Photos:
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=219543718/a=38054161/t_=38054161
I had planned a less
aggressive trip than my usual trips, so a bunch of my friends and
girlfriend could join in. The amount of fluctuation in the people
was incredible. Within 48 hours of the invite we had over 30
people going; it went up and down far too many times, and we ended up
with 11 people in the end. Eleven is a much more manageable
number, but it was quite a bit of effort to manage all of the changes.
We headed out on Thursday, and got to the Sandthrax campsite pretty
late. Surprisingly, we were pretty much the only ones there.
There was a few other people, but nothing like a month before when the
place was packed. We quickly set up camp and headed to bed.
Friday 4/25:
We lazily woke up around 8am, had breakfast, and did some last minute
gear preparation. We started hiking up towards Right Leprechaun
around 9:15am. There were 11 people with a wide range of
experience on this trip; Marty, Dru, Julia, Shiloh, Rob, Jason, Jonas,
Brian, Becky, Jen and I. We took a slight detour, and showed
everyone Sandthrax the canyon. It's a deep canyon with some
serious obstacles; fun to look at.
We reached the start of Right Leprechaun about 10:15am, and dropped in.
It's a great canyon which most of the obstacles can be downclimbed.
There are some really fun spots where you change chutes during the
downclimb. Even though we had some newer people, we downclimbed
most of the obstacles. Some people used handlines, and we usually
did a partner assist or spot. Everyone did great. We
practiced lots of techniques; downclimbs, stems, chimneys, spans, etc.
There are lots of opportunities in this canyon to learn.
I tried to downclimb the one mandatory rappel. I could get part of
the way down, and then would have to jump. Really burly though; I
would be nervous to do it without a rope backup. We hit Leprechaun
Junction around 2:15pm, and had a snack. We discussed it, and most
people were up for adding Left Leprechaun on today. Drew and Becky
were content, and they headed back to camp. The rest of us were
hiking up towards Left Leprechaun around 2:45pm.
We hit the head of the canyon, had a quick break, and were dropping in
around 4pm. I again used it as a practice canyon; helping others
to learn how good the traction is and how much of the canyon can be
downclimbed. This entire canyon can be downclimbed. We set
up some handlines for folks in places, and again used partner assists
and spots. It was good practice and again, everyone did great.
I figured Rob and Shiloh would like Belfast Boulevard, since it's so
deep and dark and because of their caver background. We were back
at the junction around 5:15pm, and back to camp around 5:45pm.
Still plenty of time to make the food for the potluck.
We spent the rest of the evening making and sharing food and telling the
stories from the day. We made a campfire, and the stories
continued into the night; along with a Nalgene full of Oatmeal Cookie
shots that were mostly consumed by Julia and I. We discussed the
canyon choices for the next day. Since everyone had done well, I
wanted to take everyone into Monkey Business. It's a little longer
than the Leprechauns, but since almost everyone did two Leps today;
there shouldn't be an issue. Monkey Business is a quality canyon
with a lot of variety. Folks agreed, and we headed to bed.
Saturday 4/26:
We woke up earlier today, as it was going to be a bigger day; as well as
if some folks were game; we could add on Middle Leprechaun. We
were up with the sun around 6:30am, made breakfast, and then headed to
the Hogs for a bathroom run. Dru opted out of the canyon, and
decided to upclimb some of the shorter canyons closer to camp. We
then drove around to the trailhead, hiked in, and were at the canyon
head around 9am where we suited up in our pads.
Everyone downclimbed the entry rap; giving partner assists and advice
when needed. Monkey Business is a great canyon. Lots of
variety with layered, sculpted, and twisted sections. Options, and
sometimes necessary, to stay high in many places. None of them are
really hard though; good foot placements. At the twisty rappel, I
went down first, and then Marty. We set Marty up as a meat anchor
in the second pothole. I climbed down into the first pothole, and
took photos of everyone rapping down. They then went to the ledge
and downclimbed to Marty, then did a second rappel off Marty. When
everyone else was down, I climbed out of the pothole; which is a very
difficult escape, and then pulled the rope. I then climbed over
and set the second anchor in the pothole around the corner. Marty
rapped down, and then me. We were done with this rappel around
12:15pm.
We downclimbed our way to the optional pothole section. Here, we
had some lunch, and then a few of us went off to do the pothole section.
We played around with some pretty interesting natural anchors, and
downclimbed or partner assisted through the section. We then went
back up to the rest of the folks, enjoyed the fleeting shade for a few,
and then everyone went down to the last rappel. We rapped down,
and were all on the ground around 2:45pm.
From here, it was the hike out, and the climb up the loose gully.
I was the most nervous about this part. We had a lot of folks,
with 10 people. Lots of opportunity for rockfall. Luckily,
we only had one real rockfall, and it was stopped before it got serious.
Showed them No Kidding on the way up, and we reached the top around
4:15pm. Still plenty of time to add Middle Leprechaun. Only
Marty and Jonas were up for it; so we gave some of the gear to the other
folks, and we headed off towards Middle Leprechaun.
Jonas, Marty and I hit the head of Middle Leprechaun around 4:45pm, and
dropped in. There was still some blood on the walls from the group
that needed a rescue a little over a month ago. We made pretty
good time through the tight stuff, and were at the junction between
middle and left Leprechaun around 5:45pm. From there, it was
another trip down Belfast Boulevard, and then out and back to camp
around 6:30pm.
We met up with the
others, sat around, shared appetizers, drinks and tales of the days
adventures. Dru had been at camp when the other group arrived.
He said he had a great time in the canyons; upclimbing the Blarneys; but
he headed home shortly after they arrived. Everyone visited for a
bit, and then went over and made dinner. We again shared food for
a potluck; and then had another fire and conversations went into the
night. We talked about the canyon choices for the following day.
I wanted to upclimb Lucky Charms, and then set up a big rappel so
everyone could get a chance to do a bigger rappel. Brian and Becky
wanted to upclimb Lucky Charms, and then go down Left Shillelagh.
Others seemed more inclined to do that option, so that's what we decided
to do.
Sunday 4/27:
We woke up early, and Julia was thinking of heading out. We
convinced her to join us, as it was going to be a short day. Then,
Brian and Becky decided to head home. Funny, it was their plan to
do the upclimb of Lucky Charms and then down Left Shillelagh.
Shiloh and Rob also decided to do their own thing for today. The
rest of us headed over to Lucky Charms. We started to upclimb
Lucky Charms around 8am. It was Marty, Jonas, Jason, Julia, Jen
and I. Lucky Charms is a neat, albeit short, canyon. It has
some good sculpting, and I love the upclimbs. Very fun stuff.
Marty and I did the upclimb, and we set up a top belay for everyone
else. After everyone was up, I climbed back down and back up
without a pack. Much nicer climb without a pack.
We finished the upclimb of Lucky Charms around 9:30am, and headed
towards Left Shillelagh. We were dropping into Left Shillelagh
around 10am. There is a two stage rappel right near the beginning,
and a few downclimbs; but it's not a very long or challenging canyon.
We were at the confluence around 11:15am, and back to the cars around
11:30am. We then headed back to camp, broke camp, and headed home.
It was a great weekend, with great weather and company. It was
neat to see everyone's skills improve over the weekend; and it was nice
getting back to camp in time to enjoy a nice dinner and campfire as well
as visiting with everyone.
Hope you enjoy the pics!
A.J.
Photos: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=219543718/a=38054161/t_=38054161
Group Room (multiple albums): http://ajoutdoors.snapfish.com/snapfish