Conditions:Spyhole Canyon-20231214152938
Latest: |
9 Dec 2023 (1 yr, 7 mos ago) |
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| Reported by: | RFontaine (289 reports) | |
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| Quality: | Great |
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| Waterflow: | ||
| Wetsuit: | ||
| Water temperature: | ||
| Difficulty: | ||
| Time: |  6 hours
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Team: 2 people with experience level Beginner to Advanced
Trip report URL:
Comments: A super fun, short canyon with a very unique final drop though a tiny hole into a big cave. This spot really makes the canyon so worthwhile, especially for practicing ascending!
On approach, there are multiple ways to go, but Ive found staying in the wash the whole way on the lower section is best. We exited the wash further up and went high, heading for the cliffs then followed the cliff band over to the saddle. Ive done this multiple ways and this seemed to be the best option avoiding most brush and loose terrain. Once on the ridge, moving along and just below the high point proved to be easiest and avoids gaining more elevation than necessary. The drops before the cave are straight forward and enjoyable enough.
At the final drop, we rigged the outside anchor with 2 fixed lines, rappelled side by side then we ascended back up practicing switching over and self rescue techniques half way up. What a lovely place to “hang out”!! When we got back to the top, we pulled up our ropes and rappelled down through the cave.
To my dismay, some misguided “hero” decided to install a 50’ piece of webbing attached to the slack line anchors inside the cave to help people climb up into the cave. I removed it. I doubt this was a canyoneer but if you are reading this, do not do this!!! It is a stain on the natural environment and if you cant climb into the cave without assistance, you have no business trying… Dont worry, your webbing will go to good use building and replacing actual anchors used for RAPPELLING on technical descents all across AZ.
All condition reports
| Date | Quality | Waterflow | Wetsuit | Difficulty | Time | Team | Reported by |
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| | | | | 1 people Intermediate | Dyln cole (82 reports) | ||
Comment: Webbing is clean, fixed line was good and decent as of yesterday, always pull to check. Windy day but turned out alright.
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| | | | 5 hours
| 6 people Beginner to Advanced | EMoorcroft (451 reports) | ||
Comment: We removed ribbons on the approach and cleaned up the anchor for the first rappel. Rock quality is poor and hikers were present below, use extra caution.
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| Great | | | | 5 hours
| 4 people | RFontaine (289 reports) | |
Comment: Great quick route with high quality rappels and a great area to practice ascending skills. We rigged up two ropes on the outside drops and a rope on the inside. Had fun running laps on the drops!
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| Ok | Dry 
| | Normal  | 6 hours
| 2 people Intermediate to Beginner | Dimethyli (1 reports) | |
Comment: There is a large rock (perhaps 100lbs) that is directly underneath the webbing on the tree of R1. I noticed that rock being ever so slightly lifted up at the end closest to the anchor tree by the weight of my partner while she was on rappel. The rock is well seated as of this writing but was definitely wiggling and is directly in the rappel line. In time, it will need to be dealt with.
The bolts for R2 were on a heady edge. We opted to have the first person clip into the R2 bolts while still on R1 before coming off rope. This allowed us to set up a line to the bolts. For R3 we opted for the spyhole. We could hear people in the cave so I yelled down the hole before dropping the rope. In the time it took to get my partner into the spyhole (there was room for 2 of us in there) a hiker had approached the rope at the bottom and was looking up. I had to ask them to clear out, fearing rock fall. This was an incredibly fun and unique rappel.
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| Good | Dry
| None
| Normal |  3 hours
| 3 people Intermediate | Bconklin (3 reports) | |
Comment: The current GPS track follows the drainage way too far uphill. This leads to a loose sidehill backtrack to the east. Turn right (north) out of the wash as soon as you are past the cliff and can see the ridgeline. The track (03/04/2024) is the only one I've found that is this far off. The others are correct.
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| Great | Dry
| | | 5 hours
| 2 people Beginner to Advanced | Mojojojo (27 reports) | |
Comment: The approach hike is pretty long and arduous- the scramble up to the ridge is very loose and a good bit of work. It took us 2 hours to reach the first rappel. It was our first time trying this route, and now knowing where to go I think we could do it in the 1.5 hours next time. Definitely not my favorite approach, but although short we agreed that the descent makes it worth it! Our time is a bit skewed because we ended up sandwiched between 2 other groups, which is something I’ve never experienced in canyoneering, but it ended up being a really fun day making new friends! All anchors in good shape - the bolts in the cave are fantastic! Rock fall is certainly still an issue but it seems mitigated since previous reports. This canyon seems to be getting a good bit of traffic lately which is probably helping. Once through the descent we were back to the car in about 30/40 minutes hiking at a swift pace on easy terrain. All in all I’d say a worthwhile route due to super fun and bomber rappels. I would absolutely repeat despite the approach being a bit of a PITA.
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| Good | Dry
| None
| Easy  | 4 hours
| 4 people | AZ Advocate (56 reports) | |
Comment: An excellent day out on this incredibly fun, unique, and short route. We used a 60m rope for R3 through the roof of the cave and it was the perfect length for a double-strand rappel.... and we also used it as a rope swing.
For the approach, we opted to exit the wash a bit earlier than we have in the past and although that route was steeper and looser, it had less vegetative hardships on the way up to the ridge. I thoroughly agree with RFontaine that staying a bit below the true ridgeline is the easier way to go - saving you unnecessary elevation gain and vegetative battles. Of note, it is possible to climb back up to the top of R1 without a rope. We missed that our stone hitch was tied backwards (away from anchor, not towards) and as a result we stuck our rope there. We did inspect the hitch before using it but we didn't notice the flipped orientation. We won't be making that mistake again any time soon.
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| Great | | | | 6 hours
| 2 people Beginner to Advanced | RFontaine (289 reports) | |
Comment: A super fun, short canyon with a very unique final drop though a tiny hole into a big cave. This spot really makes the canyon so worthwhile, especially for practicing ascending!
On approach, there are multiple ways to go, but Ive found staying in the wash the whole way on the lower section is best. We exited the wash further up and went high, heading for the cliffs then followed the cliff band over to the saddle. Ive done this multiple ways and this seemed to be the best option avoiding most brush and loose terrain. Once on the ridge, moving along and just below the high point proved to be easiest and avoids gaining more elevation than necessary. The drops before the cave are straight forward and enjoyable enough. At the final drop, we rigged the outside anchor with 2 fixed lines, rappelled side by side then we ascended back up practicing switching over and self rescue techniques half way up. What a lovely place to “hang out”!! When we got back to the top, we pulled up our ropes and rappelled down through the cave. To my dismay, some misguided “hero” decided to install a 50’ piece of webbing attached to the slack line anchors inside the cave to help people climb up into the cave. I removed it. I doubt this was a canyoneer but if you are reading this, do not do this!!! It is a stain on the natural environment and if you cant climb into the cave without assistance, you have no business trying… Dont worry, your webbing will go to good use building and replacing actual anchors used for RAPPELLING on technical descents all across AZ.
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| Good | Dry
| None
| Special challenges | 5 hours
| 8 people Beginner to Expert | Xenonrocket (103 reports),Rbowru (54 reports),Croske (6 reports),Knotpigeon (6 reports),Oojooj (5 reports) | |
Comment: T-day canyon! This is route is mostly a long approach hike (with lots of loose rock) with a (sort of neat) stunt rappel.
I would not recommend this route for a big group due to the lose dirt/rock fall potential on the approach hike and the rockfall on rap 1. We brought 3 ropes (2x200ft + something <100ft), but wished we had brought 3 long ropes instead to more easily sequence R1 and R2. We rigged a handline out to the bolt station for R2 that helped most of the group along. All but two people finished R2 before pulling R1 to minimize rockfall risks. Lots of day hikers were visiting the cave, so definitely be careful to avoid rock fall on the last rap. It was a popular thanksgiving canyon, we saw a group coming up behind us as well when we glanced back on the exit hike.
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| Great | Dry
| None
| Normal | 4 hours
| 1 people Intermediate | Do52in52 (6 reports) | |
| Good | | | Normal |  2 hours
| 2 people Advanced | EMoorcroft (451 reports) | |
Comment: Quick run. 2 hr 45 min car to car. All anchors look good.
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| Great | Dry
| None
| Normal | 4 hours
| 2 people Intermediate to Advanced | AZ Advocate (56 reports) | |
Comment: Just adding to the chorus; the rockfall along R1 is something to take seriously. Even the pullcord was loosing good sized chunks coming down. Nothing really to say that others haven't, it's a short amazing run with a huge payoff on the final rappel. Definitely check this one out if you have a half day to spare. Bolts are staying put, and the rope into the spyhole is still holding up well.
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| | | | 3 hours
| 2 people | EMoorcroft (451 reports) | ||
Comment: 3.5 hours car to car. Anchors looked good. Caution for loose rock... everywhere.
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| Great | Dry
| None
| Normal | 3 hours
| 3 people Advanced to Beginner | MRickerd (37 reports) | |
Comment: Sugarloaf TH was full, parked on Kinsey Ct a short walk away - Trail in/out is confusing on Gaia, until you have to get up west side of mountain as there are many paths - Approach requires some skirting around edges and some scrambles and a handful of steep sections - hard to follow towards the top - All rappels anchored near exposure, clip in a priority while rigging - 1st rappel has cactus that rope might come in contact with - good fun though - the view is spectacular - the Spyhole can be a tight squeeze, and is an experience in itself - hikers in cave - final rappel is very pretty - proposed to my fiancé while hanging upside on rope in the cave (she said yes) - the hike out is pretty direct due to traffic to/from the cave by hikers.
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| Good | | | Normal | 3 hours
| 3 people Advanced | EMoorcroft (451 reports) | |
Comment: Fun morning run.
Wore helmets from start of loose section to the saddle on approach. Anchors looked good. Some hangers move which is normal but the bolts are solid. Replaced the fixed line (spyhole r3 ) with a good section of good rope and removed excess anchors. We had extra time so we decided to do both rappels (spyhole & original).
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