ADAM HAYDOCK

Comb Wash is just north of where Valley of the Gods is located and a beautifully protected natural study area where Indian Artifacts from the Anasazi can be found including kivas, cliff dwellings, and pottery artifacts.

 Another one of Laura's favorite places as she handled down on the 4x4 road as a trail started to show its final destination. This trail was guaranteed to take us to some interesting cliff dwellings that had a lot of broken pottery scattered around and a interesting table top with grass where the Anasazi must have performed rituals and lived their lives around.

It couldn't have been because the Anasazi mysteriously disappeared and some of those artifacts are 800 to 1000 years old so settlers coming into the area might have done that but I am not sure.

Afterwards a ridge walk was necessary to see if there was anything else around and we were able to spot some more modern looking white pottery that was baked and had a gloss to it so it must have been more modern but I do not know what it was from.  Comb wash is a very interesting area and we am looking forward to coming back in the near future.

 After Ceder mesa, we drove through Valley of the Gods and headed over to Gooseneck State Park to set up camp and get ready for the following day. We had a chance to grab a campsite on a spur plateau which was a bit more down a dirt road and away from the crowds which was a nice place to get away but at night the winds would be so volatile that it would be dead calm at one point and wicked howling winds that would collapse the ceiling of the tent down to where we were sleeping.  Thankfully the tent poles did not break.  We did not have great conditions to snap photos with but we were able to grab a few and enjoy the 1000ft drop off into the San Juan river.  

we stopped through Natural Bridges National Monument for the night on our way down to Ceder Mesa and Comb wash which turned out to be a great spot to camp and a wonderful national Monument.

 There are 3 large natural bridges that can be seen from the road but each one of them have hiking trails that lead down to the natural bridge which are all less than a mile one way.

 There is also an interesting loop hike that people can take which will take you through a surprisingly nice canyon and through all three arches that are located in White Canyon. The trail takes you back up to the road and continues to cut through the mesa at the top back to where you parked completing the circuit.

 I did not have time to hike the trail but I bet it is a really nice one especially in the fall and a great canyon for non technical hikers to see a beautiful canyon without using any ropes.

 I would love to come back sometime and do some night photography which will be interesting to see how the galaxy lights up the night.

After Rock of Ages Canyon, I grabbed some lunch and headed over to Castleton Tower to check out this feature and talk a bit with the climbing community to see how the routes were out here and how they enjoyed the Moab area. I was able to join a group of climbers from Colorado on this summit attempt of the North Chimney which rated at a 5.8

We hike up to the base of this 400-foot Wingate Sandstone tower which is standing on a 1,000 foot Moenkopi-Chinle cone above the northeastern border of Castle Valley east of Moab.

The crux of this climb were the last two pitches as they required longer reaching holds and some calcite to negotiate around which I found to be slippery. The first two pitches were pretty straightforward and we all took turns leading up to the towers summit.

It was pretty cold at the top as I found this out the hard way a couple hours before the sun was setting beyond the ridge. The other members of the group have go pro video so I am waiting to get the stills from that device. I took some photos and left my camera in a bag halfway up so I could concentrate on climbing.

I am not into climbing as much as I am into canyoneering, caving, and mountaineering but this climb was interesting as the views were really dramatic and beautiful and the climb itself was not too difficult which allowed me to be back in Moab for a late dinner.

 Last day in Moab and I wanted to get to Granary Canyon as I have heard that it is one of the premier canyons in the Moab area so I stayed up at the top in the Island in the Sky so I could have cell phone reception which also helped with the drive to the trailhead the following day.

 The road was a hardpan sand dirt road which could have been a disaster and a bit of a trick in wet conditions but luck was in my favor and the snow melt has diminished to just a mild wet sand so the subby was able to make it with out any issues at all.  Now the day before, I attempted to find this trailhead but instead took the wrong road and ended up driving 10 miles on high clearance road to the middle of the desert. Always check your map, compass, and GPS, if using one to verify it is all correct...mistake 1.  I did not as I thought this would be a casual ride but I ended up getting lost and ended up in some interesting situations a the bottom of Granary Canyon.

 I wanted to travel light and thought that this would be straightforward as the other canyons were so I opted to not take extra webbing, fiddlestick, and just wore comfy hiking boots instead of my lifeless 5.10s which turned out to be items that I needed the most, mistake 2.  Always bring everything to every canyon no matter what the canyons rating is.

 I started my hike down the desert and meandered around some of the high canyon ridges to get to what I thought was Granary Canyon.  I descended down the slick rock surface to the bottom of a canyon and negotiated around some small dry falls until I got to the first drop.  What is interesting is that there was webbing in place but the way point said I was another .5 miles from the entry into Granary Canyon, which can be a lot when dealing with canyons. It turns out I was in the wrong canyon after looking at my map, so where does this canyon lead to?..

 I find a way to hike out of the canyon so I can make sure I find the right entry point and not find myself raping down into a drop just to be kept in a canyon that has a drop over 200ft (longer than my rope) and no way out. I continued to follow my Janky GPS unit to the first drop of Granary Canyon and eventually, after climbing down another canyon and following the wash, I made it to the majestic view point where the canyon drops deep into the red rock. I could see the fangs and the sand flats in the distance which was really interesting to see. There was only one anchor point with no quick link attached, so I set up my own anchor and attempted to keep it all away from the V lip rope sticker so the rope would get stuck. I kit up and proceed to rap down to the first shelf and proceed to the second shelf which all included around a 100ft of descent, pull the rope and wham, stuck.  I attempted to unstick the ropes multiple times with out any success, So here I am, solo, stuck on a shelf in the middle of the desert. I am prepared for this kind of incident so I don my frog but while I was doing that I was looking at the crack in the wall and it appeared to be climbable, especially after climbing Castleton tower yesterday, I chimney up almost to the top of the spur.

 there was a 5.11 climb that I did not notice with hand holds that broke as I would grab them and a fall at this point would dock me too many points with the payment of a broken bone so I attempted to climb up another section and the rock crumbled below my feet and I almost took a fall down another keeping sandstone caldera. not cool!  I stopped my efforts and went back down to the rope and climbed up SRT to un-hook the ropes, re-direct them a bit more and rapped back down to pull the ropes with success. That wasted a lot of time and I should have just SRTed up the rope instead of trying to climb out of the canyon, mistake 3..make a list and review at the end of this blog on not what NOT to do.  Always bring your full gear list, know your route, and if in doubt SRT out of the canyon. In a situation like this though, it will all depend as you can look at the walls and they appear to be climbable but find out that the last 15-20ft is the crux of the climb and you can put yourself in a sketchy situation so see the route before attempting to climb it.

 After the third rap I was at the bottom of Granary canyons first three drops. The drops were interesting but I was starting to get a little fed up with the canyon and was looking forward to popping back out into the desert to hike out. the first three drops are right after one another and are 100ft or less, just make sure to set up a fiddlestick or rig to another location at the first drop to unstick the rope.

 I came up to a couple more raps and some small pot holes to negotiate around which was not to difficult to do. One of the raps had a nice arch just before the drop which was interesting to see. Finally I popped out in the valley wash and made my way up the sandstone hill back to the desert, to the 4x4 road (which can be hard to spot) and after around 3 miles of hiking in the desert, I made it back to my car. I would give this route a 3BIII if you are doing the loop hike and for the rope stick risk involved.  It was a great canyon, beautiful, and majestic views but the day was a bit longer than I anticipated and when I got back to the car, I headed back out down to Moab for the phattiest burger I could find!

After driving around and taking the wrong road to locate the trailhead for Granary Canyon, I made it over to the rock of Ages Canyon which is also called Pool Arch Canyon as there is a beautiful arch to rap through to get into the canyon floor.

The great thing about this canyon this ear is that the temperature was next to perfect with a nice cool breeze that came through as I continued to hike through these semi circular sandstone disc walls that seemed to have been thrown into the ground from above.  these wall extended for hundreds of feet in the Sand Flats which made this place a unique environment in itself.

The red sandstone reflected colors of red orange and yellow giving a warm hue over the face of the ground and a strong fiery presence to the sandstone features as I continued to scramble up and over the final chimney and the trail leading to the Pool Arch.

The view from the top was outstanding, you can see the petrified sand dunes that I was walking on and tucked away in the corner was a 170ft arch called pool arch where you rappel to the bottom of and walk through to continue on down the canyon.

This was pretty awesome! I kitted up and rigged the drop and set up a camera so I could get a photo from below so I ended up dropping this rap twice since it was a interesting view from below.

After this was all done, I continued to the t section and followed the slot canyon through some tight spots down climbs and minor potholes until I got to the next 80ft rap that dropped me into another narrow corridor of fiery sandstone walls.

That was a great rap and it was nice to get into the final section of narrow walls until it opened up into the overlook where the last drop was located.  It must have been around a 100ft drop but the rig point was it bit sketchy.

Thankfully there was another bolt to rig a traverse line to so I was able to walk out and set up the drop while having the rope threaded through the piranha.

once I got that rigged, I inched my way over to the edge and could start to feel the adrenaline flowing which was weird because I have done almost a 1000 drops and this one was getting my heart pumping a lot. well good!! I still have a pulse! This rap was a bit sketchy if not properly rigged in so all and all, it was a great last drop into the wash floor.

This was my favorite canyon thus far in the moab area due to its interesting geology, nice raps, and it doesn't take too long to cover in a day.  I would rate this a 3AIII but I can see people making it a 3BIII due to the big drop.

Utah has a vast amount of geology in one state with so much variation within just a few hundred miles that it can cover a lifetimes worth of exploration and research when understanding the geological formations that have developed the mountains, canyoneering, mine exploration, and cave exploration. Utah is home to hundreds of cave systems which are in various places in the Wasatch Front and in the north Uinta Mountain range and Ashley National Forest. Some are geothermal features must most of them are solutional limestone pockets.

There are some systems that reside close to major cities that are kept a bit more quiet than I expected due to the potential hazards and for conservation purposes. Mine shafts are also protected in this fashion that allows the preservation of these historical markers to be kept secret so people don't destroy them or make a profit off of them.

One particular cave in the Wasatch from use to be one of the deepest systems in the united states but was passed up by other systems out east.

This particular cave is gated and locked so we were able to get permission to enter the cave and rappel down to the bottom which consisted of a muli-drop 45 degree face tiered in multiple stages.

The cave itself looked like a crack in the mountain, which is but has a canyon like feature carved out by water with a seepage sump at the bottom of the system.

The strata has some interesting features as it was layered in such a way that allows striping of the walls giving this cave the personality unique to this region without any formations.

there are not too many other systems in the area so this cave is an anomaly in itself and at around 1150ft deep, it is a good Nordic route to take to prepare for other cave systems.

I enjoyed visiting this cave and I am looking forward to coming back in the future to see the sump and prepare for some other systems like main drain.

The hike to the cave was not too bad for Utah standards but it was in snow and we were at around 7000ft of elevation so it can be a bit of a huffer if you are hauling ropes up to the entrance.

The entrance had an extra foot of snow that needed to be moved so we could enter the cave

I am also looking forward to visiting more Utah and Nevada cave systems as they don't seem to be long but what they lack in length they make up for in depth especially the ones in the tony grove area where you can find mulit pitch routes 200-300 plus feet in length for a total length of over 1200ft deep, and sheer vertical requiring warm clothing and alpine techniques.