Where: Poison Springs, Utah
When: March 2009
Partners: DB, Andy Mac & Mark Beauchamp
Although not everyone agrees, I think Constrychnine (the East Fork of the South Fork of Poison Creek) is the best of the South Fork canyons. To add an element of surprise and mystery to our 'poisonous' experience, we decided to do the canyon without any beta (or any idea what it offered whatsoever). All the better this go-around!
With a short, overhung initial rappel, Mark set up another anchor for the next rappel below it. This rappel, the 2nd, was beautiful.
Just a bit down-canyon of the first two rappels, the canyon widened somewhat and the bottom dropped out dramatically! Sweet! A huge chasm spilled into darkness below us. So we sent Mark down first...!
As it turned out, the big rappel was "only" 140 feet or so. And it was a stunning slide down a rope!
A bit down-canyon of the big drop, the slot made an abrupt right turn and the bottom dropped out again. Peering down, we saw a dark, overhung cave offering a stunning near-vertical drop of about 70 feet to its bottom. Awesome!
But before we knew it, this short canyon came to its end at a short rappel leading to a short walk toward the confluence with Slideanide.
Constrychnine
