Having not much vacation to spare I made the dash out to Ouray on Sunday (Aug 9) morning hoping that the weather would cooperate and I could get in a couple canyons and a bunch of socializing. I arrived in Ouray earlier than the rest of the crew crashing in the house procured by Rich R. so I systematically walked the entire town and then up to Cascade Falls. I’d only been to Ouray 3 times before and never for very long so it was all new(ish) to me.
Soon enough folks started to arrive at the house. Mike, Alane, Sonny, John and Rich held the CAC board meeting which I got to observe (and offer my unsolicited opinion on)… Then Marc (from France), Andy and Chris, Erik and Matt, and finally Tom J. 9 of us would be sleeping in the house so it was a “grab some floor” kind of affair. I snagged the laundry room – a spacious 3’x9’… At some point dinner and beer were procured and then lights out – everybody had plans to take advantage of the decent weather forecast for Monday.
With Tom J and Rich presenting the “American Canyoning Techniques Workshop” Andy, Chris and I donned packs and headed out to do Bear Creek. Based on the description in the guidebook which warned of significant class C hazards and unprotected and exposed downclimbs I was prepared for a significant mental challenge. We must have hit perfect conditions though, the flow was nice but not the frightfest I expected.
Like the few other canyons I have descended in Ouray, Bear starts with a lengthy uphill slog… but the scenery is mind blowingly beautiful. The trail follows an old mining/mule route cut out of the side of the canyon with tons of exposure. After ~1500’ of elevation gain in 2.1 miles we scrambled down into the creek, grunted into our neoprene and tromped off down canyon. It did not disappoint. Narrow and deep there were pools a plenty and lots of varied multi-colored rock. After the initial warm-up period our feet gained familiarity with the terrain and milky water and we fell into the zone of navigating obstacles.
Here are Andy and Chris in the Quartzite Corridor.
The rappels presented themselves and we overcame them without great difficulty until a bit of drama at the La Capella series of 3 drops. Here the anchor for the second rappel appeared to extend past a constriction between two boulders, but not when unweighted. A test pull revealed the rope perfectly pinched and I had to come back to the anchor (up stream) and re-rig it. Lesson learned! The rappel sequence is a gem though. 3 chained pools linked with short rappels, and bright blue water.
Chris going down the line:
The final 100’ rappel was another sweet one, going free for a portion before depositing you into a big pool right next to the hammering waterfall. Another couple hundred yards and the exit trail appears and quickly dumps you onto the highway. The 3 of us completed the canyon in 4.5hrs. Higher water could easily change this canyon into a much more serious endeavor.
Andy on the final rappel:
After de-rubberizing at the truck we headed down to Portland Creek to observe the end of the techniques seminar, then down to town for a beer an some food. That night was a gathering at the community center with more beer and snacks, lots of socializing, and a viewing of Last Of The Great Unknown. Another stroll back up the hill to the house and another snooze…
Tuesday morning brings a bad weather forecast complete with a flash flood watch. Some with big plans change them… our plan remains to do a leisurely trip through Portland Creek after a relaxed breakfast. Portland has a lengthy approach: park the car and walk 5 minutes on a trail. It is a very pretty canyon with some fun obstacles joined by hallways and then presents you with a neat series of 2 rappels.
Teamwork in Portland:
Alane at the end of a hallway in Portland Cr.
Not having to rush, the canyon turned into a skills session and we set up a guide line on the first rappel. After the raps and a short walk down canyon (with some tasty raspberries) we hiked back up to the cars and headed back to town.
Andy avoiding the pummeling waterfall
Rich was putting on a packrafting clinic and a bunch of us went to provide assistance at the “demo” part on a short/easy section of the Uncompahgre River just outside of Ridgeway. It was neat to see people from France, Spain and Germany try the little boats. Unfortunately, that was the end of my trip. The next morning as the others headed off to descend Corbett I returned to the Front Range.
-tom(w)
Ram
Thanks for the report. How goes the recovery Phillip?
Phillip Mills
That was me! And i’m Australian (living in Japan!
I wrote all about on FB but seeings i’m a bit late in replying here I’ll add it here too! And i’ll add a longer versions on canyonmag.jp one day.
Canyon 1 – Canyoner 0
So what happened?
I was down climbing a small waterfall in Bear Creek Canyon in Colorado of approximately 2.5 meter in height after the second rappel. During the down climb I slipped falling into the water. Hidden under this tiny waterfall was a perfectly placed rock at the right angle to fracture the left fibula and lateral malleolus and ended up having the whole foot bent left.
I managed to traction the ankle back into place within seconds of it happening (according to the ER Doc I did a pretty good job of 90% back into place) and was Sam Splinted in the water. The rest of the group continued down the canyon to get rescue whilst I spent the next 7 hours I was laid out on the edge of the canyon waiting for rescue to be pulled out.
Approximate times: Accident @ 13:00. Rescue arrived @ 19:30. Hauled out on a litter @ 21:00 and wheeled out on the trail around to the ambulance @23:00.
After flying back to Japan and having surgery, I now have a nice new scar of about 15cm where the plate was put in to fix the broken lateral malleolus and also they discovered that the left side ligament was torn so that was sutured back. On the right side only a small scar where they had to sutured the ligament back due to it being torn as well. All in all a pretty good job of wrecking my ankle.
Recovery is 2 weeks of not walking, followed by 6 weeks of waking with a boot and crutches to strengthen back the leg and then about 3 months of physiotherapy due to the multiple injuries. Good thing it’s the canyoning off season in Japan.
No words can express the gratitude, support and teamwork of the Ouray Mountain Rescue (http://www.ouraymountainrescue.com) who had to haul me out in a litter in the middle of the night and then wheel me down the mountain trail on slippery scree for just on 6 hours due to the complexity of the rescue. And yes it was their first full crew night rescue in a canyon for them. Was interesting being rescued instead of reverse of doing the rescue and training crews to rescue people (i’m a Rescue3 Trainer).
Also thanks to the Ouray EMT crew and the Montrose Memorial Hospital ER team. The system was so smooth.
A super huge thank you to all the canyoning team (Sonny Lawrence, Calius Lawrence, Marc Boureau, Jean Louis and his wife, Dan ‘Flash’ Halim and my wife Amaru Mills) who I was with, of all seasoned canyoners where everything moved like clockwork. Finally thanks to all of the canyoners at RIC who have offered support, help and everything else during the accident. It shows what a great community canyoners are.
Phillip
Splinted and dragged out of the water.
Wrapped all and ready for the long wait.
Broken Fibula (Lateral Maleous) and also the Talus has bee pulled out of alignment.
Ram
Awesome! Thanks. I heard there was an accident and rescue in Bear. Broken fib with a foot pointing in the wrong direction. One of those spots where you slide down a few feet. Below the 2nd rap maybe? Two went out, leaving the fella, a Yank living in Japan. Ouray SAR called in. First canyon rescue ever, for them, or so I heard. Short haul up that horrible slope and back to the pavement by 1 AM. All this is 2nd hand but from reliable sources as far as i am concerned. Any more on this?
Kevin
Sounds right to me. Late night for the guy, hauled him up the slope to the trail and back down. Said he iced his leg in the water the whole time Nice guy, think Adidas gave him some free gear.