"WARNING. Do not attempt the Black Hole descent. The conditions in the Black Hole have changed due to flash flood debris. Experienced canyoneers feel safe passage is not possible at this time. Safe retreat or rescue may not be possible...blah blah blah..." said the sign at the parking lot (and another one further down into the canyon we past). In 2003 the canyon became clogged with 70ft high log jams after a significant flash flood, turning an easy canyon into a very dangerous one overnight. While the canyon is still recovering, it is certainly passable and certainly a great adventure in its current form.
We hiked down a side canyon to join White Canyon, here already hundreds of feet deep. Evidence of fresh flooding abounded as slippery gooey mud and a waterline on the canyon walls. For over two miles there are no reasonable escapes. The canyon starts wide (maybe 20-40ft) with a gravel or mud bottom. Before long boulders and bedrock appear as the canyon narrows into its first slot filled with chocolatey-brown water. We put the wetsuits on and carefully secured gear in dry bags in anticipation of several very long swims.
The opacity of the water and slippery/squishy mud bottom made every step an adventure as you could not see what the next step might hold. Eventually we found ourselves at the top of a downclimb into a very obvious swim. I very ungracefully demonstrated to the other two how not to downclimb it (by mostly falling). As there would probably be no getting up this obstacle once we all got down, I told the other two to wait while I swam along the canal to make sure escape was possible. The chocolatey waters grew grosser with each turn and I made appropriate grunts and moans to warn Ryan and Sara of the joy they would soon be experiencing. Rocks had filled in the top of the slot so that it felt like I was swimming through a cave.
The waters went from frothy and loamy to being completely covered by a floating mat of organic debris including logs, twigs and pine needles with the distinct aroma of decay. I tried two methods- first: beached whale manuvers to crawl across the semi-floating mass, and then the more effective second: an icebreaker strategy (pushing the mass the either side and then quickly swimming through the gap before it closed up again). I then had to climb out of the cesspool, which proved tiring. I had never experienced anything like that. I called the other two to follow, then climbed to where I could enjoy watching them swim.
The canyon opened up for a while, then slotted again at the next turn in the canyon. It just kept going and going! This repeated three or four more times with some great swims in some dark slots and some fun downclimbs. We found a ledge to have lunch on in one of the darkest parts of a slot. Near the end we came across one log jam which thankfully was only about 9ft high and easily surmountable. The canyon then widened and it seemed like a good place to remove wetsuits.
After removing wetsuits, Sara and I napped in the canyon's shade as Ryan found an impressive trundling platform and let some large rocks rip with an echoing thunder. The exit was not nearly as straightforward as I expected and involved a precarious branch propped over a void and a couple slab climbs. At the end we came off the route (following other tracks that had veered off-route) and ended up climbing a loose 15ft 5.6 chimney to gain the rim. It was then a short walk back to the car. We drove down the dirt road to the mouth of White Canyon where we floated and relaxed in the warm backwaters of Lake Powell.
The exit
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