Other – AZ Winter Canyoneering – Bradshaws, Mazatzals, Sierra Ancha

We have it rough here in Arizona. There is never a break where we cannot do canyons. We did take a couple week break after returning from Freezefest due to lots of snow. Then the cold temperatures mellowed and canyons started flowing so we headed south from Flagstaff. Here are the canyons we have done in the last few weeks.

First was Castle Creek in the Bradshaws with Nick, Wes and Christine. It is directly across from Sunset Point on I-17. This is a rarely descended canyon. This has been on the list to do for a while but we knew it was a 4WD road. With the recent acquisition of a Toyota 4Runner, we were set. The 6 mile drive in from the good dirt road was really, really rough. It was quite a test of the vehicle. I credit the 2″ front lift and AT tires with making it to the trail head. From where we parked we could see a big waterfall so knew we were in for a treat.

From there it up an old trail until the trail reaches the creek. Luckily there had been a fire recently that burned away most of the brush (catclaw) so the hike was relatively easy by AZ standards.

It was fun descent with lots of anchor building and fiddlesticking.

The top of the final drop
The final drop is quite spectacular and it is a short hike back to the car from the bottom.

Nest weekend Wes, Christine and I headed down to Punkin Center area to do Parallel Play in the Mazatzals. We camped right at the trail head in new green grass with a babbling brook. Once again, up a trail into the mountains.

It took some route finding through the catclaw until we reached another burned area and relatively clear going up the big mountain.

2 1/2 hours later we are in the creek and starting down.
The big rappel 265′ is in the middle of the canyon sown a dispersed waterfall into a dark hole.

Mandatory swims
The technical section ends and the endless boulder hopping begins.
The canyon finally opens and we can escape onto a bench and navigate through fairly open catclaw back to the car. this was a 9 hour day. Camp another night then head back to Flagstaff.

Next weekend we were enticed by pictures of Parker Canyon with decent flow. We headed down, camped near Roosevelt Lake and did Parker on Saturday.

I had done Parker a couple times, but this was a different canyon with the flow. Really fun and wet.

This is not a remote, rarely done canyon. We passed a 2 other groups in the canyon
Wes is clearly enjoying the day
Wes is in the waterfall. Look for the bright green glove.
Wes on the last drop
The view on the hike back to the car. This is nice since you can park at the canyon mouth(with the right vehicle) and it is short nice exit back to the car.

Back to Flagstaff and skiing on Sunday.