Conditions:Leprechaun Canyon (West Fork)-20231022222837

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Latest:

21 Oct 2023 (1 yr, 8 mos ago)

Reported by: Thegazelle (53 reports)
Quality:

Great
Waterflow:
Dry
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Wetsuit:
None
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Water temperature:
Difficulty:
Normal
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Time: Time2.png 4 hours Bar2.png

Team: 9 people with experience level Brand new to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: Completely dry. Really fun experience to do the narrow section at night



All condition reports


Date Quality Waterflow Wetsuit Difficulty Time Team Reported by


Great

Very Low
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None
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Normal
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Time3.png 7 hours
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3 people
Intermediate to Expert
Bjp (60 reports)
Comment: Anchors were all good with very nice courtesy anchor setups on most of the more mandatory rappels to reduce rope grooves. Some webbing is probably getting toward end of life due to sun bleaching. Our group was not as comfortable down climbing and therefore we did about 9 rappels (including a few meat anchors without any fixed anchor) with the last person down climbing. The section between confluence with middle fork and confluence with right fork is certainly the most difficult part with some shuffling through narrow sections, but we only had a small-moderate difficulty ducking under a chockstone in a narrow section. Belfast Blvd including the boulders was no problem, and easier than the narrows that come before it.

All water was avoidable with easy-moderate stemming, but most of our group waded up to ~shin-deep in a number of places following a light rain the day before.

An air temperature with a high of 70 was very pleasant and we didn't feel the need to wear our fleeces/jackets most of the time.

There were a few cars at the trailhead, but we were only passed by one group of 2. Neighboring Blarney had a ton of cars parked at the trailhead.

Our time was for a slow group and the rating of up to 4 hours is likely more typical.


  • FILE-20250518172151.jpg




  • 2 people
    Advanced
    Cheveran (92 reports)
    Comment: Did a fast-ish (2 hr) Lep romp from the upper TH to a shuttle car, since we had some time after Monkey business and the MB exit and Lep approach overlap. There was a very small yet very pissed off baby rattlesnake in a small hole near the top. Easy to stem over. We were able to avoid all water and mud in the canyon easily.




    Good

    Dry
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    None
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    Normal
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    Time3.png 5 hours
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    5 people
    Beginner to Advanced
    Tcarlisle (75 reports)
    Comment: Group of 5 including one adventurous beginner. No water--not even a mud patch--is present in the canyon. Spent a significant amount of time reworking courtesy rigging and also rebuilding the deadman anchor. This anchor needed the webbing replaced and took a while to dig up the massive rock that serves as the anchor.

    A single bolt has been placed on the first anchor and second anchor. These bolts are not close to the edge and are instead placed next to the cairn anchors. It appears that they were placed to back up the cairns. Regardless of your position on bolting, these are strange bolt placements.

    When rebuilding the courtesy rigging on the anchors we disconnected the webbing from the bolts.




    Great

    Dry
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    None
    Bar0.png

    Normal
    Bar2.png
    Time2.png 4 hours
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    9 people
    Brand new to Advanced
    Thegazelle (53 reports)
    Comment: Completely dry. Really fun experience to do the narrow section at night




    Good

    Very Low
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    None
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    Thegazelle (53 reports)
    Comment: Knee deep pool in canyon. Completely avoidable water until you get to the narrow section past the confluence with middle fork. Above was a bit tricky to avoid but doable for the intermediate.




    Great



    Time2.png 4 hours
    Bar2.png
    4 people
    Intermediate to Advanced
    RFontaine (281 reports)
    Comment: Couple of fun little raps to mix it up in upper section. Pretty sculpted walls. Lower is great, not too squeezy if you stay a tad high in some spots. Love that the lower section of canyon has a few dark sections with barely a sliver of light coming through the top. The end after the squeezes is pretty cool, wide open bowel shaped rooms and halls until you are out. We didnt encounter any water in canyon, however, it rained next day so that might change. I am 6’6” 190lbs and didnt have a problem fitting through. We started at the top and went all the way out to the road. Had a friend shuttle up to retrieve car.




    Great

    Dry
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    None
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    Easy
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    Time1.png 1 hour
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    2 people
    Advanced
    Exitfiftyone (22 reports)
    Comment: Fun and easy romp/squeeze through a scenic slot. The anchor for R1 has been rebuilt as a cairn, back and out of the pothole, so a longer rope is needed. We made our 40' rope work with a partner assist, but would need at least 45' to get to the ground, so I updated the canyon info.




    Good

    Dry
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    None
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    Easy
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    Time1.png 1 hour
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    3 people
    Advanced to Expert
    DMonroy (188 reports)
    Comment: We entered the day before the big snows. There was.a little snow on the approach.






    Candition.com (287 reports)
    Comment: Most recent conditions reported at Candition.com






    Beerslot (17 reports)
    Comment: We combined this fork and East Fork of Leprechaun. West fork was the least eventful fork we attempted - we ran through it quickly and were able to get on the road no problem - ST + LT




    Amazing




    HikeArizona.com (271 reports)
    Comment: Most recent conditions reported at HikeArizona.com, see Trip Report for full details.