Spear Canyon
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| | Difficulty:3A II (v3a1 II) Raps:2-3, max ↨160ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:Passenger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 26 Dec 2024
"We kayaked from the marina to end of the tributary a short boulder hop from the start of the ascent. Bush whacking wasn’t nearly as bad as the comme |
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| Best season: | winter, spring, fall
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33.5401, -111.3991
33.5260, -111.3924
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Nearby photosIntroduction
Some rugged hiking and bushwacking lead to a few short sections of narrows with a big, dramatic final rappel. Try and catch it with flow for added excitement.
From Phoenix drive east on US60, then east toward Canyon Lake on SR88. Just before Tortilla Flat, park at a small pullout on the left at 33.526031, -111.392378 (same as Headdress Canyon).
Approach
From the car park, hike back west along the road for about .2 mile until you reach a small section of chain-link fence at a bend in the road. Leave the road here and hike past the fencing to locate an old dirt road that travels to the north west. Follow this road another .7 mile past the Tortilla Flat Campground (do not hike through the campground, or risk being accosted by a grumpy old man on a scooter) all the way to Tortilla Creek. When you reach the creek, you should be looking more or less directly at what is the end of Spear Canyon - a dark crack in the rock followed by a black water streak above a large alcove. At this point in the creek, head right (east) for .1 mile to find a drainage coming into the creek from the north. Get into and follow this brushy side drainage as it takes you north, then east. After a little less than half of a mile, a small, steep, rocky, shallow drainage will be on your left; hike up this until you are just under the cliffs above. Follow the cliff line to the north until it diminishes near the top and cross a small saddle to the west to get into the upper drainage of Spear Canyon. This upper section of the approach hike over the saddle and the very upper section of the canyon is heavily populated with teddy bear cholla and other small cacti, proceed with caution.
Alternate approach:
A short cut can be made before the top that bypasses the worst section of cholla and bushwacking in the canyon, but also bypasses one short rappel and a very short, half-way scenic section of narrows. If you're just going for the big rappel, take the short cut.
A break in the cliff on your left before the top at 33.539300, -111.396424 will take you over a small saddle and down into a small drainage. Follow the drainage down and hike out and to the west just before it drops to traverse along a cliff on your right. After the traverse along the cliff, hike down an easy slope and into a shallow part of the drainage of Spear Canyon. The narrows you missed are up canyon on your right, but lots of bushwacking is required to get there and the section isn't really remarkable - go up and see them or don't - to taste.
Descent
If doing the entire canyon, carefully head down through the cholla to eventually reach a rappel, or optional downclimb, of about 20 feet into a short section of narrows with a few pools to climb around. A section of thick brush after the narrows bring you to the alternate entry point, both routes now head down the more open canyon (shorter approach enters here).
A couple easy downclimbs take you to the first mandatory rappel.
R1: 30 feet from a cairn or rock pinch into what can be a shallow pool (waist deep) in wet conditions.
R2: 160 feet anchored from two chockstones right at the top of the drop with a tricky start. Half of the rappel is free-hanging.
Exit
After the big rappel, head LDC through the brushy drainage all the way to Tortilla Creek, then up the slope on the other side of the creek to locate the old dirt road you hiked on the way in and follow it back to your vehicle.
Red tape
Beta sites
Trip reports and media
- https://www.facebook.com/pat.winstanley.7/media_set?set=a.642745732450794.1073741879.100001461198708&type=3
- https://www.facebook.com/pat.winstanley.7/media_set?set=a.1011636352228395.1073742042.100001461198708&type=3&uploaded=17
Background
Kerry Recca and I completed what appeared to be the first descent in January 2014. I have explored six other drainages of Tortilla Creek all draining from basically the same high ridge in the immediate area and found Spear Canyon to be the only one worth the effort to fully descend.
