Karl, Rachel and I were free on Rachel's spring break. The plan was to head north into the cold, snowy and less inhabited region we in the States call... Canada. The Wapta Travers had been calling to Karl with whispers of good snow, long days, and few people. But alas, the avalanche conditions were deteriorating rapidly and we opted to not only change plans but to go, quite literally, in the opposite direction, south. Southern Utah. The land of red soil, free roaming cattle, and canyons. It's the canyons that keep us coming back to this place. It's magical in so many ways. But after a long, sketchy winter the lure of warm days and sun are a strong pull away from the predictably sad weather of the Northwest in spring.
This particular trip was a 4-5 day loop. Down White Canyon, right into Long Canyon, out the side of White and into the top of Gravel Canyon, down Gravel and out to White Canyon back to the car. The trip is essentially a circumnavigation around the Jacob's Chair rock formation which is a spectacle in its own right.The wonderful part of this particular canyon trip is the variety. There are wide, sandy bottomed canyons with huge vertical walls, cold water wading through narrows, 70ft rappels, lots of stemming and chimneying, plenty of water (when we were there), long overland sections with interesting route finding problems, and ruins.
There are also quite a few side canyons that offer great exploring opportunities should one feel so inclined.
Day 1:Left the car in the mid morning heading down the wide and sandy White Canyon. After about an hour or so we reached the confluence with Long Canyon. Almost immediately after heading up Long Canyon we came upon the water section in the second photo. I volunteered to scope it out as you couldn't see around the corner to where the exit was. The reason you couldn't see the exit was because there was no exit. The slot ended in a pour-off that was unclimbable. After closer inspection of the guide book, it clearly states that the route skirts this water hole to the left on a relatively obvious cattle trail. We were all a little too excited to jump right in. Most of Long Canyon is fairly wide and easy traveling with some fun exploring up side canyons. The day went by pretty fast and weather gave us the warmth that we had come for. Karl found a wonderful campsite on a little perch above the canyon floor, out of the reach of any potential flood waters and unexpectedly out of the wind that was raging the trees higher on the canyon rim.
Day 2:Karl and Rachel went to fill water while I scoped out the exit out of Long Canyon so we could continue on with the overland portion of the route. The route wasn't super obvious but we found a good option and by mid morning had popped out of the canyon onto the flat, Juniper strewn flats of the Utah desert. Most of Day two consisted of overland travel and route finding. There was more than one correction in travel plans and Rachel was the winner of the day, determining where we were supposed to be going. With a few sketchy scrambles and traverses, we
were passed the hard part of the day and onto the grueling section of ORV roads and signs of motorized activity. It's always a little disappointing to walk for two days in the wilderness in an attempt to escape the madness of modern life only to stumble upon a group of people on quads burning more fuel and making more noise than a Sunday evening monster truck rally at your local speedway. After a somewhat interesting and committing scramble down a loose and dirty chute we found our way into the top of Gravel canyon. The camp site was amazing. Not particularly beautiful. No great view. No water. BUT, the sleeping spot I found on the rock was more comfortable than my bed at home. With only a thin closed cell foam pad (ridgerest) I could sleep in any position and I was extremely comfortable. I'm not sure how that worked but it did and I was greatful for the quality sleep.
Day 3:Woke up to nice skies and decided to pump water while we could. The day consisted of numerous slots and some great fun. An amazing day for sure. Too much to recount. We decided not to do the "super crux" as we weren't sure of the equipment requirements and we were caring only 40 meters of rope, 15 extra meters of webbing and and a few full length runners. All-in-all a great day. It started to get a little colder that evening and a brisk wind began blowing on the upper sections of the canyon walls. We scoped out a flatter section of slick rock and set up camp. I had to put on every piece of clothing I had to stay warm. Why did we come south again?
Day 4:Cold temperatures and amazing scenery. Most of the day was spent above the slots which led to fast travel and unique scenery. Came across some amazing ruins that were not described in the guide book which was an amazing surprise, thanks to the authors for keeping hush and letting the adventurous to discover such things for themselves. There were some great wonderful slots with enormous vertical walls but generally wider than previous canyons. With the weather maintaining its ominous presence we hunkered down earlier in the day than we had expected. Despite the cooler temperatures, the clouds we could see blowing over the rim of the canyon quickly dissapated, giving us some hope for a warmer weather the following day.
Day 5:We lucked out. The weather wasn't hot but certainly warmer than the previous day and the sun was poking through the scattered clouds. We knew we had a larger rappel this day but weren't positive we would have the length of rope necessary given the description in the guide book. We knew it would be close. After some more wonderful scenery and few slots, we came upon the rap station and a few previous parties' anchors. We opted to have Karl belay me into the canyon using the full 40 meters of rope at which point I could check the length for their rappels. After tying a knot in the end, the tails of the rope JUST barely touched the ground. Now that's gear planning. Or getting really lucky. There was a second but much shorter free rap and then more hiking in sandy bottomed canyons. The final crux came in the form of a water section that was described as being a swim in the guide. None of us were looking forward to being emersed in the fridged waters that often occupy the water holes in the bottom of the slots. A crotch numbing exploration led to the discovery that the pool was only waist deep and we wouldn't have to go for a swim which was a welcome development. Given that it was still relatively early in the day and we only had a few miles to to go, we dediced, with visions of milk shakes and hamburgers, to finish a day earlier than we had planned and drive to Moab for dinner. An easier than expected hike out got us to the car, changed, and on the road by late afternoon.
The mexican food dinner was delicious but the Moab camping situation was crouded and loud. The transition back to "reality" is always difficult after not seeing people for 5 days.
