I literally lost sleep over this canyon.
It is an R slot. The R means “extraordinary risk factors.”
The hardest slot I had previously done was Hog 2, a PG slot. I knew I was going
to be in way over my head.
This canyon earned its R rating for two reasons- the keeper
pothole and the high stemming at least 30 feet off the ground. I wasn’t worried
about the pothole. I knew the boys could pull me out of there. But the
stemming… I’d be on my own for that.
Most of the canyon was fun and easy. As Adam observed me on
one of the downclimbs, he said, “You know what to do… Looks like you just need
practice.” He couldn't have given me a sweeter compliment.
There was one pothole that was slightly awkward to climb
over, and I just rappelled right down into it, then let Adam and Brian pull me
out. But other than that, it was smooth sailing.
Our different approaches to potholes...
We arrived at the witch’s cauldron (the keeper pothole), and
Adam used some crazy Matrix moves to avoid it. Brian went in but easily found a
way out. I floundered around and needed Brian to pull me out, just as expected.
But I was relieved to be past the first obstacle.
After that came a long, tight hallway.
Adam and I were able
to squeeze through, but Brian had to go high. It was so narrow, you couldn’t
even turn your head. There was a brief respite, and then more narrows. This was
the mandatory stemming section, the other reason the canyon had an R rating.
And this is where I almost lost it.
First of all, you couldn’t see how long this section went
on. It curved, so there was no end in sight. The second problem was that I had
trouble even getting into position for the stemming. Full disclosure- Adam got
up first, then helped pull me up. It was an awkward move that’s hard to
describe, but there was a log in the way that complicated things. Another issue
was my pack. I brought a wetsuit because I was unsure of how long we’d be in
the water and how cold it would be. Turns out it wasn’t that bad, and the boys
didn’t have wetsuits. So mine was in my pack, taking up space and weighing me
down. (It was wet from the potholes.) I tried to hang it from my harness, and
it was just so heavy. The boys could tell this was too much for me to handle
and Brian gallantly offered to carry the wetsuit and my water, reducing my pack
size considerably. Adam later said he thought I was going to lose it; they were
fully expecting tears and hysterics. But Jason once said that what makes me a
badass is the fact that I’ll get through the scary stuff, despite the fact that
I’m completely terrified. I could tell Adam and Brian were bracing themselves
for hysterics, but I just needed a minute to talk myself into it. I thought
about the worst case scenario, which was falling and getting wedged in the
bottom. It wouldn’t kill me, it would just really really suck. It was a risk I
was willing to take.
And so we started stemming. Adam went first and coached me
through each move. Brian followed close behind and offered words of
encouragement. I glanced down once and realized what a bad idea this was; it
was hard to even see the ground. It was dark below us and above us. My entire
existence was just my hands and knees and the rock in front of me.
We rounded a curve, and daylight appeared. When I stepped
onto solid ground, I threw my arms around Adam in a wordless thank you. My
helmet was askew and my mouth was so dry I could barely talk. But I felt
amazing. And actually, one of my first thoughts was, “I can’t believe it’s over
already!” I thought for sure there would be more obstacles ahead, but there was
just one more rappel (well, a downclimb for the boys), and we were out. The
funny thing was that THIS is where I got stuck. I was so relieved to be done
with the previous section that I got careless and got wedged in the rock. No
amount of wiggling was helping, and it was further complicated by the fact that
I was on rope. Adam had to climb above me and pull me up. That boy is STRONG.
We were in a beautiful little alcove that had a lovely echo,
so I serenaded the boys with “Let It Go” while Adam made quick work of the
downclimb. And that was it; we had defeated the Witch’s Cauldron.
This canyon was named so appropriately. Between the cauldron
and the deep dark narrows and the bumps on the rock that looked like warts, it
had a creepy feeling to it.
I always say I’m not out to prove anything, but on Saturday,
I was. I feel like people underestimate me, and I hadn’t done anything
challenging in a while. I needed to prove to myself that I’m still a badass. It
is true that Brian and Adam helped a lot, and it wouldn’t have been possible
without them. But still… with just one PG canyon on my resume, I was able to
defeat an R canyon. And that feels pretty good.
*Photos courtesy of Brian Bassett
*Photos courtesy of Brian Bassett
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