|
| | | |
| |
|
| Canyoneering | 5.20 Miles |
1,384 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 5.20 Miles | 7 Hrs 54 Mns | | 1.15 mph |
| 1,384 ft AEG | 3 Hrs 23 Mns Break | | | |
|
|
| | |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | My sister and her husband invited my son and me to go with them on a canyoneering adventure. We were joined by a couple of my sister's friends who had done Illusions a few years back. This one was quite an adventure.
Thanks to recent triplogs, we understood the pots to be relatively full, so nothing in keeper mode. Since conditions can change rapidly, we still brought escape gear, but didn't end up needing it.
We dropped in from the eastern branch of the canyon. I note that the HAZ official route drops in from the western leg. Not sure what that looks like, but the eastern entry involves a steep and somewhat loose drop to the floor of the drainage and then a pretty hairy bushwhack until you reach the first long rappel, a tenth or two of a mile shy of the junction with Illusions Canyon proper and the sign in log.
Although the temps outside the canyon were hot, the pools remain very cold, and we were glad to have our wetsuits.
Lots of fun, short rappels; narrow, winding slides into pools, and several swimmers. In all, there are about three long rappels, (including the drop in from the eastern branch). The last two, long rappels are near the end, with the penultimate drop followed almost immediately with very impressive and sheer exit from the slot where the canyon opens up briefly. Looking back into the slot, you see a sheer and narrow crack, several hundred feet straight up.
The opening is short-lived and the canyon slots back up before the final, long rappel preceding the exit. The final long rappel is preceded by a shorter, corner-turning rappel into a small pool on the lip of the final drop. There was a dead squirrel and mouse in the final pool, but no bears or other large animals :-).
We debated about heading out through the West Fork Trail, but our shuttle car was small for 6 of us, and we didn't want to add all of the extra driving time, so opted for the "sneak route" back up top. It was a steep bushwhack!
The ice cold Vitamin Waters awaiting at the cars were welcome, as were the flip-flops, aka, "victory shoes."
On the drive out, we stopped and checked out the spectacular dispersed camping spots on the edge of the rim, and later, enjoyed a colorful sunset and views of the Peaks across a couple of broad meadows in the waning light of day.
A great trip! Next time, I'd like to do the shuttle, or schedule enough time to do the loop up A.B. Young, as others here have done.
***One technical note: The nut on one of the anchors on the final rappel was a little loose. We hand-tightened it, but didn't have a wrench. So, for anyone headed down Illusions in the near future, throw in a wrench and give that final anchor a turn. |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
It worked much better this way while out legs were fresh and our gear was dry. 
I'd done the middle & bushy western fork of Illusion but this time we mixed it up by dropping on the eastern fork and we rewared with an easy approach and yet another cool mossy rappel. The main canyon was as flipping sweet as always! 
that are just way too many to keep track of, loads of down climb, chilly swimmers, rock hopping, and a few potential keepers. The pools in the upper narrows were mostly full, the middle cave-like section wasn't quite so dark with the sun being directly overheard, but the keepers in the lower canyon were anywhere from 3-12inches below the lip. Another month without much rain and those keepers could prove rather challenging. 
The two longer rappels near the end are about 90-100ft and are easily the most scenic and easiest to photograph but try your best not to destroy the moss while on rappel... Once at West Fork, we dropped gear and made out way thru the sweet Subway section and then booked it down the trail to the highway. Some nice folks gave us a ride down the highway to Bootlegger CG where we crossed the creek and started huffing it back up the AB Young trail. 
