Shenanigans

Day Three found us at Sandthrax, where a couple of pleasant surprises awaited. First, Eric Godfrey and his friends Scott and Ian had already made camp, and had a nice fire ablaze when we arrived.  Very nice! And perhaps even more comforting was the fact that more people were arriving as the night wore on. Tim Hoover made an appearance, as well as Tom Talboys, Malia, and Jules and Giles of Salt Lake. Andy and Landon, of Mapleton 2nd ward fame made an appearance as well, and the party was on! We would have a nice sized group for Shenanigans the next day.

I have a particular affection for Shenanigans. It was the first canyon I shared with Ram and company back in May, and we had it in wild and wet conditions. The day was an aboslute romp, with all sorts of interesting situations. This time through, I was ten pounds heavier, and I struggled through the narrows before. Not exactly confident I would fit, but I was pretty stoked to descend it again.

Stefan, on the other hand, had never been through the 4th narrows. He is well-built fellow, with a substantial chest measurement, meaning the 4th narrows were a bit too tight for him. Giles and Tim may have been cutting it close as well. Not to be turned away again, a plan was hatched to go high above the narrowest constrictions, and complete the remainder of the canyon. It would turn out to be an exciting variation of the oft-visited canyon.

Heading into the 4th narrows, I was mesmerized by the great light we had in canyon. Shenanigans was even better than I remembered it. The grim crawl wasn't as grim as I thought it would be, and I was pleasantly surprised to find I slipped through the scary of scaries easier this time than I had in May, even though I was ten pounds heavier. Nice!

Feeling a little saucy, I decided to take the camera back through the skinnies, and see how the high crew was doing. Not sure exactly how high up they had to go, but let me say I was glad it was them, and not me. The initial upclimb must've been 60 or more vertical feet. It was definitely a lot of work, probably adding an hour to the total descent time. I fetched their backpacks for them, and marked the skinniest part for them to get past. I think Tim was relieved to finally be back on firm ground, Stefan was amped to have finally got through the 4th narrows, and Giles and Tom were both all smiles. Consensus was that the high route is really good, might be worth a try in the future.

Man, we had such fantastic conditions for day three. Temps were slightly warmer, no wind, and Shenanigans presented herself very well. Many rookies to Shenanigans successfully made it through, including Stefan and Tim, who had both been turned around once before. And waiting back at camp when we arrived? At least a dozen more participants, including the Ram Clan, rallying from an early defeat. The Mapleton 2nd ward showed up in full effect, bringing multiple dutch ovens full of roasts, chicken, potatoes, vegetables, and unbelievable cobblers and cakes. Nice work team! Not a bad way to end the day.