Steve in Buckwater Draw's South Fork
Steve and nice fall color in Buckwater Draw's South Fork.
A consistently narrow slot canyon with plenty of fun scrambling
Steve and nice fall color in Buckwater Draw's South Fork.
The downclimbing puzzles quickly begin.
The crew tackling an interesting downclimb.
Dwight stems over a long stretch of mud.
We carefully traveresed this thin ledge to avoid some seriously nasty mud in the slot.
Sharon starting a short but awkward rappel.
Sharon having an excellent time.
Colorful fall leaves made the canyon even more beautiful.
Buckwater Draw's South Fork is consistently narrow and beautiful.
Steve approaches the sunshine.
Wayne gives Beth an extra foothold for a tricky downclimb.
Sharon gets ready for a short but beautiful rappel just before the confluence of the Main and South Forks.
Wayne scrambles up into the Main Fork of Buckwater Draw from the point at which it and the South Fork merge. Up ahead lies the Magic Chamber, a dead end for most canyoneers. The upclimb would be tricky and poorly protected. We'll descend the Main Fork from here and then hike around and drop into the top of it so we can rappel down into the Magic Chamber.
Sharon stemming near the end of the slotty part of Buckwater Draw.
After exiting the Main Fork of Buckwater Draw we hiked above ground and eventually along an old road toward the upper portion of the Main Fork of Buckwater Draw. We'd drop in where the canyon slotted up and follow it down to the Magic Chamber.
Wayne watches as Bob negotaites a tricky downcimb in the Main Fork.
Dwight takes the lead and sacrifices his dry feet on a short rappel into a shallow pool.
Dwight guides the rest of us by pulling on the ropes and we all manage to keep our feet dry. After the fact we figured out that the whole rappel could have been avoided by traversing an easy but exposed ledge on rappellers right.
Looking down at Bob who has just completed a tricky downclimb.
Sharon has quite an audience for this obstacle!
Steve scooching his way into the somewhat awkward start of the rappel into the Magic Chamber.
Beth on the amazing rappel into the Magic Chamber. Two 30m ropes were sufficient.
The crew in the Magic Chamber watching Wayne on rappel.