Kelsey missed it, this little west fork of the Leprechaun system. I find it delightful, with half a dozen little drops and fun movement. The perfect little warm up before going out to the Glen, with the Merry Men of Murray. having been in the mountains for the summer, this was to be my first canyoneering since May and i don’t know about the rest of you, but I need a warm up canyon to get my canyon legs back. Get a feel for those angles that make movement through the slot easy and fluid. jenny felt the same and joined me for the afternoon.
It was nice to see the first anchor webbing extended out past the lip. There was water to the waist in this normally dry canyon. at the confluence with Shimrock, we encountered graffiti of the most banal type. We rubbed it out with a wet sandy gravel mixture as best we could. WHY someone would need to be told to go down canyon at a confluence is beyond me and then later at the confluence of East andMmain Leprechaun, Chrism, the one directed added his name. Deep sigh.
Anyway, the boulder section right above Belfast boulevard continues to be unstable. The crawl through is smaller than last year and nearly undoable for folks my size (6’1″, 185lb). Fortunately, the rocks for the climb over look in easier condition than normal. I have seen the section of boulders shift a few times a year for years. Treat with respect.
Finally, I had heard that the little subway narrows below the confluences can hold water after storms and in fact be a swimmer and remain so for weeks. I can now confirm that from first hand experience. In fact, there is two swimmers, separated by some sand. love to know how long it will remain this way. The air temp was warm and the water not to bad as of a few weeks back. Some pictures
At the Shim-Sham confluence
After erasing it some
At the East-Main confluence-thanks Chris
1st swim LUC
2nd swim LUC
after 2nd swim, still in the water LDC
warming up
VillainousTurtle
Cool images! I like the one where the canyon is fluted and enclosed. Any luck scrubbing off all that second graffiti with the ALB blimp thing and Chris? Some friends and I are hoping to be down that way soon and would like a good beginner route, how hard is this?
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Ram
about the same results. Better, but not perfect. Enjoy the trip and post a TR when you are back
Erik B.
We saw the mud in the first pothole in shimrock and moved along to something else. I was still really surprised to see the photos of the significant swimmers. Yikes!
Ram
We might have moved on too had we seen water below the first drop. But we were sucker punched, as it were. No water under the first drop or for 50 feet beyond…then water everywhere and the climb out that first drop is stiff. As it turns out, the water was as warm as the day, so we were glad to get hooked into it.
Sandstone Addiction
Beautiful pics Ram, thanks for sharing!