Calm Collected But Dangerous | Quandary | Knotted Rope

June 3, 2017 In San Rafael Swell By Cristina LaFame

Quandary | Knotted Rope | May 2017

The last time just the three of us (Andy, Brent & Cristina) attempted a canyon (Little Sedgers), we almost lost Andy to hypothermia in a keeper pothole. The last time we did Quandary (James, Andy & Cristina), I lost all of my hand skin and came close to sleeping in Ramp Canyon because of a flash flood. This trip was much better.

We left Denver a little after 5:00pm Friday and drove all the way to the airstrip near Hidden Splendor Mine arriving at 1:00am to find Jan and Jorge in a wind storm.

Day 1: Quandary

Got to the trailhead at about 9:30am and made quick work of the hike in. By lunch we’d caught up to another group so we stopped to put on our wetsuits to get through the second half of the technical section. Several keepers to maneuver in this one; Andy nailed the potshots and also the pack toss of my bag he filled with sand to throw into the water, which may or may not have been done just so that I’d have a bag filled with mud the rest of the day. We all looked awesome in our wetsuits. Andy’s was so tight it left marks.

A group of 9 caught up to us and was on our tail the second half of the day. They were clearly all gymnasts on steroids in their 20s. Brent and Andy high-fived a lot; I pinched my ATC in the rope on a rappel and then panicked and twisted the ropes on the next rappel off of the only bolts we saw in the canyon–the boys were very supportive with their “you’re fine, just do it” and “you did something wrong, just do it anyway” encouragement.

To reach the exit we had to go up Ramp Canyon, which was mostly scrambling until we reached the “ramp” that looked just as scary as I remembered it to be, but we found some webbing someone had left for an alternate escape that Andy climbed up first to set a ladder so Brent and I could get out. It scared the ever living shit out of me, but we all made it unscathed and found our way to the car that Jan and Jorge had left for us right next to a guy who got naked just in time for Andy to walk up on him. Naked guy also had a dog named Steven.

Total time ~11 hours; total distance ~7.5 miles. Cristina rates this canyon a 7.6 out of 10 and is thankful for the lack of flash flooding and all of the help making it through. She also wishes the rest of the LaFames could have been there but understands that Santa Fe is also neat.

Day 2: Knotted Rope

We got started by 8:30 after a delicious pancake breakfast (thanks, camp cooks!) and sleeping through the alarm that Brent never set (thanks, Brent!). It was the same hike in as Quandary but I never remember what anything looks like so it felt like an all-new trail, a benefit of short-term memory loss. My long-term memory is better and I was happy to re-experience the incredible view from the top that we enjoyed the year of the BIG GROUP–2013? 2014? Something like that.

The hike to the entrance of the canyon was loooooong but awesome, the actual canyon was short but awesome. We didn’t encounter any other canyoneers so that was nice, but still managed a good pace without feeling rushed. We didn’t have to set up a single rap or use our harnesses, but we each took a full-body dunk at some point and swallowed plenty of uranium water. I wore my long wetsuit to save some skin and that worked nicely. Brent and Andy wore shorties; Andy also wore control-top Spanx.

I chickened out on some of the sketchier looking chimneys but the boys took the more difficult routes per usual and still down climbed to help me in and out of potholes. We mostly used the ladders and each other to lower into each section and managed to keep our packs dry the entire time.

We had lunch at the end of the canyon with a great view of the exit that seemed a lot shorter and more manageable than it turned out to be. We got distracted by all of the shiny rocks a missed the proper exit, which meant scrambling down loose dirt and sharp rocks before making it to the Little Muddy River.

It was a long hike out with at least a dozen river crossings but the scenery was incredible and having dry packs made it a lot easier.

Total time ~9 hours; total distance 9.5 miles. Cristina ranks this canyon an 8.5 out of 10.

Jan & Jorge met us with the dogs to hang out by the river for a bit before heading to camp to shower and make dinner where I managed to fall over in my chair and spill my entire beer.