Lupine, Sen, and I hiked the Round Valley Draw today. It was a once in a lifetime experience. Steep, narrow, dark, and snowy, now I know how Ed Abbey felt every time he dropped into a slot canyon, knowing climbing back out the way you go in is not going to be easy. One website says:
"Do not enter this particular slot unless: 1) you are an experienced hiker; 2) you are capable of climbing through narrow (less than two foot wide) cracks while working your way down 10 to 15 foot drop offs (chimneying skills and a length of climbing rope come in very handy in this canyon); 3) you are not afraid of running into midget rattlesnakes while trapped in a two-foot wide slot with 500 foot vertical walls."Well, it was not as bad as all that. I was well prepared. I was taking my 7 year old daughter and my rock climbing dog. I had a Hello Kitty pink backpack just large enough to hold a water bottle, an 8 foot yoga strap, one Cliff Bar, and a 6 foot dog leash, but too small to fit on my back. Yes, well prepared. It's easy to lower a dog and a kid down a 20 foot drop with 14 feet of "rope."
I'm not going to go into the details, but we made it safe and sound. We hiked quite a bit getting in and out because the Honda Fit is not a high clearance vehicle. We even had to do some serious sagebrush whacking cross country style without a compass and map to get back to the car. Lupine is one tough kid. She did 5 miles in 4 hours and never complained. The dog on the other hand, does not like to be lowered into a slot with a yoga strap. Here is a site with the best pictures. Here is the Google page with lots of text and more pics.
No comments:
Post a Comment