Tour de Watery Canyons

Question: Where to canyoneer in late August with scorching temperatures and possible afternoon monsoon rains?
Answer: Take a tour of short canyons that (hopefully) have water.

Five of us–my friend, my daughter, my niece, and my daughter’s friend–set out on that quest a week ago, Monday, Aug. 24. We first considered Upper Black Box but then decided against it due to large drainage area and 20 percent chance of afternoon rains. We opted instead to start with a canyon where we could be certain of water and cooler temps: Pleiades. We decided against wetsuits as the flow seemed likely to be moderate and the temperatures high. We were right on both counts. Although 95 in Moab, it was 82 at the trailhead. We started at 1 pm; it was cool in the water in the canyon but not cold.

Sammie and Kate are excited to roll!

Wade is pondering the beauties of Pleiades.

We rolled through it from TH to TH in 2.5 hours. We decided to hit Entrajo/Cluster Canyon on the way back to Moab.

It proved a nice little after-Pleiades snack and held some of the desired water. Temps were very high at 5 pm, but with a short approach, it was a good choice. The last rap off a tree should ideally be done with care and with a retrievable to avoid hurting the tree or leaving material. You could also hike up from the bottom again in about 10 minutes to grab any material you leave at the last rap. We met Ty from somewhere in the Midwest who had been wandering around the area all day hiking. He was pondering the beauty of the last drop and agreed to toss our rope down to us after we were done. What a great retrievable method! We offered him a rap, but he passed. He was something like 10 days into a 2-week vacation wandering around the area and deep in Zen. Well-done, Ty.

Back to Moab to the diner for dinner. Yum. Then over to Eardley in the Swell. I was worried about driving that road at night, but my Subaru Outback handled it like a champ, with an occasional scouter out of the car to examine the road ahead. Still, took a while to drive the thing in the dark and not my favorite moment.

Then, up early in the morning to tackle Eardley. We took a shortcut entrance that was 0.5 miles and 800 feet in elevation from the mouth of Eardley. The route is now well-documented and discussed over on bogley.com. I’m always anxious about new routes without a lot of beta, but this one was a winner. And Eardley was FULL! It was so much fun. A couple of us only did one rappel, the last one. The others were jump-ins, or slide-ins. This shortcut definitely makes Eardley a winner.

Jed triumphant at the base of the shortcut.

Jed and Wade perplexed at the last pool in Eardley. They had thrown the rope from where they gathered it at the base of the last rappel. It unexpectedly sank. Bummer. 15 minutes of diving yielded it, much closer to the edge than we thought. Note to self: Ropes don’t necessarily float.

Then it was 2 pm, hot as could be, and we were low on water. Should we do Zero-G? Sure. We’re here. It was a fun canyon, though we were tired and one of us didn’t like the high stem at the end, so didn’t really enjoy the last narrow squeeze.

Me at the last squeeze, about to come out of the slot and pendulum back into that hole.

And, back in Provo by 8 pm! Great trip.