Where: North Wash, Utah
When: November 2, 2008
Partners: DB, Andy Archibald, Andy MacClure, Jason Halladay & Bill Geist
On our third and final day in North Wash, rain was in the forecast, I wasn't feeling great and we all had 6 hours to drive home. Something short was on the menu. With a silo problem, Hogwarts came up as the canyon of choice.
Crossing the bridge at Hog Springs Picnic Area, we soon left the trail, bushwhacked through a short jungle section, then emerged onto some slickrock. Some fun scrambling up to the rim followed. Along the way, Jason spotted some petrified wood.
From the rim, we could see across UT-95 and into Merry Piglet, another short slot adjacent to the highway.
Soon dropping into our objective, a couple nice rappels (and a climb-around or two) led us to a deeper slot.
Continuing down-canyon, we soon came to the canyon's showpiece - something unexpected and altogether magnificent - a giant arch!
After the grandeur of the arch rappel, we soon came to the silo. Small and easily worked either directly or around, it proved insignificant in its difficulties.
Below the silo, we wandered through a few more minor challenges, including a narrow slot that required us to take off our packs and shuttle them down.
All too soon, we arrived at the final, deadman free rappel down to the wash by the road. And another fine weekend with friends drew to a close...
...after our potluck in the parking lot!
Hogwarts
