http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=34.24698,-11 ... River%20CA
A: Heaton Flats parking lot
B: Start of trail up Iron Mountain
C: Bonita Saddle
D: Approximate drop-in point
E: In the canyon, in Yucca Alley
F: Just another point in the canyon
G: Canyon ends at East Fork
The hike up was pretty easy, but hot. It's always hot up there. We got to the drop in point around 1:30PM or so, I think. Torrey knows when. We dropped in and the bushwhacking was OK, but it quickly turned into low-crawling under bushes while pushing or pulling packs.
The drop in
The canyon
Easy hike down
Bushwhacking
Torrey pushes my pack to me.
At the bottom of the drop in gully
Eventually, we met the canyon bottom, which was choked with Yucca. Lots of bushwhacking in the canyon. There were some truly MASSIVE Yucca in there. Very little water on the way down.
Torrey pulls debris out of her socks and shoes
Some time goes by, and we get to our first rappel.
First rappel
A bunch more rappels followed. I lost track of how many we did. 8-10 or so? None were anything special or technical, just pretty simple ones. Most were 20-40ft, with the 2nd to last being 150ft maybe, and the last (visible by hiking up to the bottom) is something like 60ft? I couldn't really tell, as it was dark.
Some pics of the rapps (in no particular order, damn file names are mixed up):
That last photo was the only time my retrievable rappel anchor did not come back to me. I was able to scramble up some loose crap on the side to pull it loose. It performed great on all other rapps! Very happy with the simple and sturdy setup.
We spent about 9 hours or so in the canyon, as the going was incredibly slow. This canyon is only 1.5 miles long from drop in all the way to East Fork, but damn... those are the slowest 1.5 miles of my life. 9 hours... no bullshit. We had to low-crawl under tree branches and sharp berry vines and Poison Oak on wet sand covered in those stinky ants at one point. There were some really big Orb Weavers, about the size of a half dollar, which were really cool. There was also one spider of the same size that ran up my leg like a barber pole and almost into my pants until I did the OH SHIT SPIDER DANCE and got him off.
Some pics of the night rapps:
We got off the last rapp at around midnight. I was dehydrated by this point, to the point of a headache and nausea. Torrey and I were both pretty peeved or whatever, basically done with this canyon.
Hooray for water in the car!
Summary: This probable first-descent will likely go unrepeated for a long, long time, and for good reason: it was awful. There were a bunch of rappels, and the last couple were really cool and worth doing again, if one could make a way into them from the East Fork. The retrievable anchor I made, tested, and then used worked nearly flawlessly. I have certain anchor points water-knotted. If those same points were sewn, the chance of getting the anchor stuck would be reduced. The total length of the anchor is about 12ft. I felt so proud using Pi to calculate the right length of the anchor for canyons with Alder trees and local Ponderosa Pines (Ponderosa = fat!). On bush/small tree anchors located higher up the canyon walls (say, 12ft up), I could scramble up, wrap the tree/bush, and the extra length allowed for attachment nice and low, close to the canyon bottom and the least awkward rappel start point.
I used my 70m dynamic rope as a pull strand, as I do not yet have a 6mm static pull cord. That will be a huge improvement, in terms of weight, space saved, and also how the pull will be cleaner and more aggressive (dynamics can kinda 'seat' the anchor and get it stuck, know what I mean?).
Anywho, I didn't really enjoy it, but it was one of those important experiences that allowed me to learn. I don't learn much doing the same canyon over and over, or a canyon that has been done or has beta on it. The unknown is important, etc etc blah blah blah. Torrey and I got to learn more about each other, which was a good thing. I'm immune to Poison Oak, so I got out OK despite crawling through it and clearing as much as possible for her. She is doing OK with it so far, but she's got a fair amount of it. She can help elaborate on the use of Antihistamine to cut down on the spread of PO.
If you wanna do this canyon, call in an airstrike to flatten all the brush, then burn the remnants, then get a helo to drop you off at the top and cut your way down with chainsaws and machetes and flamethrowers. Bring a couple gallons of water, long pants and shirt sleeves, and some silly hats.
Special gear:
*1x 200ft 9.2mm Imlay Canyonero rope
*1x 70m 9.8mm Mammut dynamic rope (backup/pull cord)
*1x 12ft double-thickness retrievable webbing anchor (gives lots of extension, came in REALLY handy, very happy with it.
)*50ft or so webbing for anchors (only left one)
PS: This canyon needs a name.
I dont know how tall it is either, but remember something like 30ft. I think there was a tr on the internet this year about this canyon....someone going upcanyon for a short bit.
