Canyon RM6.5-8.5, AZ
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| Hiking | 7.50 Miles |
1,000 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.50 Miles | 6 Hrs | | 2.50 mph |
| 1,000 ft AEG | 3 Hrs Break | | | |
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| no partners | | I told myself I would take a weekend off from canyon hiking but the weather was cloudy and inspiration struck on my bike commute: I could explore the fishermens' routes from the west at river miles 6.5 and 8.5 and float between them to skip the bushwhack and stay cool! This trip offered some interesting route-finding and scrambling with relatively little exertion. What fun!
My friend dropped me off near Cliff Dwellers and I crossed the plateau towards my descent ravine. I got some practice sliding under barbed-wire fences along the way. As I neared the cliff at the end of the ravine I startled up at least four bighorns, inculding a tiny baby. One of these sheep showed me a line to the talus on the upstream side and I scrambled down a few corners. My practice downclimbing facing-in is starting to pay off. There was a good trail (by Toroweap standards) upstream to the talus slide.
I think the water release must have decreased for September because the banks were steep and muddy and sandbars were few and far between. I launched my packraft and enjoyed a leisurely float downstream, portaging around Badger Rapid on the Jackass side. Below Badger there is a bit of a riffle and some large rocks to steer around. This caught me by surprise but I managed to stay afloat and pull into an eddy at the drainage below Badger.
I studied the ledges above and had a quick hike up the talus. There are three main ledges to climb through to reach the slopes above, each 10-15 ft high. The bottom one is easy. I found a good chimney for the middle ledge and hauled my pack with a rope. I noticed a handline at the far right side of the top ledge but searched for a scrambler's route elsewhere. I couldn't find a good one - many possibilities start easy then look exposed and difficult at the top. I'm not sure which way the sheep use, but droppings indicate they pass through here. I traversed the second ledge to the handline, sliding under an overhang at one point. With the handline, the climb was fine. Without, I wouldn't have had the confidence here - it's a corner that's slightly overhung at the top and the holds didn't offer me much. There's also a shortage of foot-holds for the lower 5 feet, so it's committing.
I was glad to have made it through the scramble while the rock was still dry because a storm was rolling in. I only received sprinkles but the Vermillion Cliffs got a deluge. I was slow on my way back to the road because I didn't fancy being the tallest thing on that plateau while lightning was present and I detoured around the ravines leading to Badger Creek, which were flashing. |
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