Y Bar Canyon • Canyon Trip • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

login for filter options

Mar 12 2016

oceanwithin

Photos 377
Triplogs 579

female

Joined Jun 19 2009
AZ

Y Bar Canyon

Payson, AZ

Y Bar Canyon

Payson, AZ

Canyoneering		Mar 12 2016
		oceanwithin • Triplogs 579

Canyoneering	10.00 Miles	3,200 AEG

Canyoneering	10.00 Miles	11 Hrs	0.91 mph
	3,200 ft AEG

no routes

no photosets

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

none

no partners

A long day through this very seldom-traveled Mazatzal canyon. The approach was a pleasant several miles up the Y-Bar trail, eventually cutting over and down into Y-Bar canyon. The canyon itself is gorgeous and drops sharply with some really awesome long waterfall tiers to rappel down. There was enough flow to be fun plus a couple of frigid pools to swim through, and there was a crazy strong wind that had all of us pretty cold at times despite wetsuits and the sunny weather. Found some anchors intact but had to set new ones on several drops where they were completely missing.

And then, the exit. It's long, tiring and... long. After the last rappel there's 2 miles of boulder-hopping, which is pretty slow going with all the pools and dead fall to navigate. Beyond this is another section of narrows that require rappelling, but by that point it was too late in the day so we climbed up and around to bypass. We stayed high for awhile, hiking through wildflowers and eventually navigating back down to the creek so that we could find the Deer Creek trail. This section is extremely overgrown with thickets of catsclaw, so it was easier to just stay in the creek instead of attempting to thrash along the "trail" that was designated with tree branch markers. Eventually we saw a real trail cutting up off the side of the creek, and we were all happy to see that this part of Deer Creek trail was very nicely maintained. Once on here we picked up the pace and made it back to the car we staged at Deer Creek TH just as darkness was setting in.

There's a reason why this one doesn't get done very often (the exit) but it's worth it if you done all the other Mazzy canyons in the area. As always, a great trip with wonderful people.

_____________________

1 archive

Nov 20 2011

Vaporman

Guides 3
Routes 4
Photos 8,687
Triplogs 931

46 male

Joined Mar 28 2005
Gilbert, AZ

Y Bar Canyon

Payson, AZ

Y Bar Canyon

Payson, AZ

Canyoneering		Nov 20 2011
		Vaporman • Triplogs 931

Canyoneering	10.00 Miles	3,200 AEG

Canyoneering	10.00 Miles	12 Hrs	0.83 mph
	3,200 ft AEG

Intermediate Canyoneering - Difficult or dangerous; Tech Climb; rope reqd; descent anchor; exit technical;

B - Up to light current; wading/swimming; possible wet/dry suit

IV - Long, full day, bivy possible

no routes

Linked

linked

Y Bar Trail #44

Partners

partners

azrocketchick

So this canyon was on my list for last spring but I didn't quite get to it before summer arrived and I turned my attention to the Mogollon Rim. The temps have dropped again and now I'm playing in the mountains of central AZ again. :y:

The thing about Y Bar is that it's a bit of a haul to get there and an even longer haul to get back... :sweat:

From the Barnhardt TH, we headed south on the Y Bar trail past Shake Tree, over Cactus Saddle, and down into Y Bar Basin. The canyon quickly starts out with down climbs and pools and before we knew it we were gearing up at the first drop. It looked down climbable but it was a lil sketchy and we hauled the ropes all the way in here so we might as well use them. :lol:

They anchor pulled right out but it was the best option so I rammed some more rocks into the crack, crossed my fingers, and hoped it held.

It really was a decent anchor after some work, but everyone was a lil nervous on it. So we dropped down to Fritzski's secret pools from a decade ago but even though we had shorty wetsuits, no one wanted anything to do with the water. :roll:

A little cold water won't kill ya! Fearing a mutiny, I setup a dirty cliff rappel off to the side to avoid the two clear inviting pools and instead was dodging agave and loose rocks. :whistle:

We'll have to come back on a warm spring day when it's flowing a bit more and really rock this canyon out! :DANCE:

Some more down climbs and then the canyon goes thru some scenic slickrock narrows before arriving at the top of a HUGE triple drop.

The first drop we did a 50ft class 3 downclimb thru a chute on the right side. The next drop was a ~120ft sloped drop with two chutes to choose and of course we had to choose the dry chute... The final drop was a super sweet ~140ft drop next to the falls down into a grotto with a deep pool below. I angled towards the left and got wet up to mid-thigh in the refreshing water but it was funny to watch my buddies do funky maneuvers to prevent themselves from getting wet. :lol:

This was followed by what looked to be a down climb & swimmer but thankfully we found a class 3/4 sloped wall on the right side to avoid it. Okay, that time I didn't mind avoiding the water.

We thoroughly enjoyed that sweet narrows, but I wasn't going to lie to them so I reminded them we had a LOT of hopping rock to get back to our lower shuttle vehicle... ](*,)

Dropped the gear, and after much boulder hopping & down climbing & creek avoiding we finally reached the main Bars Creek. :sweat:

On a side note, that lower Y Bar had loads of trash & irrigation tubing left from Marijuana growers.

Took a light snack break at the confluence, rechecked the topo on my iPhone to confirm that yep we're in the middle of nowhere, and continued rock hopping down canyon. Hopping along Bars Canyon and about an hour later around sunset, we hit a small narrows section with a couple short drops into pools. :-k

Hmm, well we don't have time to play in this today so let's find a way to bypass. After much thrashing on the northside while trying to stay on a faint use trail, we eventually came to the confluence with Shake Tree and took the ridge back down to the now dry creek. The Deer Creek trail comes in just down canyon from there but it was pitch black by now and while following the rocky dry creek by headlamp we probably paralleled the trail a half mile or so before linking up with it. I'm blaming it on the old topo on my phone not showing the trail like the new ones online do.

Once on the trail, we picked up the pace and as it left the creek and headed south towards the new TH along the highway. After two hours of hiking in the dark and 12 hours of mucho rock hopping, it was SO nice to be back to a vehicle though we still pick up the other one.

_____________________

Yea, canyoneering is an extreme sport... EXTREMELY dramatic!!! =p

WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

username		X
password		X