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Tango Canyon - 7 members in 13 triplogs have rated this an average 3 ( 1 to 5 best )
13 triplogs
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Jan 31 2025
avatar

 Guides 2
 Routes 5
 Photos 89
 Triplogs 19

59 male
 Joined Jan 28 2008
 Phoenix, AZ
Tango CanyonPhoenix, AZ
Tango Canyon
Phoenix, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Jan 31 2025
Heliops • Triplogs 19
Canyoneering9.00 Miles 1,560 AEG
Canyoneering9.00 Miles   7 Hrs      1.29 mph
1,560 ft AEG25 LBS Pack
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Great canyon, the views on the approach are great and the canyon didn't disappoint either. This is a " big canyon" so start early and plan on 7 hours. There are 7 rappels with the longest being 70 feet and all the webbing is in good condition. There was some water in the canyon but it all could be stemmed. Lots of down climbing and some bushwacking. My gps clocked 9 miles not sure why. Just a great day.
 Named place
 Named place [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Tango Canyon
_____________________
 
Nov 10 2015
avatar

 Guides 1
 Routes 1
 Photos 665
 Triplogs 55

31 male
 Joined Jun 19 2015
 San Tan Valley A
Tango CanyonPhoenix, AZ
Tango Canyon
Phoenix, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Nov 10 2015
CoryTallman • Triplogs 55
Canyoneering6.80 Miles 1,150 AEG
Canyoneering6.80 Miles   6 Hrs      1.13 mph
1,150 ft AEG25 LBS Pack
Intermediate Canyoneering - Difficult or dangerous; Tech Climb; rope reqd; descent anchor; exit technical;
A - Dry or little water; shallow or avoidable water; no wet/dry suit
III - Normally requires most of a day
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
My only words of advice for Tango... Don't forget your water.
 Named place
 Named place [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Fish Creek Canyon  Tango Canyon
_____________________
  1 archive
Apr 06 2014
avatar

 Guides 2
 Photos 1,691
 Triplogs 212

45 male
 Joined Aug 05 2004
 Peoria, AZ
Tango CanyonPhoenix, AZ
Tango Canyon
Phoenix, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Apr 06 2014
desert_boonie • Triplogs 212
Canyoneering8.60 Miles 1,792 AEG
Canyoneering8.60 Miles   7 Hrs      1.43 mph
1,792 ft AEG   1 Hour    Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Having collected a few scrapes on the old legs the day before and the heat wave coming in, I thought today would be a good day to see what this canyon had to offer. She was great, she took plenty of flesh from my legs and arms, didn't seem to let up once I dropped in, and offered complete solitude.

I got out to the parking area around 8am and off I went after getting a brief history lesson from a guy in the parking area as well looking for old horse shoes since the stables from the old fish creek house was suppose to be near or where we were standing? I wouldn't see another soul until I got back to the Jeep where people were taking pictures of the surrounding area. The only thing I did wrong today was forgetting the map of the area which could have turned into disaster but I was able to avoid that by climbing all the way to the ridgeline and traversing that to find the right drainage to drop in, or what I thought was the right one. It worked out with only adding over a mile of extra traversing but was rewarding with some pretty spectacular views of the area.

I got to where I was sure was the drainage and started to descend and realized that it was the right canyon once I got to the first drop. There was some good sized pools in the canyon and it was funny to see the water go from clear to stagnant the lower I went. After the first rappel in a narrow channel I was able to stay dry with my stemming technique that seemed near perfect in my mind but luckily nobody was there to take pictures to prove otherwise. Once in the basalt narrows the first three raps come pretty quickly, then after that you will have to negotiate your way down a brush filled canyon that certainly doesn't want to help you out showing you the right or best way to go down. I think it was the fourth rappel where the webbing was too worn with the quicklinks rusted out sitting in some water. I broke that down and found a new spot to anchor from. Once I got to the final rappel into the alcove just above fish creek I was worried my rope wouldn't reach the bottom since I couldn't see the bottom due to the spectacular overhang you will free hang from. Luckily it was enough no problem, a 200ft rope will get you through this canyon just fine. Boy I love handling rope all by myself.

Once down the final rappel and in the alcove, I thought I would be home free, but sure enough more brush awaited along with some good downclimbs into fish creek. Once I got into the gateway I couldn't wait to walk in the water and cool down my newly torn up legs. I wasn't expecting the hike out to be so brushy and amazing at the same time. Some more flesh left behind and of course the worst thing that happened to me today was walking through one of the last pools of water where I slipped on the rock and landed straight on my behind. I could only sit in the water for a minute and laugh since I knew I didn't have a change of shorts waiting for me. I was about 15 minutes from being done, so I wouldn't dry off anytime soon. Thanks Fish Creek. But all in all, this was a pretty good day. I don't like to wear pants, but if I ever do this canyon again I might have to break that rule? :)
 Culture
 Culture [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  HAZ - Selfie
_____________________
"Never Satisfied"
 
Oct 27 2012
avatar

 Guides 1
 Routes 3
 Photos 337
 Triplogs 311

41 male
 Joined May 31 2009
 
Tango CanyonPhoenix, AZ
Tango Canyon
Phoenix, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Oct 27 2012
azflyguy • Triplogs 311
Canyoneering6.80 Miles 1,150 AEG
Canyoneering6.80 Miles
1,150 ft AEG
 no routesno photosets
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
_____________________
Canyoneering gear beta tester and supplier. Visit http://www.shadowcatadventures.com for canyoneering, climbing, hiking and backpacking gear.
 
Mar 19 2011
avatar

 Photos 32
 Triplogs 470

male
 Joined Nov 05 2006
 Chandler, AZ
Tango CanyonPhoenix, AZ
Tango Canyon
Phoenix, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Mar 19 2011
AHOTE • Triplogs 470
Canyoneering6.80 Miles 1,150 AEG
Canyoneering6.80 Miles
1,150 ft AEG
 no routesno photosets
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
_____________________
 
Mar 19 2011
avatar

 Guides 1
 Routes 3
 Photos 337
 Triplogs 311

41 male
 Joined May 31 2009
 
Tango CanyonPhoenix, AZ
Tango Canyon
Phoenix, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Mar 19 2011
azflyguy • Triplogs 311
Canyoneering6.80 Miles 1,150 AEG
Canyoneering6.80 Miles   6 Hrs      1.13 mph
1,150 ft AEG
 no routesno photosets
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
_____________________
Canyoneering gear beta tester and supplier. Visit http://www.shadowcatadventures.com for canyoneering, climbing, hiking and backpacking gear.
 
Feb 27 2011
avatar

 Guides 3
 Routes 4
 Photos 8,687
 Triplogs 931

46 male
 Joined Mar 28 2005
 Gilbert, AZ
Tango CanyonPhoenix, AZ
Tango Canyon
Phoenix, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Feb 27 2011
Vaporman • Triplogs 931
Canyoneering6.00 Miles 1,000 AEG
Canyoneering6.00 Miles   7 Hrs      0.86 mph
1,000 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
III - Normally requires most of a day
 no routes
Linked   linked  
Fish Creek Lower Canyon
Partners none no partners
So I didn't fully believe the weather forecast as it slowly decreased the chance of rain on this weekend, so by Sat evening I watching to go hike a wet hike in the Supes and just take my chances. ;) I couldn't get anyone else interested in this crazy adventure, so I woke up early and made the drive towards Canyon Lake. I was rewarded with sweet views of Flatiron covered in clouds & snow, loads of snow surrounding the Canyon Lake & Tortilla Flat area, and even much more snow as I slowly made the snowy, wet & slippery drive to and down to Fish Creek Canyon. :o It was so amAZing so see everything above 2500ft covered in at least 2-3 inches of snow. :y: The approach hike up that ridge out of Fish Creek Canyon was def much slower than usual as I'm battliing the slippery snow, soaking in the sweet views, and taking loads of photos. Even up on the bench of Horse Mesa was rather slow going and I dropped into upper Sierra Canyon and up and over into Tango Canyon. :sweat: Again, the views up there with it completely covered in snow was so absolutely breathtaking as I watched a wall of rain slam into Superstition Mountain. :o Upper Tango Canyon is usually dry as a bone but at that confluence the two upper drainage we both flowing rather well. ;) I had to wade a waist high chilly pool to get to the top of the narrows, which were full of chilly deep pools and falls. Hmm, yea... :roll: This is usually a 3A canyon so I didn't have wetsuit with me and instead bypassed the upper narrows and found a side drainage to build an anchor and rappel 40ft back into the main drainage. That usually dry 50ft falls was now flowing very nicely and thankfully I was able to rappel between the many falls and the pool below was only waist high. :DANCE: Below this falls the canyon opens up with some cool slickrock sections, the water slowly goes underground, its sunny & warm again, and the snow slowly disappeared... Eventually after some light down climbing & falls bypassing you reach the chute with the final 70ft rappel. Seeing that previously falls flowing nicely, I was afraid this lower falls would really be rocking but thankfully it was only lightly flowing. This is by far the sweetest rappel of the canyon and during the 40ft free hanging section I was treated to a refreshing cold shower. :D Dropped the gear, did some more rock hopping down to Fish Creek Canyon and was treated to a beautiful sunny warm afternoon for the creek hike back up to the highway. :sweat:
_____________________
Yea, canyoneering is an extreme sport... EXTREMELY dramatic!!! =p
 
Jan 12 2011
avatar

 Guides 13
 Triplogs 205

38 female
 Joined Jan 29 2009
 Murray, UT
Tango CanyonPhoenix, AZ
Tango Canyon
Phoenix, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Jan 12 2011
SparkyJackie • Triplogs 205
Canyoneering10.00 Miles 1,150 AEG
Canyoneering10.00 Miles   9 Hrs      1.11 mph
1,150 ft AEG
 no routesno photosets
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
_____________________
 
Dec 26 2009
avatar

 Guides 3
 Routes 4
 Photos 8,687
 Triplogs 931

46 male
 Joined Mar 28 2005
 Gilbert, AZ
Tango CanyonPhoenix, AZ
Tango Canyon
Phoenix, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Dec 26 2009
Vaporman • Triplogs 931
Canyoneering6.00 Miles 1,000 AEG
Canyoneering6.00 Miles   4 Hrs   55 Mns   1.22 mph
1,000 ft AEG
Intermediate Canyoneering - Difficult or dangerous; Tech Climb; rope reqd; descent anchor; exit technical;
A - Dry or little water; shallow or avoidable water; no wet/dry suit
III - Normally requires most of a day
 no routes
Linked   linked  
Fish Creek Lower Canyon
Sierra Canyon - Tonto NF
Partners partners
toddak
Todd & I had set out to drop into Sierra Canyon, but there was a fair amount of water in its upper pools and we soon hit a waist-chest high wader that made us think twice. We hadn't even hit the technical section yet and I remembered Steve's warning about the potential for this canyon to hold deep pools. From memory, I didn't think Tango had much pool potential and what it did have we should be able to avoid so we decided to check out Tango. We bypassed that first pool which was still full of course but the first rappel was still dry as a bone below, so we dropped in and the second didn't have any pool potential so we were good there. Since I've recently done this canyon, I knew all the bypasses and we saved loads of time by not have to look for them. Last time this canyon seemed rather rugged with all its down climbing and thorny bushwhacking but now that I've done a handful of other desert canyons to break me in more, this time thru didn't seem nearly as brutal. :sweat:
foliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observation
Autumn Foliage Observation Light
_____________________
Yea, canyoneering is an extreme sport... EXTREMELY dramatic!!! =p
 
Dec 26 2009
avatar

 Guides 13
 Routes 38
 Photos 1,651
 Triplogs 577

60 male
 Joined Nov 15 2005
 Jackson, CA
Tango CanyonPhoenix, AZ
Tango Canyon
Phoenix, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Dec 26 2009
toddak • Triplogs 577
Canyoneering6.80 Miles 1,150 AEG
Canyoneering6.80 Miles   5 Hrs      1.36 mph
1,150 ft AEG
 no routesno photosets
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners partners
Vaporman
_____________________
 
Nov 15 2009
avatar

 Guides 3
 Routes 4
 Photos 8,687
 Triplogs 931

46 male
 Joined Mar 28 2005
 Gilbert, AZ
Tango CanyonPhoenix, AZ
Tango Canyon
Phoenix, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Nov 15 2009
Vaporman • Triplogs 931
Canyoneering5.70 Miles 1,000 AEG
Canyoneering5.70 Miles   7 Hrs   25 Mns   0.77 mph
1,000 ft AEG
Intermediate Canyoneering - Difficult or dangerous; Tech Climb; rope reqd; descent anchor; exit technical;
A - Dry or little water; shallow or avoidable water; no wet/dry suit
III - Normally requires most of a day
 no routes
Linked   linked  
Fish Creek Lower Canyon
Partners partners
nonot
Steve and I met up for the first time for this potentially tricky technical canyon and thankfully were able descend it at a leasurly pace and finish it with plenty of daylight left. :D I found Todd's route description and topo to be fairly accurate... My only change would be on the topo as you're ascending that 1st canyon, to aim for that ridge straight ahead of you up canyon instead of bending to the right like his path seems to indicate. From there, there's some route finding as you're heading north down and out of the 2nd canyon and crossing a ridge to drop into the 3rd canyon (Tango Canyon). Upper Tango is rather bushy & rocky as you head downstream to the first narrows. We bypassed the first drop with a pool below it, rapped the next 15-footer, and were soon faced with the '40-footer' that seemed more like 50-55ft. Afterwards the canyon opens up again with loads of rocky hopping, some tricky down climbing, bush whacking, and a few potential rappels that can be bypassed. :sweat: After that not so pleasant experience, you finally made it to the 70-footer with a short 10ft drop above it that we rapped. This drops in a sweet alcove with the last 40ft being very overhung. This ended up being a great place to stop and eat lunch. The hike up Fish Creek was rather dry yet scenic and before we knew it we were back at the car. Thanks again Steve for joining me on this little adventure. I didn't seem to be enjoying this canyon as much as I'd hoped while doing it, but after that final sweet rappel, pleasant hike up Fish Canyon, and now that it's over I seem to be enjoying it much more. :sl:

We had heard recent reports that this canyon needed a lot more webbing than the guide says and found it kinna funny that all the webbing in there was rather aged. We inspected it and ended up just re-using it instead of replacing it. I'm thinking that other group dropped into the 2nd draingage and found another technical canyon to add to the list. :lol:
 Geology
 Geology [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Rhyolite
 Named place
 Named place [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Fish Creek Canyon  Tango Canyon
foliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observation
Autumn Foliage Observation Light
_____________________
Yea, canyoneering is an extreme sport... EXTREMELY dramatic!!! =p
 
Nov 15 2009
avatar

 Guides 107
 Routes 249
 Photos 2,067
 Triplogs 514

male
 Joined Nov 18 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Tango CanyonPhoenix, AZ
Tango Canyon
Phoenix, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Nov 15 2009
nonot • Triplogs 514
Canyoneering6.80 Miles 1,150 AEG
Canyoneering6.80 Miles   7 Hrs   25 Mns   0.92 mph
1,150 ft AEG
Intermediate Canyoneering - Difficult or dangerous; Tech Climb; rope reqd; descent anchor; exit technical;
A - Dry or little water; shallow or avoidable water; no wet/dry suit
III - Normally requires most of a day
 
1st trip
Linked   linked  
Fish Creek Lower Canyon
Partners partners
Vaporman
Met up with Brian early to get a jump start on this canyon. Was worried that the beta in the book was wrong but found out it is fairly accurate, although the map needs a little work and the second rappel height is a bit off.

On the climb up I tried to follow the book route but Brian found the better way. I had to backtrack to reach the top. Once on top it was interesting as we disagreed over the best way (or even which way) to go, but we worked together and found what is likely the best route to approach Tango.

Once in Tango I was a bit worried since there was no anchor at the first possible rappel, however upon reaching the second drop I realized that we were indeed in the right place. The canyon is brushy but all in all an interesting place. It has some opportunities for improvement as one could easily add 4-6 rappels rather than all the bypasses. It was over all too soon.

After all the horrid triplogs and badmouthing this canyon has seen recently it felt good to add this one to the resume and to finish it with way too much sunlight left in the day. We didn't rush at all but I enjoyed the pace. A very quick party could perhaps halve our time.
 Fauna
 Fauna [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Mule Deer
 Geology
 Geology [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Rhyolite
 Culture
 Culture [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Ghost?
 Named place
 Named place [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Tango Canyon
foliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observation
Autumn Foliage Observation Light
wildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observation
Wildflowers Observation Isolated
_____________________
http://hikearizona.com/garmin_maps.php

Hike Arizona it is full of sharp, pointy, ankle-twisting, HAZmaster crushing ROCKS!!
Hike Arizona it is full of sharp, pointy, shin-stabbing, skin-shredding plants!
Hike Arizona it is full of striking, biting, stabbing, venomous wildlife!
 
Oct 17 2009
avatar

 Triplogs 72

61 male
 Joined May 07 2009
 Phoenix, AZ
Tango CanyonPhoenix, AZ
Tango Canyon
Phoenix, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Oct 17 2009
ChrisHikesAZ • Triplogs 72
Canyoneering5.70 Miles 825 AEG
Canyoneering5.70 Miles
825 ft AEG
 no routesno photosets
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
_____________________
 
average hiking speed 1.12 mph

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.

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