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| Canyoneering | 22.00 Miles |
3,000 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 22.00 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 3,000 ft AEG | | 35 LBS Pack | | |
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| | Canyon Hiking - Non-technical; no rope; easy scrambling; occasional hand use | | B - Up to light current; wading/swimming; possible wet/dry suit |
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| no partners | | So my first attempt at WBC was with my Dad in June. We parked at the top of Waldroup Canyon and hiked down into the main canyon camping after just two of the swims at the campsite just below the waterfall. We camped and exited back out the way we came as his legs were not feeling up to the task of going further down. The hike back out of Waldroup really did him in.
I returned this weekend to do the loop hike solo. Started Friday morning at @ 5:40 am and made it to the top of Waldroup canyon by 10am. It got a little hot up top especially traversing the left shoulder of Hog hill. I began with 100oz/3 liters of water in my bladder and a Smart Water bottle filled with coconut water/water mix. By the time I reached the first spring feeding WBC, I was out of water. Next time I will bring a little bit more water and suck up the weight penalty. Dropping down Waldroup canyon is always fun with the 6+ drops/waterfalls (Dry). Thanks to whoever left the rope at the middle/big drop. I lowered my pack on that one, but traversed all the others normally.
Once in the main canyon the first water shows up about 1/4 mile down and then your first swim as the water is enclosed on both sides by rock cliffs, like a hallway. This pool was pretty chilly, but man did it feel good in this July heat. I'm going to guess at temps up top ~100 and down in the canyon ~85...again just a guess. The main canyon is filled with about ~20 spots requiring swimming, so I was wet pretty much the entire time. I reached my campsite at around 2pm and set up my hammock/tarp, and just relaxed after pushing it a little too hard/fast in the heat. Thunderstorms rolled in around 7:30 pm and kind of concerned me, but no rain other than a very brief/light sprinkle that lasted about 10 min. Pretty warm all night with the exception of early morning and it got down to maybe 70...guessing.
Next morning I got up, still feeling the lingering effects of pushing myself in the heat the day prior. After getting packed up I pushed on down the canyon planning on going as far as I could and camping one more night. As I continued down, swim after swim, I noticed I was able to just push on through to the end. So I just decided to go all the way out without stopping for the second night. In hindsight, I should have stayed one more night to relax and enjoy it a little more.
The pools/swims down toward the end start to become more red/supai rock and very impressive for you photog types. Amazing views! I ended up finishing at the Crack and ran into some tourists in dire need of water as they had brought little with them and drank it all. I filtered some for them and then hiked out with them to the parking lot at the trailhead. Made it to the car at 7pm. All in all a great hike. Like I said I think next time it will be a 3 day hike for me and I will take it a bit easier on day one, so as not to over do it in the heat.
I brought a Intex inflatable tube (Think inner tube) and a swim noodle as a back up. I would sit in the tube with my pack in my lap and basically backstroke. After learning how to get in it with my pack (first time was a disaster) it got easier. My pack was lined with dry bags and then doubled bagged with a large contractor trash bag. I liked using the tube, however, inflating and deflating got old and at times I left it inflated, but traversing the canyon (Boulder hopping), through tree branches without puncturing it was very challenging and slow going. The tube made it,  and now that I know where the swims are located, next time should be easier as I'll be able to stow it away when I know the next swim is a ways off.
Camp sites level for tents are few so I would recommend hammocks in this canyon. |
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I guess I should have been a little more clear on that, although it was fun to watch them swim through icy cold canyon water, I called them the Wet Beaver mermaids!
) then woke early and started off around 6am. Got to the Crack and had it to ourselves for about an hour and a half, laying around on the rocks like lazy lizards. After the first day trippers showed up, we began our boulder hopping up the canyon. Sad to see the amount of trash at the crack ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
We hiked 3-4 miles upstream making sure to swim the big pools then eventually turned around and returned to the camp spot up on the ledge near the huge boulder perched atop another. Woke up and hiked back out. We were on the Bell trail back to the car around 10 am and it was getting hot. Passed several groups of people with little kids who looked to have very little water with them??? Anyway, it was a great weekend to spend quality time together in one of AZ's gems!
hmmm? We offered our help, but they swore they would be ok.
