ADAM HAYDOCK

ROCK OF AGES CANYON

February 23, 2016

Rock of Ages Canyon, Moab Utah

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.

Rock of Ages Canyon, Moab Utah

I parked and paid the 2 dollar entrance fee to visit the sandstone backcountry that would take me to the canyon. There is a 4x4 road that you can follow that travels pass the slot section where you have to negotiate some minor boulders and chimney up a wall to get to the next sand flat.

Rock of Ages Canyon, Moab Utah

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.

Rock of Ages Canyon, Moab Utah

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.

Rock of Ages Canyon, Moab Utah

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.

Rock of Ages Canyon, Moab Utah

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.

Rock of Ages Canyon, Moab Utah

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.

Rock of Ages Canyon, Moab Utah

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.

Rock of Ages Canyon, Moab Utah

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.

Rock of Ages Canyon, Moab Utah

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.

Rock of Ages Canyon, Moab Utah

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.

Rock of Ages Canyon, Moab Utah

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NEFFS CANYON CAVE

February 23, 2016

Neffs canyon cave

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.

Neffs canyon cave

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.

Neffs canyon cave

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.

Neffs canyon cave

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.

Neffs canyon cave

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.

Neffs canyon cave

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.

Neffs canyon cave

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.

Neffs canyon cave

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.

Neffs canyon cave

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.

Neffs canyon cave

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

Utah Caving

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.

Utah Caving

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GREEN RIVER CANYONLANDS, ISLAND IN THE SKY

February 23, 2016

The beautiful island in the Sky in Canyonlands National Park is one of my all time favorite places to watch the sunset, the stars at night, and the sunrise over the vast vista canyonland plain, it just doesn't get much better than this.

Green River, Island in the Sky-canyonlands, Moab Utah

I camped at the willow site near the green river to get a few photos of this beautiful surreal overlook and what I view I had in the morning and at night.

Green River, Island in the Sky-canyonlands, Moab Utah

It got down to the 20s at night but it quickly warmed up with the suns radiant heat when it peaked over the horizon in the morning so the temperature was not bad overall.

Green River, Island in the Sky-canyonlands, Moab Utah

The Green river meandered through the basin and has created its own set of canyons which reflected the lighter colors in the backdrop of the darker colors as the sunset creating a pastel array of design and dimension. It seriously looks like a painting just being here looking out into the basin.

Green River, Island in the Sky-canyonlands, Moab Utah

Further out are some canyon pulls and river rafting that I have heard to be quite awesome and remote if you have time to find yourself in solitude, drifting down the green river.

Green River, Island in the Sky-canyonlands, Moab Utah

Other photographers showed up, as expected, to take a crack at the sun setting over the range in the foreground.

Green River, Island in the Sky-canyonlands, Moab Utah

The night time was interesting in itself as the milky way galaxy could be seen and I worked on a college of night photos to render the photograph at the bottom of the page.

Green River, Island in the Sky-canyonlands, Moab Utah

I don't think I can ever get sick of coming to the Island in the Sky and I look forward to coming back more in the near future.

Green River, Island in the Sky-canyonlands, Moab Utah

cell phone reception sucks and I was not able to reach out to anyone but the visitor center appeared to have service yet text messages and phone calls were not coming through.

Green River, Island in the Sky-canyonlands, Moab Utah

Next stop will have to be the grand overview and an afternoon shot of mesa arch, yea I know so many people go there to photo the window but it is good practice.

Green River, Island in the Sky-canyonlands, Moab Utah

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ENTRAJO CANYON

February 22, 2016

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CAMELTOE CANYON

February 22, 2016

Cameltoe Canyon. Moab, Utah

After U-Turn canyon I headed over to Wall Street and drove up to the corona arch trailhead to visit Cameltoe canyon. I did not have much beta on this route other than a few way points on a GPS and some previous understanding that there are just a few drops and some hiking involved.

Cameltoe Canyon. Moab, Utah

I hiked past the petroglyphs but unfortunately they have been destroyed by graffiti which was really unfortunate to see. The large rock just past the train track is on BLM land but it appears that it did not help hide this ancient Indian artifact.

Cameltoe Canyon. Moab, Utah

Continuing on past this rock art was a large canyon that had some nice tarnished walls in the distance but the canyon below had some distance to cover as I meandered around the bend and ended up getting a bit disoriented and my vague waypoint took me to sections of canyon that required me to climb over ridges a few times and I ended up wasting time crawling around the desert for a bit until I found the entry point into camel toe canyon. The canyon itself appeared to be a bit un interesting in my opinion and the walls were not what I thought it would be.

Cameltoe Canyon. Moab, Utah

Eventually, I made it to the cameltoe which consists of a 15-20ft slot canyon in length to a pool of water that goes to a 50-60 foot waterfall. This was the only mildy interesting section of the canyon. There was another dry fall that can be a walk around or the choice to rap can also happen.

Cameltoe Canyon. Moab, Utah

Every canyon has it own interesting aspects but I did not connect with this one and the most interesting thing about this canyon IMO, is its name. I can see how this canyon will be interesting to people that will like to go for a hike in the desert and rap down a trickling fall or have not been in a canyon before.