On July 14 my buddy Matt and I descended Little LO Canyon in the northeast corner of Sycamore Canyon Wilderness. It was the most technical canyon I've done to date in that it had a "keeper" pothole and a deadman's rappel. A "keeper" feature is essentially the equivalent of a bug jumping into a glass of water that's only partially full: yes, you got in the glass....but can you get out? To escape this particular keeper was relatively easy to do via a buddy boost (aka Indian boost). I boosted Matt out, swam back to the where we had rappelled in, rope climbed up to a ledge, pulled and stacked the rope, jumped back in the pool from said ledge, swam across, and was lifted out by Matt pulling on one end of the coiled rope while I clung to the other. It wasn't super difficult but the problem solving nature of escaping the pothole was a fun challenge in itself.
The Deadman is an anchor built off a non-fixed rock that weighs less than the rappeler. You then stack anything else you can find on this rock to try to ensure it won't move. This particular Deadman was already built and was placed above the lip of the rappel ledge, giving the rappeler some extra rope friction against the slot canyon as he/she descends. The anchor held well, not budging an inch. No, a Deadman anchor is not ideal but sometimes it's all you have.
Technical aspects aside, Little LO has an amazing set of narrows that seems to stretch for at least a mile. While it did take 90+ minutes of rock hopping down a creek bed and getting cut my locust bushes in order to reach the top of the narrows, it was well worth it. Enjoy the shots.
Matt at the top of the Narrows.
First wade
Looking down the 30ft chute that fed the keeper pothole
Matt goes first
Below the keeper was another pothole that was easily escaped
and then a butt slide/jump to this narrow pool.
Slot Shot
Rapping off the Deadman
Slot Shot # 2
Disclaimer: Canyoneering is epic but is inherently dangerous. Stupid people die stupid deaths. You are responsible for your actions, not anyone else. That includes the author of this blog.
