THE MORNING
After looking forward to our last canyoneering trip of the year, it finally arrived. The weather had been unseasonably warm all through November... until the 2 days immediately prior to our trip. However, the forecast called for sun on the days we would be out, and we had people coming in from out of state to go with us, so we went for it. It was... an adventure.
We stayed up till almost 3 am the night before, and woke up at about 545 to meet our group at Cabelas by 6:30. Our out of state friend Dan got a nice camper for the weekend so we didnt have to tent in the cold, and was bring his Tom Car we can use as a shuttle. When we pulled up to them in the Cabelas parking lot, I noticed that the camper was about twice the size of any I had ever been in before. At the time, I was excited because that meant I could actually stand up and move around in it. As I was leading the way in my little Mazda, I realized one of the downsides of such a large trailer. Instead of the time frame I had planned (based of driving my car down there), I would have to creep slowly along so Dan could keep up, and that would give us a later start time than I planned.
We headed down Hwy 6 and then got on UT 24. I kept Dan in my rear view mirror, and its a good thing, as I was just about to realize another downside of the huge camper. 9 Miles from Hanksville, Dan was out of gas. Oh well, just another 35 minutes as I run in to the gas station, buy and fill a gas can, and head back. That got them to the station, where he filled up and we were on our way.
We pulled off 95 and started driving in when I realized another downside to the size of or mobile Motel 6. The past 2 days of rain turned that road in to nothing better than goo. We found a spot on the side of the road about 2 miles in that would suit our needs and pulled off. Before long, both my Mazda and Dan in his camper were stuck. Dan started to pull the truck out from under the trailer when it promptly sunk about 5 inches, making it impossible to get the truck back underneath it. After a few minutes of brainstorming, we realized there isnt anything we could do about it now- so we ought to just head out and have some fun, and deal with the trailer in the morning when the ground is frozen.
THE APPROACH
By this time it was about 1:15, so I thought, alright- lets do Leprechaun. We did this canyon just a month ago, and it took us about 4, maybe 4.5 hours. That time around, it was just 3 experienced people, but we started from the bottom, doing the uphill approach that took maybe an hour and a half, plus it was the 4th canyon in 2 days. I thought- even though we have 7 people, we are all fresh, and wont have that long approach. 3, maybe 4 hours, and we should be just at the exit hike as it gets dark. So we went to set up our shuttles for Leprechaun.
I had been in the area twice in the last couple of months and done 6 canyons around here, but had never been on the road up behind the drainages. The route to the upper trailhead seemed simple, and with the help of a Topo. Just before 2pm, we set off across the desert. After wandering for what seemed like longer than we should have, Marissa yelled down from the top of a ridge to the rest of the group that she found a canyon.
I ran up there with her and I was immediately let down. I remembered exactly what to look for to make sure we were at Leprechaun, and this certainly was not it. I figured we may have navigated a little off track, and thought we were at the Middle Fork of Leprechaun. The Middle Fork has big red flags on every route description that it is very difficult, and perhaps impossible for anyone over 180 lbs or so. That ruled me out for sure. Everyone also warns about this area to not drop in to ANY drainage unless you are positive you know where you are. I could see the narrow slot from the rim we were on, and then noticed a few boulders slung for an anchor to reach the next ridge down. I headed across the rim from there and saw another anchor, and my first thought was- yep, we are for sure at the Middle Fork, and there is the second finger. It is 3:15 or so MAYBE we can make our way over the rim in decent time and still do the Right Fork of Leprechaun as planned. It will be a much later start than I wanted, but it is an awesome canyon and I really wanted our group to see it. We had headlamps, and the tempature wasnt bad at all.
THE CANYON
After about 5 seconds, I started to get confused. I HAD been here before. That second anchor was unmistakable. I glanced down the route of the rappel and was even more positive I had seen this area and done that rappel. Studying farther down canyon from this angle, and looking to the head of the narrow slot below, I knew it. Somehow, we had wandered almost a full mile farther west than we wanted, missed not only the Right Fork of Leprechaun, but the Middle and Left Fork, as well as the Right Fork of Blarney, and ended up at the Left Fork of Blarney. We did that canyon less than 3 months ago. Both Marissa and I, as well as her little brother Daniel did that canyon, and both were with the group now, so I said to them 'you've got to be kidding me- this is BLARNEY'. Immediately both Marissa and Daniel surveyed the terrain and agreed with 100% certainty. I remembered helping their cousin on this rappel because it is a very mild rappel with an easy start- perfect to teach a beginner. Also, there was a little downclimb I took a picture of Marissa on, and it ended with about a 4 ft jump in to the soft sand. Everything matched up. There is no way another canyon could match so perfectly. This had to be Blarney, but I just couldnt imagine how we wandered THAT far off course...
In a way I was releaved. This canyon took us about 3.5 hours, and that was starting from the bottom. Although we had a bigger group- most of us were experienced, and we were already at the head of the slot. Knowing we would absolutely not have time to navigate our way back to Leprechaun, and possibly not even find our way back to the truck, we decided- lets just drop in and do this canyon. It is a fun one, and shorter, which is a big thing since we were running out of daylight. We all decided we wanted to have some fun to make the morning worth while, so we started to gear up and planned to drop in.
As the gear came out, we realized that one member of our group forgot his harness. Jeez. What else could happen. There were only a few rappels in the canyon, so, although not ideal, we thought about sending a harness back up after a rappel, but already pressed for time, that could be too much of a hassle. Luckily, Dan remembered how to make a Swiss Seat harness out of webbing. He worked on that as I set up the rappel.
Things were finally going ok. From what we had seen so far, everything was dry, so that is a good sign. We got to the second rappel set up and sent Marissa down. Half way down, she stops and says 'Oh no- there is a TON of water down here....... Just kidding'. Wow Marissa- real funny. Anyway, we were in a really cool section, and starting to have fun. The canyon had a slightly different feel than last time.
Of course, it didnt take too long until things got complicated again. We did start to run in to some water. We thought we should all stay dry, so we took extra time to stem over. After a few of these sections, they got more difficult to stem over, and were at the bottom of bigger downclimbs. At first, Nate, Dans brother in law, and me, volunteered to get wet and give shoulder rides to keep the rest of the group dry. It seemed that every downclimb ended with a pool, and there wasnt much in between one wade and the next. First shin deep, then knee deep, back to shin deep, up to waste deep... We saw more and more water as the sun, and the temperature, kept dropping. No one had wet suits or anything, although myself and a couple others had neoprene socks.
Eventually we got to the final rappel- which I remember was a tricky start for some, and took us a while even last time, in the middle of the day and only 4 people. Also, the first time through- this section was very deep and dark. And that was late summer, in the early afternoon, while the rest of the canyon had that beautiful orange glow from the sun. This time around, it was getting dark and already gloomy. I saw there was water at the bottom, so even though Nate was new to canyoneering, he got the hang of it quick, and we sent him down first to test the waters, since he was already wet. He said it was about the same as any other section we had been through, waist deep. We all got down this and it was getting darker faster. We all put our headlamps on, although we only had 5 between the 7 of us. And just after we put them on, Dans son dropped his in one of the pools. It wasnt too deep there, but the light died shortly after hitting the water and we couldnt find it. Oh well, lets move on and get out of this thing.
It was more of the same, but I could swear that somehow it was twice as long as the first time through. Downclimb, wade, wade, wade, wade, downclimb, wade, downclimb... it was DEFINITELY longer than the first time. After a ways, there was the longest downclimb of the canyon, with a rather big looking pool at the bottom. I was leading the way, and the downclimb was no problem, but as I got to the bottom, I kept easing my feet a little lower to reach the ground and start walking, but the ground was nowhere to be found. I was holding myself up by my elbows, dangling my feet, and was about waist deep already, but as I slowly inched a little deeper, I remembered - hey, I cant swim... I sure hope this isnt too much deeper... wait a second... that kinda freaks me out. I knew if worse come to worse, I COULD swim far enough. The pool was probably 20 feet across, which means at MOST maybe 15 feet before the ground started to reach toward the surface and I can walk again. However, getting all the way in the water, splashing around in my pathetic attempt to swim, COMPLETELY soaking myself, and likely swallowing a bunch of this nasty water was not the ideal solution. As I sat there holding myself up on my elbows, I yelled for Nate to get to the head of the group and help me. It is quite difficult to move ahead of someone else in this canyon because it is so narrow, so it took him a while to get to me. Just before Nate began the downclimb, I couldnt grip the walls anymore, and made the final slip. For a micro second my heart stopped, but then I felt the comfortable and familiar feel of solid (well, mushy) ground below my feet. This was already deeper than any other wade so far, reaching about 3 inched above my belly button, but it was likely to get deeper in the middle before it got better. Since I was already standing, I was able to spot Nate on this downclimb since it was rather difficult. Guess its a good thing too, because if I was still trying to hold my position, there is no way Nate could have passed me and got in front. We danced around each other as he took the lead to test the depth. One small step in front of the other, we made it through. For Nate and I, the depth reached just above armpit level for me. Good news- except for Nate and I are 6 foot plus, and half the group is under 5'4...
Quickly, Nate and I decided that I would forge ahead at full speed to scout out any other major difficulties, since he wouldnt know how to handle them, and he would stay and help the group across this deep pool, since it is too narrow for both of us to stay and help. By this time, the sky was pitch black, not that you could see to the sky anyway, since the canyon was so deep and narrow here. I went ahead for maybe 25 minutes, remembering from last time that all the major dificulties SHOULD be behind us. Soon enough I got to a large flat boulder laying across the cayon just like a table. I recognized this spot from before and thought this was near the end of the canyon. I sat there for a minute to think and rest.
After a very brief rest, I realized how much colder I got as I sat still in the open, with my soaking wet clothes and the canyon being wide enough to allow even the slightest breeze. I decided I would leave the rope and my pack here so I could make good time getting back to the rest of the group, and help get them out. I thought it was time to forget keeping everyone dry, we needed to get out of this canyon because the temps were dropping quicker as the sun had been down for a while. Eventually I heard the muffled noise from our group around the next bend, and saw the reflections of some headlamps. From here, we all made decent time to the boulder I rested at. We re-grouped and made a plan. Dan and Nate would run ahead as fast as possible so they could pick up the Tom Car and we can get back to the truck.
THE EXIT
From here, there was nothing difficult. A couple more wades, nothing deep, a downclimb, and we were doing good. Just as we started to dry out a little, we hit one last wade that was waste deep for me. No way around it, everyone got wet again. Despite Dans plan to run ahead with Nate, they didnt make it too far, which was a good thing, because I just realized the shuttle vehicle was left at Leprechaun, and we were coming out of Blarney. The two drainages are not too far apart, and I was able to catch them and tell them to hang a left when they hit the highway, and the next drainage will be were the Tom Car is waiting. The only difficult thing left in the canyon was a normally simple downclimb. I got more stuck than I ever had been in a canyon before. I wasnt too worried, just rather annoyed. Marissa had to climb over and lift the 11 year old in our group out of the way. Still with her help it took a few minutes. I told her to just grab my pack strap and yank me back as hard as possible. I barely budged. I am sure glad I am not really claustraphobic, but not being able to move is a little unsettling. Eventually she pulled me back far enough I could slip one strap of my pack off over my shoulder with her help, then the other, and that was that. No more problems. We made our way out the drainage, with Dan and Nate no where in site. Before long we hit the highway.
Once at the highway, we talked a little bit about our plan. We never discussed it with Dan, so we thought- OK lets head North, towards the turn off where the truck is parked and away from the Tom Car at the bottom. We walked a little, but the breeze was too much with all of our wet clothes and gear. Deciding to stop, we just stood close to each other on the side of the highway. Soon David, Dans son, was certain it was their Tom Car. I thought way too much time had gone by and they should be on their way to the truck. Sure enough, it was them in the Tom Car. We all piled in, 7 of us in the open 4 seat vehicle. We headed up the road with the wind stinging through our wet clothes, all of us huddling together as close as possible as Dan quickly told us of the latest chapter of our difficulties. Apparently they had reached the Tom Car and started it with no problems at all. The windshield was covered in mud, so as Dan hit the windshield wipers to clean it off, a fuse blew and the Tom Car died. Right away Dan knew the problem because it had happened before, and he had recently bought a box of fuses, but was positive he left them in the truck. As they discussed any possible back up plans, Dans headlamp happen to catch a glare off... the box of fuses! Apparently he had forgot to put them in the truck. They replaced the fuse, it started up and they were on their way.
So here we were, heading up 95 smashed together in a 4 seater, all soaking wet. Oh, and the Tom Car was just about out of gas. We decided when we got to the turn off for the truck, Dan and I would drop the rest of the group and go to pick up the truck, since I was most familiar with the area. It was fun flying up the dirt road on the Tom Car, despite the chilling wind. Shortly we found the right turn and headed off. Couldnt be more than a half mile from here. Dan hopped in the truck, and I drove the Tom Car. We at least head to get to the main dirt road to have room to hitch the Tom Car to the truck. When we reached the road, I thought, lets just go- make as good as time as possible. I am having fun driving this thing anyway. 5 minutes in to the drive, I realized that no matter how much I tried, I could not even budge the frozen fingers of my right hand that were gripping the steering wheel. It puzzled me how calmly I thought to myself - if i lose a hand, I want to lose my left hand. Using my left fist as somewhat of a mallet, I hit my right wrist from the bottom enough to get it off the steering wheel and finish the drive. Obviously, the worry of losing my hand was no different than any of the others- just my mind planning for the worse case scenario. We quickly reached to junction of the dirt road and the highway and began hitch the Tom Car. At first Dan couldnt find the right pins for his hitch, but we found some other pins, and with the aid of a Zip Tie, hitched it all up and headed out.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group decided to leave the highway and the breeze running along it, and huddled down off the road next to a tree. They were getting colder and colder. Everyone was snuggling up. Daniel was freezing, and Marissa was really worried about him so she took off his wet shoes and socks, because luckily he managed to keep a spare pair of socks dry, so he put those on. They finally made use of the 3 dollar emergency space blankets we kept in the packs, and just as Marissa was entertaining the akward thought that perhaps, if we didnt get there soon, she would have to take her wet pants off, and her brothers wet pants off, and share the emergency blanket, she saw headlights approaching. She didnt know it was us, but didnt care, and ran up the little hill towards the highway, probably faster than she has ever run before. From our perspective in the truck, we saw some lights illuminating a dead looking tree off the road, and then a flashing and moving light heading towards us. This had to be them, so we slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road.
THE HAPPY ENDING
We were all OK. I had to carry Daniel to the truck since he wasnt wearing shoes and his feet were freezing, but before long, with the whole group shoved in the truck and the heater pumping at full blast, we were OK. After all of this- it was only 8 pm, though the sun had disappeared about 3 hours ago. As the survival instinct wore off and we reviewed the day, we realized that no one had really eaten a thing all day. After we all changed in to dry clothes, except for Dan, we got back in the truck and headed in to Hanksville, with the thought of enjoying a meal at Stans Burger Shack in the Chevron. The 20 minute drive went by and we headed in to the gas station. It was now about 8:50 as I saw the sign displaying the Burger Shack hours of 10am to 8pm. However, it seems our luck had changed because the manager of the gas station asked us if we wanted some food, and after a round of enthuisastic YES'es, he opened the place back up to let us order. Maybe it was Dan, still in all his wet clothes AND his helmet with headlamp attached, or maybe he could just tell how exhausted we all were. As I stood at the counter ordering, the place was complete empty except for our group, and the two kids running the burger joint. All of a sudden, the old juke box in the corner turned on, and started blasting Justin Timberlake and flashing lights. I looked around to chastise my wife for wasting money in the juke box, but she was no where to be found. I was pretty confused by this, so the kid taking my order explained that the juke box will randomnly turn itself on and play a random song. Since this was one of Marissa's favorite songs, I couldnt stop laughing at how ridiculous this all seemed at the end of our day. After eating my absolutely delicious burger and cheese sticks, and everyone else had gotten some food, we finally were able to realize how much fun we had!
