Conditions:Illusions Canyon-20230918202810

Latest:	17 Sep 2023 (5 days ago)

Reported by:	RFontaine (145 reports)
Quality:	Amazing
Waterflow:
Wetsuit:	Thin wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:
Time:	6 hours

Team: 3 people with experience level Beginner to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: Incredible canyon, never gets old! We used a sneak approach I developed, parking at the very end of the trail at the exit and B-lining it down off the rim at this point: 34.98639, -111.77142 This route is starting to get worn in as I see others have done the same. Cuts out the long shitty bushwack down from the head of the canyon. Pools are full, mostly cleanish. 4/3 wetsuit was fine. We took our time at a leisurely pace. We found and removed a large loop of red webbing at R2 (suit up spot) around a log where there is clearly a bolt on the wall. Please dont do this… keeper is 12.5” above lip and dropping, always bring escape gear just in case… exit is much more over grown then Ive seen it, stay on the rocks in the gully and you will be fine, ignore the side trails leading away from the gully, they are terrible, and give this relatively tame exit a bad reputation. Ive found that for the best Illusions experience, get a late start, (we started at 10:30am, beautiful colors in canyon, no sun exposure on exit! Lovely day out!

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
17 Sep 2023	Amazing		Thin wetsuit		6 hours	3 people Beginner to Advanced	RFontaine (145 reports)
Comment: Incredible canyon, never gets old! We used a sneak approach I developed, parking at the very end of the trail at the exit and B-lining it down off the rim at this point: 34.98639, -111.77142 This route is starting to get worn in as I see others have done the same. Cuts out the long shitty bushwack down from the head of the canyon. Pools are full, mostly cleanish. 4/3 wetsuit was fine. We took our time at a leisurely pace. We found and removed a large loop of red webbing at R2 (suit up spot) around a log where there is clearly a bolt on the wall. Please dont do this… keeper is 12.5” above lip and dropping, always bring escape gear just in case… exit is much more over grown then Ive seen it, stay on the rocks in the gully and you will be fine, ignore the side trails leading away from the gully, they are terrible, and give this relatively tame exit a bad reputation. Ive found that for the best Illusions experience, get a late start, (we started at 10:30am, beautiful colors in canyon, no sun exposure on exit! Lovely day out!
4 Sep 2023	Great	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	7 hours	5 people Intermediate to Advanced	Fjkraljic (1 reports)
Comment: The approach took longer than anticipated due to the dense vegetation. A week of storms brought a lot of fresh clear water into the canyon with a couple showering waterfalls. All anchors are in good shape. We could swim to the sand bench to exit the final “keeper” hole (about a 16” above the lip) before escaping via the sneak exit. The soft, moist soil made the ascent especially arduous, but fortunately years of use has developed a weak trail to follow. Beware the gripper vines. Not sure which are worse, those or angry bushes (thorny leafless plants that seem to serve no purpose to the ecology).
11 Aug 2023	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	2 people Intermediate	Ryandc (1 reports)
Comment: Did Illusions with exit via Sneak route on Friday August 11. Do note that this canyon flashed August 12. So chances are it's more full now (well, depending on when you the reader are reading this) than when we ran it. Most of the anchors are in good condition. One anchor around Rap 3 or Rap 4 was missing and was replaced by us with a single loop of webbing + 8mm stainless quick link (we're both fairly light, so Wrap-3-pull-2 doesn't get us any redundancy and just consumes more webbing). We went through the canyon with a boat hook to use for the last pothole if it was in keeper mode. Fortunately, final keeper is in swimming condition with nothing dead floating in it. Of the two of us, one of us used a 3/4 wetsuit with no neoprene gloves or socks and was comfy. Other party member (an admittedly thinner girl) used a full-hood 4 or 5 with an additional couple layers of merino. Sneak route was not fun; neither of us had done it before, and due to some delays getting into the canyon we were trying to navigate the sneak route at night. Do not recommend after a recent rain; you'll be fighting crumbling soil and.
16 Jul 2023	Great	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	8 hours	3 people Beginner to Intermediate	Rez072 (1 reports)
Comment: Great to be in this special place on one of the hottest days of the year. We all wore wetsuits between 3 & 5 mm & were generally comfortable. Even on this hot day some of the pools in the darkest rooms were quite cold. Always bring thermal protection. Anchors are all in good condition. Keeper Hole @ the end of the descent is now about 2 feet below the lip. While I had a hook & an etrier ready, we all managed to mantle out w/o the use of special equipment. The pools throughout the canyon are starting to keep some dead birds & the like. The sneak exit path is more defined compared to the last time I used it last summer. Kudos to EMoorecraft for tightening the bolts & RFontaine for clearing FR 9010N out to the trailhead.
9 Jul 2023	Amazing	Deep pools	Full wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Teamsnuggle (9 reports)
Comment: Great day in canyon, cold in there as always. Anchors look good. Of note: the keeper is about one foot below the lip. Still a fairly easy climb out for now, but it will not be for long.
9 Jul 2023	Great	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	3 people Advanced	Cooper smith (13 reports)
Comment: Great summer time run through illusions! Wetsuits ranged from 4mm farmer John to 4/3 full and no one was uncomfortable. Water has gone down significantly since my last run 3 weeks ago. Water in canyon is low but super clear. Nothing is too stinky yet. There were dead birds in probably 3 or 4 potholes though. Be careful with the pull on the fin rappel with the new two stage. Great conditions and a chill pace made for an awesome day. Sneak exit is brushy but in decent shape. Final pothole 1ft below the lip, easy escape.
12 Jun 2023	Great		Thin wetsuit	Normal	11 hours	3 people Beginner to Advanced	EMoorcroft (310 reports)
Comment: Tightened down the bolts on the pothole rappel. Time is for ab young approach and west fork exit with a beginner. All anchors looked good. Trickle of water seeping through the canyon still. Last pothole is 6 inches above the lip, easy escape.
6 Jun 2023	Great	Deep pools	Drysuit	Normal	6 hours	5 people	Nclegg (297 reports)
Comment: Snow has melted away and the canyon is no longer flowing but water level at the keeper is still a foot above the lip. Two of us wore drysuits and the others wore 4/3 wetsuits. Sneak exit route is mostly still intact but damaged and quite scrappy in sections.
13 May 2023	Amazing	Low	Thick wetsuit		7 hours	4 people Advanced	RFontaine (145 reports)
Comment: Amazing conditions! Canyon was very full and had some flow! Very rare to see it like this so we savored every minute of it!! We all wore 7mm suits, 3mm gloves, 4mm booties, we were comfy but wouldnt want anything less. There were a couple of large snow piles in canyon we had to climb over. The log jam anchor after the fin rappel is washed out so we extended this rappel to a 2 stage. All other anchors still in good shape. Keeper pothole water line is 2ft above the lip. Exit is covered in landslide debris and multiple large snow drifts. 7hrs at a leisurely pace, fantastic day! (P.S. we took some time to clear most of the fallen trees using my winch, from the 4x4 road right up to the exit. What we were unable to clear we drove around, a chainsaw would be helpful for cleaning up the rest)
7 May 2023	Amazing	Low	Drysuit	Normal	9 hours	2 people	Nclegg (297 reports),EMoorcroft (310 reports)
Comment: Approached from the 89A via AB Young and exited out West Fork. One of us wore a drysuit and the other a 7mm. Large trees have fallen into the canyon in several places and lots of new debris has appeared. We cleared out some inconvenient and precariously positioned logs and replaced damaged webbing at the final rappel. Low flow, crystal clear pools, and snow dams in a few places. One log which had previously been utilized as an anchor was flushed a few hundred feet down canyon.
22 Oct 2022	Amazing	Deep pools	Thick wetsuit		5 hours	2 people Advanced	RFontaine (145 reports)
Comment: Some of the best sculpting and most intricate features in AZ! Fantastic fall colors made for an extra pretty canyon! We parked at the exit and made a B-line down the slope as soon as we were able, to the drainage below. This was fairly easy and makes more sense then starting further back. Pools are super full with cleanish rain water, keeper is 2ft above lip! 7mm suits were perfect for enjoying the deep clean pools. As always, on the exit, STAY IN THE DRAINAGE. Avoid all the fail trails that lead up the loose slopes on the left and stay on the rocks for perhaps one of the easiest sneak exits in this area!
10 Oct 2022	Great	Deep pools	Thick wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	1 people	EMoorcroft (310 reports)
Comment: Potholes are very full and swimmers. 30 min approach 3 hours in the canyon. 1.5 hour sneak exit. Wore a 4/3 full and 2 mm shortie wetsuit, rain jacket, and 3mm booties and gloves. Felt warm and cozy. Fun solo.
26 Sep 2022	Amazing	Deep pools	Full wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	2 people Advanced	Cooper smith (13 reports)
Comment: Water levels are fantastic, all potholes overflowing. Wore a 2mm shorty under 3mm full body and felt great. 6 hours car to car. Beautiful formations and dark trickling pools are always incredible.
10 Jul 2022	Amazing	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	6 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	RFontaine (145 reports)
Comment: Incredible canyon, immensely beautiful, sculpted, twisted and wet! So much fun! Approach is fairly quick, we parked at the high clearance parking, end of road where exit comes up, and cut down into the drainage almost right away instead of going all the way around to drainage start. This was a good decision, made for quick drop in. Illusions technical starts out pretty neat but gets better with every turn until you are deep within an awe inspiring remarkable place! The larger rappels are pretty fun and beautiful, not too slippery with algae as have been in past, walls quite dry, water level low but still deep. I could just barely tip toe through a few swims. I was comfortable with my 4/3 wetsuit. Lots of twisted downclimb chutes which is such a neat feature! The final pot hole IS IN KEEPER MODE! Water was about 4ft below the lip. We used a hook with foot loop to get out without issue. (Picture is of final pothole after escape) Exit is a breeze if you stay on the rocks in the drainage all the way up to the top wall before cutting over to the left. No need to scramble on the terrible loose soil as so many side trails suggest. Awesome day, we really enjoyed ourselves!!
10 Jun 2022	Great	Deep pools	Full wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	3 people Advanced	Nclegg (297 reports),Doctors out (26 reports)
Comment: Final pothole was approximately 14” below the lip. Easy to reach the lip and climb out, but water level is lowering quickly. Rescued two king snakes that were trapped in the pothole. I was warm in a full 5mm wetsuit. One other in the group had 6mm total on their core (3+3) and was still a bit cold. Neoprene gloves were a luxury.

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