ADAM HAYDOCK

Located in the White mountains, Boundary Peak is Nevada's highest peak inching up to 13,146ft at the summit.   

Heading to the trailhead can be a challenge in itself, especially if you head up form the south side to the trailhead. The road continuously gets worse and becomes rather steep.  I recommend parking at the start of the final approach as there is nowhere to park if you get stuck and the road can be quite challenging if you get into a problem. 

I recommend heading up the north road to the saddle trailhead as the majority of the people hiking to the summit were coming up form the north. 

The hike to the summit is straightforward and no snow was encountered. 

There is a false summit that I found to be a bit steeper than the final approach to the proper summit. 

I highly recommend taking your time to enjoy the views along the way, they are incredible!

Making it to the summit, you are welcomed with excellent views from the top and the nearby sierras. 

The next peak ( Montgomery peak) is a couple hundred feet higher and is just across the border in California.   

these two summits are doable to reach and I think that you will find a lot of value grabbing both summits. 

Hiking down and entering into white canyon the varnished walls and cream colored sandstone self characterize this canyoneering region with amazing vibrance and solitude. 

There are some miles that need to be accomplished to get through this morning and an overcast of hazy clouds brings a bit of question to our following pursuit. 

My cautious side decided that we wait on a ledge to observe the cloud cover so we would not be caught in a flash. 

The weather reports said no chance of rain but what was above us had just a couple indicators of another story, and a less favorable one if something were to happen. 

Clouds began to display a proper passage and green lighting is to continue so we kept going and headed for the black hole. 

Along the way the canyon continued to narrow up and showed interested fluted rock features that resembled what I would see in caves with high flow. 

Water cut fins and talon like sculptures stood in the canyons passage showing signs of Very high water, as if the logs keyed into the rock 30 feet above our heads was not

enough. 

Traversing through scenic and extensive narrow canyon, we finally encountered water and water cold enough to freeze the warmest of bodies. 

in between banter, sarcasm, suns out cocks out syndrome, and just living “ the wetsuit free “ life One friend of mine “ forgot “ his wetsuit and laid the price of admission. The canyon turned his skin purple and was beginning to consider taking him down the hypothermia road. 

We would be swimming through very narrow corridors of cavernous passage for some time, up to 20 minutes here and there.

A beam of light would enter on small area of a rock teasing the mind to greener pastures ahead.  Only to find more swimming and wading in water with temps in the high 40s.

Yes it did eventually end and the canyon relented it’s frozen demeanor for dry walking passage. 

Slowly the canyon opened back up and we were warming up quick. 

A straightforward hike out and we were out of white canyon and back on the plateau!!! Such a beautiful region to be hiking around in. 

We had to retrieve the car on the highway so Jamie hiked back to the Prius and picked us back up. 

Finally! The illusive classic grand canyon loop of tatahatso canyon has been complete.  After 2 attempts, first attempt being too hot and the second attempt being too cold, we were finally able to circumnavigate the Grand canyon Classic canyoneering route. 

When I think about how this trip was, I think about how the overall variation of activities made this trip a fun route to complete.  

If I am thinking about just the canyon itself and all the effort that went into the trip to visit the canyon, I can see how some might be a bit discouraged on the fun factor. 

Canyons in the grand canyon are not only about canyoneering, its about beautiful hiking, camping, backpacking, pack rafting, navigation, and the technical aspects that go with canyoneering, all in one. 

This canyon is in the Marble canyon range and requires a permit from the Grand Canyon back country office and a permit from the Navajo nation which can be a bit ambiguous to figure out but if you are looking for a fun canyon with a 7 mile pack raft through manageable riffles and a few rapid portages, than this is a good contender.  

After stopping by Coal mine canyon, we headed over to meet up with the rest of the group to drive 13 miles on dirt roads to the trailhead for tatahatso canyon.



We got there somewhat early which was helpful for the drive and for preparing to get soem good sleep for the following days activiteis.


We got an early start with some sunny and ideal conditions, 40 and sunny at the rim.


We headed down and around the rim to a steep break that allowed for entry into Tatahatso Canyon but the entry was steep with some down climbing and pack passing in a couple sections.


Once we got down into the tail of the canyon, the steep down climbing boulder hopping began with some knee jarring workarounds.


This actually took longer than I anticipated and eventually we came to the first major confluence and took a break in the shade as the sun started to blaze through the clouds.


We continued down the, now more gradual and less boulder stricken canyon and eventually made it to the tail end of tatahatso canyon .

It took us around 4 1/2 hours from the car to get to the tailend of the canyon but we made it and now its time to enjoy the canyon .


We encountered raps up to around 75 feet in length.


This is not official and this post or blog website shall not be used for beta or for anyone looking to plan a trip through this canyon. please refer to other sites and books for the correct information to prepare yourself for this canyon.



Some of the raps needed a curiosity so we set up as needed and also replaced on rap.  


The canyon narrows in some scenic sections and opens back up.


I think the beginning segment of the canyon was nice and towards the end has some scenic sections. 


The final rap was also nice to see the pool below and the river in front of us.


We made it through the canyon in good time and had enough time to get over to buck farm canyon for a place to camp for the night.

We all completed the rap and headed over to the put in site for pack rafts to float down the river.


We proceeded down the river and encountered 4-5 riffles and one mandatory portage before the buck farm take out.


We were all able to make it to buck farm just before the sunset and got to get set up before darkness fell upon us.


It was quite at the campground and everyone ended up going to sleep early to prepare for the weather the following day.


photo by Ben Bickel



We woke up early to explore up buck farm canyon and found the weather changing quite rapidly from sunny to rather winder with moisture in the air.


We set off for eminence break and found that the river has gone up and the headwinds were fighting against us in the calm sections.

We made it to eminence break and hiked out in good time but the rain started and as we ascended up 3k ft of gain, so did the cold weather.  By the time we got to the top it was sleeting out and gale force winds.  Wooohoo! what a trip that was.