From: donn@BSDI.COM (Donn Seeley)
Newsgroups: rec.backcountry
Subject: Re: Slot canyon hiking
Date: 2 Jan 1993 21:14:50 -0500
Organization: University of Utah CS Dept
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: bsdi.com
Summary: more Kelseyisms

I'm sure every canyon hiker has a favorite example of Kelsey
misinformation.  Here's my own, made more interesting by personal
experience:

	UPPER BLACK BOX

	...  Trail or Route Conditions:  ...  About 3/4 of the
	way through the Box, you'll come to a rockfall...  At that
	point you'll need a short rope to get yourself, cameras,
	pack, etc., over the drop off in a dry condition.  If you
	have nothing to damage in water, then just jump the two
	meters BUT THERE MAY BE ROCKS UNDER THE WATER!  If you have
	no rope, then you can exit to the left, or north, with some
	steep but relatively easy rock climbing.  ...

	Hike Length and Time Needed:  ...  Round trip distance is
	about 28 kms.  You can shorten this distance by 5 kms, by
	exiting at the rockfall.  ...

	Author's Experience:  The author walked, waded and swam
	down to the rockfall, and had to exit.  ...  But the lower
	part might be the best  ...

Notice the 'might be' caveat -- did Kelsey actually go all the way
through the Box before writing this?

Now compare Steve Allen's description (from CANYONEERING THE SAN
RAFAEL SWELL):

	...  It will take three hours to get to the start of the
	narrow section of the Black Box and another hour to get to
	the infamous big drop.  Rappel or be lowered over the drop.
	The landing under the drop should be checked by the first
	person down.  It is shallow here, which makes things
	considerably easier.  The pool beyond the drop will, in
	all likelihood, need to be swum.

	WARNING:  There is an exit chute to the left just before
	the big drop...  It has been suggested by some that this
	is a quick solution for tired and cold hikers.  THIS CHUTE
	SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS AN ESCAPE FROM THE CANYON.  It
	is 250 feet high, has a lot of loose rock, and several
	vertical sections.  In rock-climber's jargon it is 5.3 to
	5.4 and is three pitches in length.  There are few places
	for placing protection.  A rope and a skilled leader are
	essential for those attempting the route.  If you fall when
	halfway up, you will not stop until you hit bottom.  The
	people who need to escape the canyon -- the tired, cold,
	and inexperienced -- are the least likely candidates for
	attempting the climb.

Well, who's right?  Kelsey makes it sound 'relatively easy', while
Allen says not even to consider it.

My own experience?  Our group from the Wasatch Mountain Club found
ourselves at the waterfall with one member doing his best to limp
along after an accident (he turned out to have a broken fibula).
The 'steep but relatively easy rock climbing' was flatly unbelievable.
It was basically straight up and horrendously exposed, and even a
skilled rock climber would have had a tough time tackling it in wet
clothing and shoes.  The boulder is about 15 feet (4-5 meters) high;
we were able to wedge a piece of driftwood below the boulder, which
helped with footholds.  The injured person was lowered in a sitting
belay.  The water below the drop was churning in a slot about two
feet wide, about hip deep with slippery footing.  The section past
the rockfall required a float/swim.

Kelsey did change his description of the 'easy rock climbing'
somewhat in the second edition of his San Rafael guide, saying,
'If you have to, you could exit at that point by climbing a steep
ravine up the north wall, but that's for more experienced climbers
or hikers.'  He adds: 'The author walked, waded and swam down to
the rockfall and had to exit (no rope and alone), then made it back
to his car in 7 hours.  For this 2nd Ed. he entered the canyon at
the rockfall and climbed up and out at all 3 entry/exits as shown
[on the revised map].'  You'd be crazy to try this, in my opinion.
We did find a route up onto a ledge on the south side to get past
the log jam at the bottom of the Box, but I doubt you could find
it based on Kelsey's description.

Kelsey signed the register on Mt Ellen, and many of the subsequent
entries had negative comments (some of them recommending biological
impossibilities).  When I last visited the peak, though, the
register had been chewed to pulp by rodents...

Donn Seeley / Wasatch Mountain Club Hiking Director
(not speaking for the WMC, of course)
Newsgroups: rec.backcountry