There's something special about the diversity of living in Utah. On Friday we were skiing on 15 feet of base with temperatures in the mid-teens. Two days and 200 miles later we were scrambling over rocks under an absolutely blistering desert sun.
Admittedly, at this time of year my motivation to keep skiing diminishes greatly. I have a little more motivation than usual this year thanks to my quest to reach 100 days, but the spring season for comfortable trekking in the desert is remarkably short and we were running out of time for a trip to the San Rafael. On Saturday afternoon tcope, Mrs. Admin and I packed up the car and headed south.
Last year you may recall that tcope and I backpacked Little Wild Horse and Bell Canyons in the San Rafael Reef. This year we thought that we'd bump things up a notch and go canyoneering through Ding and Dang Canyons a mile and a half further west, and bring Mrs. Admin along for her first canyoneering experience.
This time, though, instead of backpacking we'd car camp on BLM land just west of Goblin Valley State Park. We found an ideal site up against the walls of a butte.
We pitched camp as a harmless group out of sight -- but not out of earshot, or gunshot -- was taking target practice.
We grilled bison steak over the fire as the sun descended in the west before countless stars filled the sky from horizon to horizon. It was a pleasant change of pace to eschew our usual backpacking diet of freeze dried food in favor of a car camping menu that included a bottle of cabernet, salad with fresh mozzarella and roasted diced garlic potatoes. That was downright civilized. Tcope had the Google Sky app on his phone and we used it to find several key stars and the planet Saturn. I've never used that app before and assumed it was just a static star map, but it uses the phone's compass, GPS and accelerometer to move the display as you move the phone across the sky, showing you precisely what you're looking at. It's really impressive!
Sleeping conditions were perfect Saturday night, cool and comfortable yet not too cold at all. The howls of coyotes echoed off the butte walls through the middle of the night along with shrieks of what I believe to have been a very unlucky pronghorn antelope. I awoke the next morning just after sunrise and threw on a pot of coffee. After a hot bowl of oatmeal we broke down camp and headed the few miles toward the reef.
The San Rafael Reef is a 150 mile long limestone and sandstone anticline lifting skyward from the San Rafael Desert. Over the millenia deep slot canyons have been carved through the rock by raging waters in flash floods.
The trailhead for Ding and Dang Canyons is reached by driving 1.3 miles down a dry wash beyond the Little Wild Horse trailhead. After passing a typically busy parking lot for Little Wild Horse I was thrilled to see only one other car parked at the Ding and Dang trailhead. Even better, we weren't to see another soul all day.
It was already blistering hot as we hiked the mile up the dry wash to the fork in the wash leading to either Ding or Dang Canyons.
It's recommended to ascend Ding and descend Dang. Ascending Dang increases the difficulty as there are numerous 5.8-level bouldering problems to overcome if you ascend Dang. You still have to descend these same boulder problems if you come down Dang, but that's a bit easier than ascending. That's not to say, however, that Ding Canyon is without its challenges.
As it passes through the reef itself the canyon takes on those classic slot characteristics.
All in all, though, getting up Ding wasn't terribly difficult. Before long the walls separate as you near the top of the canyon, but not before you pass an interesting series of potholes.
Near the top you make a beeline for the head of Dang Canyon by reaching the height of land between the reef and Ding Dang Dome, with some sweeping desert vistas behind the reef along the way.
Once we began descending into Dang Canyon we found some shade behind a rock for lunch. Shortly after resuming, however, we got our first view down into Dang Canyon's slot and realized how steeply it dropped. It was clear that we were in for some adventure ahead.
Our first problem was bolted but required no ropework. The second problem, however, was a bit more of a challenge. It was bolted and folks before had left a knotted length of 1/2" webbing affixed to the bolt. As the first one down the trick was figuring out the proper route for which the short length of webbing would work. It wasn't long enough to use proper belay techniques, either. Eventually, though, I had to pick something and commit to it. It fortunately worked but not before some truly nervous moments.
From below it didn't look nearly as intimidating as it had from above.
A short while later we encountered our next problem, best solved by shimmying along a four inch deep shelf 25 feet above the canyon floor.
These two problems, however, would turn out to be two of the easiest to overcome in Dang. Things only got worse. We just couldn't catch a break as the problems kept coming about every 25 yards once you got into the reef proper. One of the more interesting ones required shimmying down a 20-foot drop by bracing your back against one wall and your feet against the opposite wall, only to drop into frigid crotch-deep stagnant water.
After a couple of problems like that we finally got through the reef. That, though, only meant a mile and a half or so walk back out the wash to the car with the blazing sun beating down upon us. I went through about three liters of water during the day and I was still thirsty as hell.
I don't think that a beer ever tasted as good as the cold one from the cooler in the trunk back at the car.
I've got to say, Mrs. Admin did really well. This wasn't exactly a walk in the park. For someone without a lot of experience in the outdoors she truly rose to the occasion. I was impressed with her this weekend. We came out with a few new scrapes and bruises but with all of our appendages still intact.
Admittedly, at this time of year my motivation to keep skiing diminishes greatly. I have a little more motivation than usual this year thanks to my quest to reach 100 days, but the spring season for comfortable trekking in the desert is remarkably short and we were running out of time for a trip to the San Rafael. On Saturday afternoon tcope, Mrs. Admin and I packed up the car and headed south.
Last year you may recall that tcope and I backpacked Little Wild Horse and Bell Canyons in the San Rafael Reef. This year we thought that we'd bump things up a notch and go canyoneering through Ding and Dang Canyons a mile and a half further west, and bring Mrs. Admin along for her first canyoneering experience.
This time, though, instead of backpacking we'd car camp on BLM land just west of Goblin Valley State Park. We found an ideal site up against the walls of a butte.
We pitched camp as a harmless group out of sight -- but not out of earshot, or gunshot -- was taking target practice.
We grilled bison steak over the fire as the sun descended in the west before countless stars filled the sky from horizon to horizon. It was a pleasant change of pace to eschew our usual backpacking diet of freeze dried food in favor of a car camping menu that included a bottle of cabernet, salad with fresh mozzarella and roasted diced garlic potatoes. That was downright civilized. Tcope had the Google Sky app on his phone and we used it to find several key stars and the planet Saturn. I've never used that app before and assumed it was just a static star map, but it uses the phone's compass, GPS and accelerometer to move the display as you move the phone across the sky, showing you precisely what you're looking at. It's really impressive!
Sleeping conditions were perfect Saturday night, cool and comfortable yet not too cold at all. The howls of coyotes echoed off the butte walls through the middle of the night along with shrieks of what I believe to have been a very unlucky pronghorn antelope. I awoke the next morning just after sunrise and threw on a pot of coffee. After a hot bowl of oatmeal we broke down camp and headed the few miles toward the reef.
The San Rafael Reef is a 150 mile long limestone and sandstone anticline lifting skyward from the San Rafael Desert. Over the millenia deep slot canyons have been carved through the rock by raging waters in flash floods.
The trailhead for Ding and Dang Canyons is reached by driving 1.3 miles down a dry wash beyond the Little Wild Horse trailhead. After passing a typically busy parking lot for Little Wild Horse I was thrilled to see only one other car parked at the Ding and Dang trailhead. Even better, we weren't to see another soul all day.
It was already blistering hot as we hiked the mile up the dry wash to the fork in the wash leading to either Ding or Dang Canyons.
It's recommended to ascend Ding and descend Dang. Ascending Dang increases the difficulty as there are numerous 5.8-level bouldering problems to overcome if you ascend Dang. You still have to descend these same boulder problems if you come down Dang, but that's a bit easier than ascending. That's not to say, however, that Ding Canyon is without its challenges.
As it passes through the reef itself the canyon takes on those classic slot characteristics.
All in all, though, getting up Ding wasn't terribly difficult. Before long the walls separate as you near the top of the canyon, but not before you pass an interesting series of potholes.
Near the top you make a beeline for the head of Dang Canyon by reaching the height of land between the reef and Ding Dang Dome, with some sweeping desert vistas behind the reef along the way.
Once we began descending into Dang Canyon we found some shade behind a rock for lunch. Shortly after resuming, however, we got our first view down into Dang Canyon's slot and realized how steeply it dropped. It was clear that we were in for some adventure ahead.
Our first problem was bolted but required no ropework. The second problem, however, was a bit more of a challenge. It was bolted and folks before had left a knotted length of 1/2" webbing affixed to the bolt. As the first one down the trick was figuring out the proper route for which the short length of webbing would work. It wasn't long enough to use proper belay techniques, either. Eventually, though, I had to pick something and commit to it. It fortunately worked but not before some truly nervous moments.
From below it didn't look nearly as intimidating as it had from above.
A short while later we encountered our next problem, best solved by shimmying along a four inch deep shelf 25 feet above the canyon floor.
These two problems, however, would turn out to be two of the easiest to overcome in Dang. Things only got worse. We just couldn't catch a break as the problems kept coming about every 25 yards once you got into the reef proper. One of the more interesting ones required shimmying down a 20-foot drop by bracing your back against one wall and your feet against the opposite wall, only to drop into frigid crotch-deep stagnant water.
After a couple of problems like that we finally got through the reef. That, though, only meant a mile and a half or so walk back out the wash to the car with the blazing sun beating down upon us. I went through about three liters of water during the day and I was still thirsty as hell.
I don't think that a beer ever tasted as good as the cold one from the cooler in the trunk back at the car.
I've got to say, Mrs. Admin did really well. This wasn't exactly a walk in the park. For someone without a lot of experience in the outdoors she truly rose to the occasion. I was impressed with her this weekend. We came out with a few new scrapes and bruises but with all of our appendages still intact.
