Next day, we climbed up AGAIN!

We decided the best way to get to the North Fork was to drop into the South Fork, and climb out the other side, at a place we had scouted the day before. Here's looking down into the maze.

A couple of short drops... Some brush...

There were some interesting drops into pools. Some bats...

The second day we crossed the south fork on approach for the north and walked to the head. Again with my aim of not giving too much away, it started out quite brushy but became tolerable about 1/3 of the way down. Another good mix of narrow slot, pools, downclimbs but the north fork threw in a few more raps. I didn't recognize the confluence pool at first, but it became apparent after I looked it over more. Then the final drop and the north fork was done. A nice canyon with attributes similar to it's sibling to the south but with it's own unique flavor. Yes, risk cuts both ways, but I genuinely enjoyed the added spice of exploring a canyon with no details of what it held. I've visited many canyons armed with beta and enjoyed the experience - each canyon has it's own charm that is revealed to the visitor. But for those who can tolerate some risk, and come prepared with contingencies, the sans beta style can be rewarding and a way to spice up your canyoneering. That said, we had gathered from maps that this canyon was unlikely to be a real trap - this was confirmed by our first trip to the canyon rim where we were able to survey it's general character. So we weren't reckless in our adventure. Some readers may be wondering if this canyon has a name. Well, not on any map we saw. I think Tom has a name for it that will appear in his up-coming Rave.

Eventually the canyon deepened up and started to look serious. Here's looking down a two-stage rap down into the mysterious black slot. Would it go? Would the slot be a high, dangerous Mae West?

I checked it out and gave the thumbs up, and the rest of the crew came down. Kris on rappel.

Downclimb into the slot..

And unfortunately, the slot had a swim! Continuing on, we soon came to a final slot dropping down into the pool where the North and South Forks joined - then the 'squirmer' and the rappel to the land of the living. A good time had by all. A nice canyon, new. Freshies!! We returned home, victorious.