Conditions:Insomnia Canyon-20231113171803

Latest:	11 Nov 2023 (23 days ago)

Reported by:	Ingalls (12 reports)
Quality:	Amazing
Waterflow:	Deep pools
Wetsuit:	Full wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	8 hours

Team: 2 people with experience level Intermediate to Expert

Trip report URL:

Comments: Awesome late season run through Insomnia. The canyon itself was a breeze for us, all anchors were in decent shape including anchors for the final rappel. There is a decent amount of wood in the canyon that looks like it came from the fire which slows things down a bit.

For new folks who might read this: if you are doing the canyon this late in the season be absolutely confident in your skills. Full immersion took place on at least 2 of the potholes, the water is very cold, and the canyon, even after the big rappell, get's little to no sun.

The edge protection is also still present and in good shape. We opted for the escape exit without a shuttle. The lack of a shuttle didn't prove to be any problem and we cruised the ~3mi back to the entrance. The escape exit however is a fairly brutal slog. If I did this canyon again I would almost certainly take the time to run a 2 car shuttle to the traditional exit.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
11 Nov 2023	Amazing	Deep pools	Full wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	2 people Intermediate to Expert	Ingalls (12 reports)
Comment: Awesome late season run through Insomnia. The canyon itself was a breeze for us, all anchors were in decent shape including anchors for the final rappel. There is a decent amount of wood in the canyon that looks like it came from the fire which slows things down a bit. For new folks who might read this: if you are doing the canyon this late in the season be absolutely confident in your skills. Full immersion took place on at least 2 of the potholes, the water is very cold, and the canyon, even after the big rappell, get's little to no sun. The edge protection is also still present and in good shape. We opted for the escape exit without a shuttle. The lack of a shuttle didn't prove to be any problem and we cruised the ~3mi back to the entrance. The escape exit however is a fairly brutal slog. If I did this canyon again I would almost certainly take the time to run a 2 car shuttle to the traditional exit.
25 Sep 2023	Amazing	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	3 people Advanced	Cooper smith (15 reports)
Comment: Water levels were great through the canyon. All anchors looked good. Group was comfortable in 4/3 wetsuits. Big rap was spectacular. A 315' rope got us comfortably to the bottom. The anchor and carpet rope pro all looked great. Picked up a pool noodle rope pro and some trash that had washed down from above. Took illusions sneak exit which has burned in nicely since earlier this summer.
25 Sep 2023	Great		Thin wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	3 people Advanced	EMoorcroft (330 reports)
Comment: Approach 30 min Canyon 5 hours Exit 1.5 hours We snacked on fritters at the big rappel station. Our team packed out quite a bit of trash. Anchors looked good. Sneak exit was in good shape.
9 Sep 2023	Great	Deep pools	Full wetsuit	Normal	9 hours	4 people	Cheveran (40 reports)
Comment: Pretty canyon - big rappel is stunning. The carpet rope protection is magnificent, kudos to those that brought it. We were happy for 4/3 & 5 mm wetsuits despite an air temp of mid 80s. Anchors were in good shape. The approach was brushy but only a little annoying. We took the sneak exit out described in the Bluu Gnome beta up to Buckhead point and the suck factor was high. LOTS of veg, almost all of it with thorns! Very not nice.
8 Jul 2023	Good	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Teamsnuggle (9 reports)
Comment: Anchors good, water level throughout the canyon is fairly low. The 300 is beautiful as always. The anchor and edge protection are in great shape. Took the illusions sneak, certainly some changes this year, steep but we didn’t find it too be terribly loose or dirty if you just stay in the drainage all the way.
17 Jun 2023	Great	Deep pools	Full wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	6 people Advanced to Expert	Erek (207 reports),SarahFakler (8 reports),Coalemus (155 reports),JasmineKing (1 reports)
Comment: All anchors good condition. All pools pretty deep. Time is Sneak Exit but others in group continued on to West Fork exit. Big Rap: anchor was hot mess. Carpet washed away. Webbing cleaned up and what was left of paracord was removed. Also removed 60m of dynamic rope with a couple core shots from bottom. BRING ROPE PROTECTION!!!* Insomnia/Illusions Exit ~Look out for poison ivy!! ~lots of downed trees and landslides ~terrain is not as stable as before ~there was mud covered snow
25 May 2023	Great	Deep pools	Full wetsuit	Normal	11 hours	3 people Intermediate	Stber321 (20 reports)
Comment: The big rap is a lot of fun! Be aware the carpet has washed away, bring your own rope protection. All potholes were overflowing and had logs in them. I imagine the 2 potholes might be bypassable even without the logs by doing some stemming or rappelling over a different lip. The pull on the big rap is difficult with a biner block, even from the bottom. We stuck our rope for almost 2 hours, it finally came down as we were planning to leave it. Someone left a 300ft rope(with no pull cord or seemingly any intention to recover it) at the big rap. We dropped this rope since it might have interfered with our pull. I did not have space to carry it out, it is currently at the bottom of the big rap. It looks old and I would not rappel on it, it is just trash. The sneak exit is brutal. There appear to have been a number of landslides with sections where the drainage is filled with nothing but loose dirt, all living vegetation has been wiped out. We found loose rocks over a large block of snow, you should not trust any rock no matter how large. There are comments from old trip reports to the effect that this exit is easier than immaculate but given current conditions I found it to be significantly longer steeper and more difficult than the immaculate sneak, which I did the next day.
1 Oct 2022	Amazing	Deep pools	Thick wetsuit		9 hours	5 people Intermediate to Advanced	RFontaine (154 reports)
Comment: Fantastic canyon as always! The slots were cold, wet, and very full! 7mm wetsuits are appropriate for most this time of year. The slotted section is very pretty, perhaps not as intensely sculpted or as long as Illusions but still nice, however, the big rappel is the main draw for this canyon. Getting to the big rappel requires a short low angle drop over a log (would normally be a downclimb if there wasn't a 320' cliff at the end) that can easily catch the tail of the rope when pulling if not careful! We dropped our 320' to the first bench and rappelled down to there. The installed rope protection carpet is still holding strong! My pull cords were a 232' and a 100' rope. At the first ledge, my 232' rope was roughly only 10' from the ground, (2' tail up top) so I can say confidently that 240'-250' would reach this prominent bench. This huge bench is a fantastic spot to stop, eat lunch and take pictures of others rappelling. I feel that any other canyon would have this rappel broken up as such. Rigging a CEM knot yielded a quick and easy pull from this location, however, not sure if a biner-block would pull as easily from here which would be reason to rappel the full distance, if you are uncomfortable with ghosting techniques. The tree to set the next rap off this landing is small but solid and set back DCR. Exactly 110' of rope is needed to finish the rappel from this anchor. The exit is long but not challenging. Be aware of the exit out of West Fork drainage BEFORE arriving at the Illusions drainage confluence. It was marked with orange webbing on a high log when we went through, this may not always be here. I've said it before and I'll say it again, once at the Illusions exit, STAY IN THE DRAINAGE. There are numerous side trails leading out of the drainage up steep loose soil. Disregard these and save yourself some greif!!
9 Jul 2022	Good	Deep pools	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	7 hours	3 people Expert to Intermediate	Davidsnaz (23 reports)
Comment: Great weather and lowering water levels. Some dry spots that are normally wet. The big rap is down about 4 feet from the lip. The hook holes are a bit blown out and more of a challenge to use to hook out. Used the sneak exit. Like others have said, stay in the gully and avoid the social mess that try to go off left. We encountered a bat, bird and Squirrel in the potholes. The water Temps were quite comfortable.
26 Jun 2022	Great	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	3 people Advanced	EMoorcroft (330 reports)
Comment: Great Canyon. Updated kml was spot on for sneak. Scramble up about 15' and you'll see and obvious trail. 4/3 wetsuits were really comfortable. Potholes are full. Fiddle stick on big rappel. 6.5 hours car to car utilizing sneak exit.
26 Jun 2022 Trip report	Amazing	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	3 people Intermediate to Advanced	Jawx0420 (42 reports)
Comment: By far one of the best routes in Arizona! Words and photos don't do it justice. It's something that you have to experience in person and truly stop to take it all in. Mandy and I have been wanting to do this route for sometime now. We chose to do it on our anniversary and we planned it out months in advance with some of our very close friends. We were concerned about the weather and kept an eye on it the entire time. We camped nearby the night before and got a very early start. One of the shortest approaches I've experienced in quite a while. All anchors were in good shape. We were moving quick and leap frogging most of the raps. Water was cold but wetsuits kept us very comfortable. The big rap was simple breathtaking. Sneak exit out of insomnia was at first difficult for us to pin down. The tracks are spot on though. 6.5 hours total. Highly recommend and will definitely be back! Thankful for our amazing friend who got to celebrate our special day with us!
19 Jun 2022	Great	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit		9 hours	2 people Advanced	RFontaine (154 reports)
Comment: Great canyon, most of the canyon is decent but the big rap is really what makes the trip worthwhile! Was fairly windy up top but once in the canyon there was no wind at all! Even on the big rap! Quick overgrown approach somewhat obvious trail cut in. Probably took us 15min or less! Wore 4/3 suit was plenty comfortable. There is a potential keeper pothole marked by a large perfectly vertical log sticking straight up out of it. There are some floating sticks that we balanced on to get over it without getting in. Big rap still has carpet in place for edge protection and we experienced no abrasion. We had a 315’, 220’ and 120’ for ropes. Rigged CEM knot for easy pull! The big rap has 2 large ledges where one can rig additional anchors. The first of which is probably 260ish feet down and has webbing set far back on a tree. Roughly 40ish feet below that is another ledge that has a single bolt set back LDC. We rappelled down to the 1st ledge, rigged a single 220’ rope, and continued past the 2nd ledge to the bottom. Seemed to be exactly 110’ from 1st ledge to bottom. Glad we kept our wetsuits on until the last of the technical section as there were more pools to get wet in after the big rap. The exit is long and eventually meets up with the Illusions sneak exit to get out. Once you turn right and begin following West Fork, you hike for awhile and if not watching your map, it is easy to miss point where you exit up the side of this wash, cross over a forested section and back down into another wash. West Fork gets prettier and prettier, egging you on! If you get to a tree with webbing on it, despite being a moderate down climb, you’ve gone too far! As you get close to Illusions, you will see multiple trails from people trying to exit wash early and climb up the loose soil in a foolhardy attempt to short cut. Even the KML file has you do this. There is no reason for this and it is much easier travel to rock hop the wash all the way to the Illusions junction. There you will find well worn trail through the woods up the Illusions exit gully. However, once again I see multiple side trails where people try to scramble up loose soil in an unnecessary attempt to gain quick elevation. Best course is to stay on the rocks in gully and follow the canyon wall on your right the whole way up to the top. For God sake, save yourself some grief!! Really great canyon route, big rappel of course is quite a treat, the rest is pretty nice too. Exit is longer than you think but not overly challenging.
11 Jun 2022	Great	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	5 people	Nclegg (308 reports)
19 Jun 2021	Amazing	Deep pools	None	Normal	9 hours	3 people Beginner to Advanced	Triggerfish (26 reports)
Comment: Had just one vehicle. Camped at top of sneak exit. The night before, we stashed our heavy stuff (ropes, water) in brush between the road and the approach. Walking the 3 miles of flat road from the exit parking back to the start was easy in the cool morning. Compared with Immaculate sneak entry/exit hikes the day before, both the entry and exit hikes of Insomnia were no big deal. Two short swims, many short wades, all in cool but not frigid water. There was a little shivering while we rigged up for the big drop, but nothing a few pushups couldn't push back. We all were glad we had left the wetsuits in the truck. Beta seems scant on the difficulty of the potholes. We came with a full loadout of escape gear. None required. Not sure if anything beyond a buddy boost ever would be. Stunningly lush down there, despite the current heat wave and an incredibly dry past year. That big drop is just incredible. We made it to the large landing area with a 300' rope, with probably 20' spare. A friendly group right behind us kindly dropped the rope, allowing us to fix rather than pull it down. They fiddlesticked it. We were impressed, given the 300ness, but it saved them a monster rope pull-through, and I have to agree it's a safe way to go if rigged right (also, it's easy to hold the stick line out of the way on this drop). As advised, we skipped the Illusions confluence rap, backtracking a hundred feet or so. We found a scant, sidehilly, but easy trail up and over the small hump to Illusions. Upvote on the beta for staying in the bottom, then veering right toward the end to stay out of trouble. Steep, but decent footing.
18 Jun 2021	Amazing	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	2 people Advanced	Doctors out (26 reports)
Comment: Smooth run. We had full wetsuits and wondered if we could have made it without. Would be momentarily chilly in a few spots, but probably doable. Maybe a shorty would be a good compromise. Had some issues pulling the rope on the big rap, but eventually got it down. Make sure to minimize friction points, knots, etc which will have to pass over the lip, during your pull. If using the illusions sneak exit, the route description on this page is accurate and important to follow. Time is to the Illusions sneak exit parking.

...additional reports