Foolin' Around

I'll be honest, by Day 6, I was flat worn out. I had a nagging foot injury, I wasn't sleeping well at night, and all I really wanted to to was survive until the Black Hole. As plans were being passed around the campfire, I cringed. Shenanigans? Nah, did that earlier. Hard Day? Yuck, too long of a day. Foolin' Around? With a swim? No good. Pandoras? Yeah right. Stair? Maybe.... But nothing really sounded exciting.

Finally, it was brought up that Foolin' Around was a good option, because the swim can be bypassed. Perfect. Complete the West Forks of Butler Trifecta, stay warm and dry, and be back to camp early enough to start the New Year's party.

Day 6 was probably the coldest day from the Sandthrax camp. The wind was stiff again, and the high hovered somewhere around 30 degrees. Our crew for the day included Aaron, Randi, Rob, Tom and myself. It was one of those days I wasn't really excited about, but thankfully the crew provided some infectious energy.

Similar to Monkey Business, I wasn't sure what Foolin' Around had in store. Seems like no one ever talks about the canyon, or actually descends it. Shenanigans effect, again? Who knows, but this canyon is a good one. In fact, all three of the West Forks of Butler are simply impressive. All have a much different character than the others, but each one packs some unique punch. Very good stuff.

Foolin' Around also has a couple of bonus canyons. Little side drainages that enter from the east. First one we called "playin' around" and has one of the best elevators in the North Wash, and leads to a nice hallway back to the main canyon. Definitely worth the 20 minute diversion. The second one is unnamed, but I called it "Fool me twice." We didn't have the time nor energy to check the thing out, but it looked like it had a series of potholes and some good narrows.

Back in Foolin' Around, we shivered our way through the majority of the canyon, and came to the suit up spot. We all looked around, and it was obvious that at least a few of us refused to get wet. Of course, Randi and Aaron wanted the whole freezing experience, so they suited up for the swim. We packed up their bags and ropes, headed over the rim and back down to the rappel to set the rappel and wait for them. I could hear laughing and bantering farther upcanyon, but once I saw the sheets of ice blocking the end of the pool, I knew I made the right call. Did I mention it was freezing cold?

After Randi and Aaron rapped to the bottom, we dropped a rope to them so they could descend East Lep on the way back to camp. Meanwhile, we climbed the nose between Foolin' and Shenanigans and rim walked back to the car. What an awesome view from up there! It's hard to understand the scale of these canyons until you see them from above. It was a satisfying way to wrap up the day.