A Socorro friend just finished his MSc thesis and was keen for a trip. He had always wanted to give canyoning a try and I was all too willing to take him. He is an extremely capable climber and an expert hiker, the only minor hitch is he never learned to swim. I and he were both confident this would not be an issue as long as a lifejacket was always carried and used when needed. The original plan was to head to the Sedona area for some West Oak Creek canyons, but the Slide Fire which devastated the area a couple weeks before meant that another plan was needed. We decided to head to West Clear Creek for some of the tributary canyons, then head on to Zion where we would meet up with Ryan and Leigh. Dave offered up his fuel efficient Honda Fit as transport which I was pretty sure could handle most of the forest roads in the area. It was past 11p local time by the time we arrived and threw out sleeping bags.
Our first stop was Bear Canyon, a short and mostly sweet beginner's classic for the area. We strolled downhill through the open conifer forest, eventually crossing through the Kaibab Limestone which caps the plateaus in the area, and into the underlying Coconino, the magic canyon-forming cross-bedded sandstone. We walked and scrambled out way down the lush wash, enjoying the columbine. The walls began to build and narrow. We downclimbed the first minor drop and shortly on came to a canyon spanning pothole which marked the obvious place to suit up.
Dave, who had never put on a wetsuit before, struggled to fit into my extra which was an exceptionally tight fit. Some hope was restored as the suit stretched slightly in the water and the cold pool made it obvious the suit was a necessity for comfort. We rappelled once or twice and there were several short swims to complete. The canyon narrowed up impressively but almost as fast as it started it spit us back out. We opted for the steep but direct exit up the gully on the true right, the most direct route back to the car. It was still early by this point so we remained in wetsuits.
We then drove on a half mile down the road to start the hike into Sundance Canyon, Bear's bigger sister. We threw in some food and stocked up on rope for the canyon's grand finale. A reasonably long boulder scramble in the wash finally lead us to some bedrock features, and then the canyon. It started slow, and like Bear, felt very short. The last hundred feet or so was excellent though. An interesting keeper pothole required balancing across thin logs to escape.
Then the slot abruptly ends at a steep 200 foot drop, the bottom 150
foot or which was freehanging. This had quite a serious air to it
considering the relatively mild build up in the canyon previously. It
was a beautiful rappel, one of the best I had done in a while. It
dropped us near the edge of a pool, surrounded by 300 foot cliffs in a
lush grotto area.
Once the rope was pulled and we were done enjoying this fantastic spot, a short stroll through the vegetation led us to our first encounter with West Clear Creek. What a pretty spot! Red-orange Coconino cliffs contrasted well with the green conifers and deciduous trees, the creek itself lined with a dozen types of vegetation, including the best blooming columbine I have seen anywhere. We found a nice spot to strip the wetsuits in the sun and had a snack at a nice campspot in the shade.
A short walk down West Clear Creek led us to the steep escape trail, especially brutal in the warm early afternoon heat and with the heavy pack I was carrying. After a sweaty half hour, we were back on top. We smashed the times we thought the canyons would take us and now were left with nearly half a day left. We decided to drive towards Wilbur Canyon, our plan for tomorrow, and decided whether we wanted to continue the marathon and try for three canyons in a day. The roads towards Wilbur were considerably rougher. The Fit made it as far as it could, which meant an extra 4 mile roundtrip roadwalk. Dave and I were both feeling good we could smash the estimated time for Wilbur so off we went for round three. A long two mile walk, then a steep bash down the hill, then a surprisingly long wash stroll. All this finally led to the dramatic start, a 80 foot rap into a dark and twisting slot.
Several more drops and swims in rapid succession satisfied us. Thankfully this canyon was a bit longer and more interesting than the other two. We were even getting a little cold with all the swims. The final three drops in the canyon follow a single long joint that spit us out into an absolutely beautiful stretch of West Clear Creek. Lush, green, pristine reflections. To our surprise the water was exceptionally warm compared to the canyon, which made the short wade upstream incredibly pleasant. Here everything was quite apart from the babbling of the creek and occasional song of birds. Water ouzels periodically led us upstream.
Fortunately some well-placed cairns signaled our steep and loose escape route
out of the valley. Once again we fought gravity for 40 minutes or so
until we reached the top just on dusk- excellent timing! We strolled the
2+ miles back to the car without incident. What a great day! Three
canyons (a record for me) on Dave's first day of canyoning- I could tell
we were going to have a great time the next few days!
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