With the Angels Landing trail closed due to collapse, thus starting Imlay from Lava Point, it makes sense to do the full Imlay, as much as I am not as fond of the top half as of the bottom half. With thunderstorms almost every day in the previous week, it would be full, and fairly warm. That huge flood on July 11th might have brought a few changes to the canyon, what would we find?
We on this adventure was Cassy Brown from Springdale, Mike Cressman from Henderson, Sara Morger from the City of Salt, Kate Duffy from Flagstaff, Ali Miller from Columbus and Tom J from Mt Carmel. Pictures this Rave by Mike Cressman and Sara Morger, and a few from my camera.
Cassy leading the pack with a smile!
A 5:40 am start brought delightful temps for the walk to Potato Hollow. We dropped in at the actual head of the canyon, FiddleSticking off a tree, then several short raps down the watercourse. The Potato Hollow spring is dry, so this section was just a bit wet, and did not include the waist-deep pool I had found previously this way. We made our way to the long rap down the upper headwall just as the day was heating up. Down into the shade… ah…
The upper Imlay has a bit of brush and is mostly shaded, and with the recent rain was lush and beautiful. Many short rappels, many swims and deep wades (refreshing), but also slow-going as wading and swimming is slower than plain hiking. The time slipped away as we worked our way downcanyon. What looked like log soup ahead prompted us to finally put on wetsuits… kinda of a false alarm. Eventually we arrived at the Crossroads area and calculated the time – if we wanted to catch the last bus (9:15) we need to hustle. But first, Log Soup!
Sara enjoying log soup
Thankfully, the log soup was short, and dispatched with vigor. Like the upper section, the lower was full full full – fuller than I have ever done it. Seems like the big flood three weeks before had also moved a bunch of logs around (or out), and put a lot of sand in at places. Many changes to the canyon, but full as it was, relatively fast. Certainly there were not problems escaping potholes.
Terminal Narrows, close to the end
We got to the end on schedule, rapped down our rabbits who dashed downstream to make the last bus (2) and then the oops bus (1). Tom Mike and Cassy walked out a bit slower, Mike complaining every time either of us got close enough to hear… Our rabbits drove back in to pick us up. 5:40 am to 9:30 pm (for me).
Fetching the car at Lava… ugh. Then the drive home, interrupted by an hour nap at the North Fork Road for me… a fine day out in the wild with fine friends!!
srosander01
We should have 100′ plus of webbing in our combined packs. Replacing worn webbing at anchors where needed shouldn’t be a problem.
Alex Temus
Sounds like a majority of the rappels are pretty short, and the longest is 165-ish. For a group of 6, what ropes would you recommend to move quickly and do the canyon in a day?
2 – 120ft
1 – 200ft
and a pull?
ratagonia
Longest rap, the headwall rap, is 170 feet. Last rap is 110 feet. No other raps in the canyon are… well, no raps in the lower half (the Sneak half) are longer than 60 feet, except the one going into the bivy spot (through the two pools) which is about 60 feet, but you need another 10 feet at least to get to the place you pull it from.
For full Imlay, 6 people, I recommend:
1 – 175′ or more.
3 x 120′
Tom
ratagonia
There is “the usual spot” under a big overhang, but the quality of that spot varies widely as at times it is wonderful soft flat sand, and other times yicky gravelly mixed with mud. Still a good spot because there is a kinda flat slickrock place to cook, and a pool there that usually has good water and is easy to pump from. If doing the Sneak route, you can get there without doing any rappels or swims… or you can suit up and follow the watercourse and do a short fun section of canyon.
Tom
srosander01
Late morning start and we are embarking from Lava Point, so bivy it will be. We want to get the full route experience for our first Imlay descent. I’ll have my camera in my shiny new PicPocket that I received so expeditiously…so thank you for the great gear! We’ll be hoping for clear skies, strong anchors, and great memories. Cheers!
ratagonia
With all this rain, the anchor webbing gets pounded. In Imlay, people are usually in a hurry and/or cold, and pass on the anchor maintenance. Would be great if you brought a bunch of webbing and took the time to replace the worst of the anchor webbings.
Tom
srosander01
With the water levels being so full in August, would you expect that the canyon will retain a significant amount of water through mid-October? Does this canyon tend to drop water levels pretty quickly?
ratagonia
Imlay tends to lose water fairly quick. At least to the extent that it is unlikely to stay in the “full, pretty easy” condition for more than a couple weeks (at most), and will soon be in the “kinda full, only 4-6 pothole escapes” condition for a while after that (assuming dryish weather from here on out).
Tom
srosander01
Thanks for the response. I’ll plan on being prepared for lower water levels. Any tips on finding a good bivy spot near the crossroads area? We are planning on an overnight trip to bag this canyon, and want to make it as smooth as possible.