Canyon Fun
Oh man did I need that. Rolled in to Moab late Sunday with little idea (in hind site)what I was in for. I had done one other canyon trip with Swill (aka Nephew Probe) and Uncle Dave (aka Pumphead) in Kanab. That trip was super fun and for the most part pretty easy, no water and a few rappels. My first hint of what was in store was as we were getting gear ready and Uncle Pumphead saw my pack and asked where my real pack was. Thankfully Dave is a gear head and had a more suitable pack for me to use. My previous tounge in cheek packing list was pretty close to being accurate. We had a lot of gear. The second hint was the name of the canyon we were entering in was called Constrychnine.
Right off the bat we drop in with a big rappel (100+ feet). From there it is all slot all the time. 4-5 rappels and a lot of chimney down climbs on this one. A few were pretty tight for Swill and me. For the most part I my height (6′7″) seems to be a plus in slot canyons but those tight chimneys are pretty rough. There was also a fair bit of water in this one. A few places were up to my chest and that meant Dave was swimming which annoyed him greatly and thus entertained Swill and I greatly. On the final rappel there was water at the bottom. Since slot water is not even remotely opaque there is no way of knowing how deep it is. Time to deploy Nephew Probe! Swill lands in water up to his waist, unhitches from the rope and take a step into a hole that is deeper than he is tall. Full swim time! Even though it was in the mid 80’s there is no sun in the canyon and we were all pretty cold. Thanks to the lesson learned from Swill, Uncle Dave and I were able to stay out of the water completely with only minor acrobatics. Thanks Swill!
6 hours (and less than 2 miles) later we were back at the car and ready to hit Ray’s in Green River for what have to be the best burgers anywhere. It is also about the only place I know that 3 guys covered in dirt smelling like slot water don’t even warrant a 2nd glance. Yup, a fine place indeed.
Next up The Black Hole….
