ADAM HAYDOCK

Nevada continues to provide a basis for exploration in the mountains where so many look but so few ever seek out. 

A cave called zero is just another interesting karst feature that turned into something interesting here in the Nevada desert. 

I did an initial exploration up into the the area that appeared to have a cave and found a large grotto feature with two holes in the ceiling. 

This obviously needed to be explored so we created a team to come back and get into this high lead. 

we had to bolt climb into this lead and found a couple of hypogenic rooms. 

The back room resembled a very nice cupola and a great example of hypogenic activity here in the region. 

The rooms are decorated and had some nice features inside. 

We left the bolts and hangers in place as well as master point anchors at the top. 

make sure you check all the bolts and inspect the anchorage before placing your life on them. 

we rigged for exploration and not for a trade route. 

There were a couple other leads that we checked out right next to this lead. 

We left one more potential lead that could go so we will see if anyone ever gets back to this area to climb.

I hope this next lead gets checked soon. 

People are going to be who they are and we cant stop them from doing whatever they plan on doing unless we are actually there. 

That being said, I want our canyoneering community to enjoy these amazing places and have opportunities to see such wonderful places. 

numerous rappels up to 120 ft.  We brought a 200 ft rope and a pull cord to fiddle. 

You can hike from the west rim or hike from the river up a break to gain access int this canyon. 

make sure you bring extra webbing and rapides if you venture into this canyon

this is a documented descent of an unpublished canyon.

We found webbing but prior to our visit we did not know of any information on this canyon

I like the idea of no bolts in canyons and practice religiously practice a no bolting policy when canyoneering.  yet, we are using and producing more webbing which does create more trash.  This particular canyon is short, most of the dry falls you can downclimb. 

 Not everyone shares my view but now you get to experience more great canyons within this range.  You can even float from Black Magic Canyon to the break, up,  and down into Black Jack Canyon, float again to AZ springs and hike out in a day called "Black Jack Magic".  

This info is available to instill trust into the community's present and future.  Do your part to treat these places how the first descent crews and we would like,  its up to you to turn the page towards better canyoneering practices. 

Enjoy and cannoneer responsibly. 

Lets turn the page for present and future canyoneers to practice better, cleaner, safe, and responsible canyoneering.  Not only will be be doing our part to protect sensitive lands, preserving places we love for others to enjoy, but we will all be the ambassadors of our lands and the places that we love so future exploration will not be hidden. Sure canyons will be secret and people will end up damaging lands either by accident or malice, but if our culture can continue to rippen and improve we might find a happy media to enjoy more canyoneering opportunity and allow our curiosity to expand. 

It continues to amaze me when I look up at canyon walls and think " what if there is a nice canyon back in there". 

I don't know why others haven't ventured back into this desert region except for a group that wants to keep the canyons quiet. 

I get it.  We don't want the desert to be destroyed, we don't want people leaving trash or placing bolts in canyon drainages and we all want to do our part to be ambassadors of our lands. 

So I can see how leaving a lack of information on canyons would keep most people away. I also see the theory of inclusion.  An opportunity to enjoy even more of an activity cannoneers love, while taking new opportunities to treat the lands with respect, keeping canyon drainages clean, and practicing safe and responsible canyoneering. 

I also think there is no right answer. If human beings impact ground than, No human impact sounds like the best.  Plus these drainages are "self cleaning", to an extent. the rains come and wash away debris into the river. that is the mere design of these drainages anyway, water found weaknesses in the rock and carved its way downhill. 

WE are left with a conundrum to either hide precious places or allow humans to walk on the lands, either for scientific research, mining resources, sport recreational activity, etc...  I think the answer between hiding and allowing access is in the middle. 

The answer is in the culture. Our ethos to bolt or no to bolt are quite different than European canyons.  When comparing bolting / do not bolt practices with canyoneering or sport climbing activities, we would find an abundance of "steel rusting away on outside mountain cliffs" which is accepted.  Bolts are no accepted in canyoneering. The use of webbing and replacing webbing is accepted but not accepted as a means to provide protection for climbing routes. 

I like the idea of no bolts in canyons and practice religiously practice a no bolting policy when canyoneering.  yet, we are using and producing more webbing which does create more trash.  This particular canyon is short, most of the dry falls you can downclimb.  The first rap we ghosted to ensure nobody will find evidence of a canyoneering route. descriptions are a bit vague, and the big rap is 320 ft.  We brought a 330 and we had 10 ft on the ground.  This is one piece unknown that is not going to be experienced by following groups which might take a bit of the "fun" out of the research, ( yes did extensive research to estimate rope length and build contingencies into our plan), so you don't have to. Not everyone shares my view but now you get to experience more great canyons within this range.  You can even float go up a break and down Black Jack Canyon, float again to AZ springs and hike out in a day called "Black Jack Magic".  This info is available to instill trust into the community's present and future.  Do your part to treat these places how the first descent crews and we would like,  its up to you to turn the page towards better canyoneering practices.