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| Canyoneering | 4.70 Miles |
900 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 4.70 Miles | | | |
| 900 ft AEG | | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | Sooo, Ken and I originally had a Backpack Trip planned, but when he suggested something Technical with Car Camping instead, I was all over it...  We tossed around some ideas and came up with a plan...Day 1, we would meet up and do Wilbur Canyon...Ken has done this one before and was confident that I could handle it, so it was on... 
We met up in Camp Verde and drove on up...Left my Vehicle and continued in Ken's to the Calloway TH...Got geared up, Ken showed me a couple of things about my new Gear and built me a Prusik and a Safety Tether. Then I gave him a Photo 101 session with my new Waterproof Camera... And then we were off...
Hiked over and dropped into Wilbur and followed it down...Started running into Water fairly early and after a bit, it was actually flowing...The Monsoons have been good to this area...  Canyon started to tighten up and the fun really started...A few small Rappels and a couple of tricky Downclimbs and then we were into the Narrows...It was incredible...And the Rappelling began in earnest...  Ken went first so he could belay me from below and I followed...Had a little trouble on one and hit a big learning curve, complete with a little loss of Skin and Bone...Why is it that when you hit a Rock, it's never on a "meaty" part of the Body???   Had a big Mental Block on a Downclimb too, although it turned out fine, it just took me awhile to figure it out and get past some trepidation...I've never done this type of "Downclimbing" before and it's going to be a matter of just getting more experience I think, plus some Boost in Confidence, both in myself and my Gear...  Ken was more than patient...  Learned quite a bit on this Trip and it was an awesome Canyon...
Before we knew it, we were in West Clear Creek...Clouds were building, so after a Break we headed down the Creek towards the Calloway Trail. The first 3/4 mile or so wasn't bad, as we only had to do some minor Bushwacking and had a Trail to follow most of the way.
The last 1 1/2 Miles of Creek was a whole different story...It pretty much kicked my A**! Knee Deep Water paved with small Boulders covered in Slime...There was just no keeping your footing...Ken's pace slowed to about 1 MPH, while mine was about half that... You began to wish for 1 of 3 things...Chest High or Deeper Water, Shallow Water with exposed Rock, or Gravel/Sand Bars or at least Spots...Every great once in awhile, your Wish came true and it was a huge Relief, but it was very, very rare... Then, the Sky got dark and added insult to injury, making the Water dark, so you could no longer see where you were stepping...I lost count of how many times I just flat out fell...And the Falls were neither Graceful or Painless... That Mile and a Half of Creek beat me up more than any other Hike/Trip I've ever done...  I love West Clear Creek. It is Beautiful. But when you're trying to make Time through it, it can be downright Brutal.... I have never been so happy to see a Trail in my entire Life!!! I didn't even care that it was the start of a steep Uphill, I was finally out of that Creek...
Started to Rain as we ascended up Calloway...I told Ken I'd meet him at the Jeep, I knew I was in for a slow go of it...I was toast...But I made it, fueled in part by the now fairly close Lightning and the Rain...Drove out in some serious, serious Mud and finally got back to my Escape and then went and set up Camp, in the Dark... Luckily, it had quit Raining by then...After medicating heavily with Ibuprofen and Wine, I decided that it had still been a Great Day! 
Got up to partly Cloudy Skies in the Morning which was not a good sign...We had another Canyon planned, but after some delays we decided that it was too late to start one...Good thing too, because the Skies opened up by 11:30 A.M. and the Deluge never quit...By 12:30, the Forest Roads were literally Rivers...It had to have been Raining at the Rate of 2" an Hour and it just wouldn't quit...Soooo glad that we were not in a Canyon at that point!!!! They had to have been Flashing!!!
Trying to set up another Camp and attempting to stay dry was looking pretty impossible. The Weather Forecast wasn't looking much better for the next day either, so we decided to cut the Trip short and head back to town...The Canyons will still be there and the Weather will be better, so we'll save them for another Day...
Thanks for taking me down Wilbur, Ken! It really was awesome!!! Looking forward to the next one!!! |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
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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
Route 
I wanted to push for the Gardens in one day but the Don's pace was a lot slower than expected so we only got to the Tule Canyon drop in. This section was extremely slow going anyway because there were about 8 or so long swimmers and even more sections where you have to go right through the creek in knee/waist deep water and the algae covered boulders were ruthlessly unforgiving. I lost count how many times I fell. "Don't Trust that Rock" reemerged as a top hit. After it became apparent we would not reach the Gardens in one day, we decided to push for the powerlines where I knew we would find a campsite, as there are several drop in points nearby. One spot was littered with trash. Another spot we found Eric's wallet.. The plot thickens.. This section was extremely slow, slippery, and difficult. There were powerlines above us for over an hour and a half. Made a nice camp near the creek instead of up on the ledge. Very decent trail leading back up to the top. Had a nice cross country trek back to the road saving several miles back to the Jeep. Great team for this trip and Nino really impressed the way he hung in there.
There were reports of vandelism of the moss, but either that was 'cleaned up' or it was somewhere off to the side and not that obvious. I was busy guiding my 3 friends & taking 200 photos so I didn't have time to look for hidden mossglyphs. 
On the hike out, I was misguided by the newly rerouted 142B and spend an additional 10 minutes walking down the old 142B to get our truck and bring it back to where the new 142B hits 142. 
and possibly not making it back up so I went back to the edge to take a closer look. (drum roll please...)](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
and bounces right into the creek. :-({|= I didn't waste a second dropping down the boulder with no concern of climbing back up, ran over to retrieve the camera even as it bubbled the air out. I knew by then the camera was junk but I figured the SDHC card would still be good. Thankfully the card was so I didn't lose the petroglyph shots, but the camera had landed on the corner of the on-off switch and pretty much hammered it into the body, rendering it worthless. Rats! My new video camera lasted all of three uses before it failed and I returned it, and now my most trusted Canon S3iS camera bit the dust... ok, bit a rock then drowned. :roll: 
