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| Canyoneering | 4.09 Miles |
900 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 4.09 Miles | | | |
| 900 ft AEG | | | | |
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| | Intermediate Canyoneering - Difficult or dangerous; Tech Climb; rope reqd; descent anchor; exit technical; | | B - Up to light current; wading/swimming; possible wet/dry suit | | Risky - Extraordinary risk factors exist; solid skills/judgement reqd; no beginners | | III - Normally requires most of a day |
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| no partners | | We had set a day to do this Canyon over a Month ago and a week before decided to make it a Multi-Canyon Camping Trip...But this Canyon was our Main Reason for going. None of us had done it and it was Time to see it... 
Another Person joined us at Camp Friday Night for the Remainder of the Weekend, so we were now 4...  Following the Description and knowing the Timeline could Range from a Half Day to almost a Full Day, we left Camp at 8:30. We ended up taking more Time on the Drive because we were Reading the Directions from both HAZ and Todd's Book, which matched...The Directions are Wrong, I should have gone off the Topo Map and nonot's GPS Route. I'll Post a Correction on the Page. If you go to the End of 142F, you end up on a long Sliver of Peninsula and the wrong side of the Drainage of the Exit. So we Backtracked and Parked at the Intersection of FR6379 and FR 9370.
We started out following FR6379 and using the Topo Map since none of us had a GPS. We actually turned off the Road just right, but went a little too far into the Terrain and had to Double Back a little. We sorted it out, started the Descent in and ended up Perfect, only about 100 Yards or so from the First Obstacle.
Rather than Bypass the First Obstacle, we went ahead and Rappelled in off a Tree, using an existing Anchor...Did another Downclimb into a Small Pool and then Slid into a Deeper Pool for our First small Swim. Rappelled into a Bigger Pool that went back into a Cool little Grotto and then we were at the Big Rappel with the Keeper Pothole. You couldn't see the Pothole from the Anchor, so we didn't know what kind of "Mode" it was in. I went down First, since I was most Familiar with the Canyon Description and I knew what to expect and what everyone had been doing to avoid the Pothole. The Hallway led to a Slotted Swim and then I was on the Ledge. There would not be much Troubleshooting on this Day, the Pothole was Full and looked like it had just quit Running Over a day or so before. But, I opted to Work it like it was in Keeper Mode, going around the Rock and then I went down the Fin between the Pothole and the last Drop. I got off Rope on the Other Side of the Pool and waited for everyone else, so I could let them know the Route if they didn't want to go into the Pothole.
Our Beginner Guy was next and even though I directed him to go around the Rock, he ended up trying to Descend a bit to do it and that Sealed his Fate....  He didn't have any Ascenders with him, so he couldn't correct even if he knew how, so he just went ahead and went in the Pothole and swam out to me. That's when we realized that being at our Location and trying to finish the Rappel was not a Good Thing. He dropped off to finish the last 40 Feet and with the Rope Angle at that Point he ended up doing a huge Swing to the Left which was quite interesting and not too Good on the Rope...  Rather than follow him at that Point, I waited for the next Person, so I could instruct them to go down from the Top of the Fin....She came around the Rock fine and dropped the remaining 40 Feet perfectly...That just left our LMAR on Top. I decided to go ahead and finish the Rappel and we would Guide him around from the Bottom. I weighed the Risks of Ascending back up the Fin or doing that Intensive Swing and decided that the Swing was the Lesser of 2 Evils, so I dropped off the Edge and immediately Whipped Left about 30 Feet...Kind of gets the Adrenalin going a bit...  And then I was Down. Last Guy came down without Incident and since we followed nonot's advice and took 2-200's the Rope Pull went very smoothly... Then, we were off to the Next Rappel down a Log, with the Last Rappel being down a Gorgeous Garden Wall...
Heading to West Clear Creek, I was slightly Off Guard and realized that the Stinging Nettles were not at the Exit to go back up, but in the Lower part of Shamrock... They were thick and it was very difficult to avoid them in spots...Everyone got into them at least once, most got hit more than once. I got hit 4 Times... Haven't dealt with those since I lived in MN long ago...When I'd hit them, it was like getting hit with a small Electrical Shock and then the Burning began...Shocking at first, then just very Annoying, but by the Time we hit the Exit Trail out, most of the Burning/Stinging was gone. We went Swimming a couple of Times in WCC so I think that helped somewhat...
The Goal on the Exit was to take the GPS Route out in a Drainage between the Maxwell and Tramway Trails...That Goal didn't work out too well. I think it's Time for me to Invest in some sort of GPS or find someone with an Old Smartphone they don't want and learn HAZ Tracks... I was told that there was a Use-Type Trail most of the Way up, but we could not find it and the Bushwacking was pretty Intense...After about 45 Minutes or so of thrashing around in the Brush and Locust, trying to find a good Way up, we voted to abort and just keep Hiking the Creek to the Point Trail and Exit there...It became very Convenient to have Camped on 142E and we had Vehicles still there, so we Hiked out the Point Trail and then hit Camp, grabbed another Vehicle and went and Retrieved the First One...It was a Good Decision as we probably were in Camp in about the same amount of Time it would have taken us to get up that Drainage and our way seemed much Easier...
It turned into a fairly long Day, we were a little Slow going through Shamrock, but that was Ok. Only 1 Mistake, by me, that was a little Rough on my Brand New Rope, but the Rope is fine, broken in and we were all Good... Pretty Canyon, but the Narrows are very Short, shorter than Bear actually. Not sure if I'll do that one again, but it was Nice. I didn't hardly take any Photos of the Canyon itself because the Light was pretty bad, but I got quite a few of the WCC Portion, half of which I had never Hiked before...It was a pretty Section of Creek...
We had planned on doing either Wilbur or Sundance on Sunday and had another Guy coming up Sunday Morning to go with us...By the Time we got back to Camp, the Ambition to do another Canyon the next Day was fading fast... We called our Friend and left a Message, but he showed up in the Morning anyway and he was as worn out as we were from a Wedding the Day before....He was just as happy to come up to Escape the Heat. So we Voted, and it was Unanimous, it had to be 5:00 somewhere, so we just sat around Camp for half the Day laughing, eating and somewhere in there, a Bottle of Tequila showed up... 
Good Trip with Good Friends...Lots of Laughs and some Beautiful Canyons to top it off...Hope to do it again soon...  |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Some Columbines in the Creek.... |
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| Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty & well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, totally worn out & proclaiming, "Wow What a Ride!" |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
We encountered loads of mossy down climbs, some small narrows that we bypasses, and loads of canyon stew before reaching the first optional rappel. I could of down climbed that initial 10ft drop but no point taking the risk with her and being on rope made it easier to avoid that stinky keeper pothole. And I was able to use the rope to help keep her out of it also. 
This is soon followed by a mossy chute that requires a controlled slide to land on some submerged logs to avoid getting completely wet. After going thru another vegetated narrows, you hit the first bolted rappel of about 30ft into a waist deep pool with another bolt on the right. Pull ropes and re-rig for at least 100ft of rope both sides so you can get you about 50ft down into the hallway, across that pools, and if you want to avoid the keeper you lean hard right LDC past the arch and over the fin of sandstone. She's not ready for a keeper and I didn't want to carry more than 200ft of rope, so I figured this was the best setup for us. 
The short & sweet narrow section starts with a few downclimbs & pools and then you hit that 40ft rap from a sweet keyhole ledge into waist-high pool. I'm glad I didn't bring a wetsuit because I only got wet up to my waist. 
Ohh snap!?! You mean I could have done this canyon with a single 200ft rope and I'm needlessly taking the 2nd one for a walk all day... 
Afterwards there were loads of treefall to avoid, a 30ft drop, then a cool 60ft, and then loads of rock/boulder hopping before reaching the amazingly beautiful WCC confluence. 
