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Secret Place #15 (Porcelain Canyon*)
*
Alias, not found on any map.
| Summary: |
A technical canyoneering trip with a short section
of narrows, rappels to 65 feet and use of natural anchors. Gear required:
helmet, webbing, harness, descender
and 2x100' ropes. You will also need two cars to do a short shuttle. |
| Road
Conditions: |
High Clearance Vehicle |
| Navigation: |
Moderate |
| Length: |
6-8 hours |
| Date
Hiked: |
May 2005 |
| Weather
Conditions: |
Warm and sunny |
|
Required Skills: |
 |
| Hike
Description: |
From the car park, route find a way down the steep,
brushy hill into the drainage and begin hiking down stream. The canyon is
rocky, but not overgrown as you work your way down the shallow drainage.
There is one minor down climb on the left to skirt a pool before arriving at
rappel #1, a 30 footer from a large fallen tree at the top of the drop.
Continue down canyon another 15 minutes to reach the short stretch of
narrows which begins with a down climb into a pool (or if you don't want to
get wet you can climb around it on the left. Just around the corner is
rappel #2, a 15 footer from a tree on canyon left. Climb down a short chute
into a pool (likely a swimmer) and rappels #3 and #4 follow in quick
succession just beyond. Unfortunately, there are no good anchors at the lip
of rappel #3. It's best to rig from one of the large boulders at the base of
#2, then extend a sling around a corner to avoid a hard pull. Rappel #3 is
65 feet down a nice water polished chute (though you'll need more than 65
feet of rope since you'll be rigging back from the drop, see my rope length
recommendation above). Another large boulder can be used at the base of this
rappel for #4 which is about 25 feet in length. Continuing down canyon,
you'll walk past some nice slick rock before reaching rappel #5. A tree on
canyon left can be used as an anchor for this 25 foot rappel, though a good
climber could probably get down by working their way around on the right.
After this drop, it's safe to remove your harness, and a short walk will
bring you to the confluence with a larger canyon. You can walk up this
rocky, boulder filled drainage (about 2-4 hours) to the car you spotted
earlier. |
| Rating
(1-5 stars): |
The author completed the hike with a group of 5 in ~7.5 hours. |
| Photos: |
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