Titou Gorge (Lower)
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| | Raps:6, max ↨279ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:Required 11 km Vehicle:Passenger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 20 Dec 2022
"We did not run the canyon - only saw the entrance from exiting Titou Gorge (Middle). Flow looks perfect. Approach trail excellent. Apparently there wa |
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| Best season: | Any, AVOID rains
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15.3281, -61.3301
15.3291, -61.3270
15.3270, -61.3370
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Introduction[edit]
Titou Gorge is a long slot canyon with multiple entrances and sections, and at least three different sections.
This page describes Titou Gorge (Lower), which formerly encompassed both Titou Gorge (Middle) and Titou Gorge (Lower). The decision to change the name was in order to clarify the different sections, which have significantly different obstacles and difficulties. The name clarification was agreed upon by American canyoneer Lukas Eddy, and local French canyoneer Nathalie, who lives and guides in Dominica.
Titou Gorge (Lower) is the most difficult section of the Titou slot.
Approach[edit]
From the parking lot, walk up the road, the way you drove in, barely one minute. On your left (south), there is a trail. Follow this for ten minutes down to the river. This is the exit trail for Titou Gorge (Middle). It's recommended you run Titou Gorge (Middle) before attempting Titou Gorge (Lower), to familiarize yourself with the canyon. An alternative is to run Titou Gorge (Middle) and Titou Gorge (Lower) together.
The trail brings you to a waterfall with several rebar steps forming a ladder. This marks the end of Titou Gorge (Middle) and the start of Titou Gorge (Lower).
_rebarsteps.jpg)
Descent[edit]
The descent has around six rappels, depending on what you jump.
Flow is slightly higher than in Titou Gorge (Middle).
This canyon is extremely risky in rain, and prone to floods. There is no escape.
Bolts should be in excellent condition, as the canyon is regularly guided.
Just before the final rappel is a mandatory siphon of about 2 meters. There is a weak current here. The siphon could, one day, easily become clogged with debris and become impassable. There's no return or escape at this point. You'd better know what you're doing!
There is some talk of French canyoneers returning to the canyon in 2023 to bolt a route up the boulder that creates the siphon. This is talk only, for now (December 2022). A team with a decent climber could bolt this.
The final rappel is the massive waterfall at Trafalgar Falls. Per guides and online beta sources, the rappel is between 70-85 meters - better prepare for 100 meters to be sure!
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Exit[edit]
From the bottom of the falls, clamber down the rocks to the obvious trail and pavilion on river-right which always has tourists. Follow the trail for a few minutes to your vehicle.
Red tape[edit]
No red tape.
Beta sites[edit]
Caution!
Beta sites describe Titou Gorge (Middle) and Titou Gorge (Lower) as one canyon. They're two canyons in the same drainage.
https://www.descente-canyon.com/canyoning/canyon/21686/Titou-gorge-inferieur.html
https://ankanionla-madinina.com/titou-gorge-inf/
Trip reports and media[edit]
https://www.lukaseddy.com/dominica
Background[edit]
This canyon was probably first explored by French canyoneers in the 1990s, who published beta in various sources.
Eventually guiding started for competent tourists.
Hurricane Maria in 2017 changed the canyon significantly, most notably adding the siphon.
Today, the canyon is occasionally done by the guiding agency Extreme Dominica. They take tourists down Titou Gorge (Middle) first, and as long as they are competent enough, continue down Titou Gorge (Lower). The safety of this is questionable, as passing the siphon is mandatory, and it could become clogged with logs overnight, creating a big problem.