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Sierra Canyon - Tonto NF
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40 by photographer avatarVaporman
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Sierra Canyon - Tonto NFPhoenix, AZ
Phoenix, AZ
Canyoneering5.00 Miles 1,000 AEG
Canyoneering5.00 Miles   6 Hrs   30 Mns   0.77 mph
1,000 ft AEG
Intermediate Canyoneering - Difficult or dangerous; Tech Climb; rope reqd; descent anchor; exit technical;
B - Up to light current; wading/swimming; possible wet/dry suit
III - Normally requires most of a day
 no routes
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Another great run down this beautiful gem of a canyon. Last winter, this was one of the most challenging canyons I'd done up to that point and now it's a scenic stroll thru yet another amazing canyon that we did with just one 100ft rope. :D

Fish Creek Canyon is only flowing lightly as we made the rock hop to the bottom of the steep ridge that we climb to get up on the bench that Sierra & Tango canyons descend from. :sweat: Upper Sierra Canyon is a little thorny with some light down climbing and pools before reaching the first 15ft rappel. We geared up and made this super awkward first rappel from a thick dirty bush into a waist-high pool... ;) Some moderate down climbing as the canyon drops into some beautiful narrows and we reached the 2nd rappel of about 25ft but oddly enough the anchor was missing so I build another one in a better location. ;) People down climbing that gnarly drop?!? :o The third rappel was a 30ft drop with another chilly pool to wade. By now, the geology in this canyon is off-the-hook amazing! :y: We hit the formerly awkward 4th rappel that now has a much more user friendly anchor but still drops into a super chilly full-on swimmer. :o A short slide into a wader and then rappel #5 was another 20ft drop down a chute into another shallow pool and this was quickly followed by another short 20ft rappel. The canyon dried up & opened up as we descended out of the 'narrows' with some cool alvcoves to check out & plenty of rock hopping. We enjoyed the warm sun a bit before dropping into that amazing slickrock hallway lined with shallow reflecting pools. :D I setup the 45ft 7th rappel before stopping for a lunch break and then we dropped down this sweet rappel with a cool chute below the dry falls that ends in a pool that I tried stemming over but still had to get a little wet. The final 8th rappel was a bouldery 40ft drop into sand shortly followed by the confluence with Fish Creek where we dropped gear and made the rock hop/sand slog/scenic stroll back up canyon to the car pack along the highway. :sweat:

I always love the looks tourist give us as they try to guess what the pumpkin we just got done doing with our funky looking packs & ropes. :lol:
 Culture
 Culture [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Throwing a Wendy
_____________________
Yea, canyoneering is an extreme sport... EXTREMELY dramatic!!! =p
 
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Vaporman's
229 Photosets

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