Conditions:Not Water Canyon-20211130062733

Latest:	22 Nov 2021 (3 yrs, 7 mos ago)

Reported by:	Xenonrocket (103 reports), Rbowru (54 reports)
Quality:	Poor
Waterflow:	Deep pools
Wetsuit:	None
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Special challenges
Time:	10 hours

Team: 5 people with experience level Beginner to Expert

Trip report URL:

Comments: After a long approach hike in (that we think was correct given the limited beta), we were surprised to find "not water" canyon full of water! Who would have guessed! Bee wary of yellow jackets, one member of the group was stung on the way in.

The bottom of the first rap was full of slippery mud. The pothole mentioned in the beta was fine to escape using a partner assist and rope and careful spotting of the last person doing the ~12 foot hang drop. The second rap had a waist deep pool of water at the bottom. The first two people got wet rappelling, but we were able to do a modified guided rappel off a meet anchor to keep everyone else dry. There were then a series of downclimbs, some ending in pools that were knee or less deep.

In the second section, we quickly encountered a difficult pothole escape after the first second-section rappel. A short downclimb/rap led to a chest deep pool with a impossibly slippery climb out. We made an attempt to use our potshots to get past this section, but it required a difficult ~40-50 ft throw that we had trouble with. The crack to throw the potshot looked like a great spot for the potshot to catch, but alas, it wasn't, and one was not enough to stick it. Eventually, we got one potshot over and sent someone back into the pool, but there was not enough stick from the potshot to work. Luckily, we hadn't pulled the rope from the first rap in the second section, so after an hour+ of struggling to get the potshot toss (and two people who had gotten chest deep in water with no wetsuit), we decided to punt the rest of the canyon and make an escape. By the time we got back up to where we had made the entrance hike, it was about 5pm and the sun was setting. This story is a great example of why everyone in the group should know how to ascend if needed!

We reversed our entrance hike in the dark, following our GPS track. It was below freezing weather (but luckily there was no wind and we had enough warm layers to be comfortable, even with the group members who had gotten wet). We used two rappels to retrace our entrance hike climbs. The first was to get off of the top of the mesa. This had a tricky overhanging start, and one of the members of our group got a hand caught under the rope and pinched. The second exit hike rappel was to descend the first drainage we had initially climbed up the wall of to get up vertically. At this rappel, we noticed that our rope was frozen. Yikes! This second rap brought us back to the bottom of the side drainage off of the lower gulch trail. We followed this back about 2 miles (only bonking one helmet off a fallen tree hard enough to be knock to the ground) and arrived back at the car near 9pm to find it was ~27F with our shoelaces frozen. Not the aventure we were expecting, but we were safe and not bivvying in the canyon!

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
22 Nov 2021	Poor	Deep pools	None	Special challenges	10 hours	5 people Beginner to Expert	Xenonrocket (103 reports),Rbowru (54 reports)
Comment: After a long approach hike in (that we think was correct given the limited beta), we were surprised to find "not water" canyon full of water! Who would have guessed! Bee wary of yellow jackets, one member of the group was stung on the way in. The bottom of the first rap was full of slippery mud. The pothole mentioned in the beta was fine to escape using a partner assist and rope and careful spotting of the last person doing the ~12 foot hang drop. The second rap had a waist deep pool of water at the bottom. The first two people got wet rappelling, but we were able to do a modified guided rappel off a meet anchor to keep everyone else dry. There were then a series of downclimbs, some ending in pools that were knee or less deep. In the second section, we quickly encountered a difficult pothole escape after the first second-section rappel. A short downclimb/rap led to a chest deep pool with a impossibly slippery climb out. We made an attempt to use our potshots to get past this section, but it required a difficult ~40-50 ft throw that we had trouble with. The crack to throw the potshot looked like a great spot for the potshot to catch, but alas, it wasn't, and one was not enough to stick it. Eventually, we got one potshot over and sent someone back into the pool, but there was not enough stick from the potshot to work. Luckily, we hadn't pulled the rope from the first rap in the second section, so after an hour+ of struggling to get the potshot toss (and two people who had gotten chest deep in water with no wetsuit), we decided to punt the rest of the canyon and make an escape. By the time we got back up to where we had made the entrance hike, it was about 5pm and the sun was setting. This story is a great example of why everyone in the group should know how to ascend if needed! We reversed our entrance hike in the dark, following our GPS track. It was below freezing weather (but luckily there was no wind and we had enough warm layers to be comfortable, even with the group members who had gotten wet). We used two rappels to retrace our entrance hike climbs. The first was to get off of the top of the mesa. This had a tricky overhanging start, and one of the members of our group got a hand caught under the rope and pinched. The second exit hike rappel was to descend the first drainage we had initially climbed up the wall of to get up vertically. At this rappel, we noticed that our rope was frozen. Yikes! This second rap brought us back to the bottom of the side drainage off of the lower gulch trail. We followed this back about 2 miles (only bonking one helmet off a fallen tree hard enough to be knock to the ground) and arrived back at the car near 9pm to find it was ~27F with our shoelaces frozen. Not the aventure we were expecting, but we were safe and not bivvying in the canyon!