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| Canyoneering | 14.00 Miles |
2,000 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 14.00 Miles | 11 Hrs 45 Mns | | 1.19 mph |
| 2,000 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| no partners | | Our second canyon over Memorial Day weekend was a lot harder then the first. But it was definitely worth it. We choose to do the out-and-back method where we left our rope in place and then ascended it frog style.
The beginning of the canyon was really straight forward. As we went it changed from a wash to a canyon by adding large boulders and drops in elevation. Lots of boulder hopping and down climbs to make it fun.
Unfortunately I forgot to put my iPhone in Airplane mode, as at some point it tried to reactivate itself and needed a pumpkin network - and there oddly is none to be found in North Canyon. I was sad because I live to take pictures. Carl was nice enough to let me use his phone so I was still able to engage in my favorite hobby.
We reached the Narrows and things got more difficult. The down climbs were more challenging. Often we did a lot of things as a team, pointing out holds and doing partner captures. There were some pools that they others worked really hard to stay out of. I, however, enjoy canyon stew so I went right in!
We got to the rappel which may have been rigged differently by others but we choose to down climb a steep slope into a pool where there were two BFRs with a pinch point to use as an anchor. I rigged the anchor and then we rappelled down to where there was a lot of break down from above - it looked like a geologic mess!
From there we had a pool to get through and a few bypasses and down climbs. Then we were at the River. It’s always special to get to a beach where hikers can’t go. This beach was especially beautiful due to the rocks that we hung out on during our lunch and the amazing blue water.
After lunch we continued back up the canyon. It was like figuring out a puzzle we had done before but having to do it backwards. Where was that bypass, which rock got us up without an exposed climb? So much fun!
We got to the rope and I went up first. Then Carole came and she worked in getting up out of the pool. She rocked the sketchy climb and even got her own pack up! I’m still amazed at how far she has come since we tried to kill her in Lemmon Canyon 5 years ago! She the. Got webbing ready to take others packs.
One of our party struggled on the way up the rope. Not a regular caver, using borrowed gear, getting frustrated. Close to the top he was trying to get his ascender pass the lip and slipped and smashed his hand under the rope and ascender So then he had a rush of adrenaline which didn’t help him get up either. In the end he managed to get up using sheer strength.
Then his shoes didn’t help as they could grip the slippery wall to get out of the pool. After we were all up we were all up the rope we were able to support him to get out. I also needed a hand line - just how did Carole do that?!?
From there we ended up going slower due to our friend’s adrenaline crash. But no man left behind! We managed to complete our journey. What a wonderful journey it was! Such a beautiful place to enjoy the day. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
The hike in wasn't too exiting in the wide wash as the canyon gets slowly more interesting & deeper with more rock hopping and down climbing mixed in. Eventually you reach the sweet Supai sandstone layer where the canyon narrows up with tall walls lining the canyon. Some down climbing and bypassing before you hit the single 50ft rappel that we decided to ascend back out on return so we set it up that way and left it in place. After the rappel, we had a dirty scenic pool to cross before the narrows slowly opened up with the Colorado River just beyond. There was of course some rapids where North Canyon came in with a super cool sandy beach below it that we ate lunch at and took a dip in the river. 
After rested up, we proceeded back up canyon thru the sweet narrows and took turns ascending the rope. The hike from above the narrows back to the car turned into quite the slog, making it back to the car just as dusk was turning into night. 
