Grand old lead attempt

Saturday, October 25th 2008 - Jason Baxter

Trip Leader: Jason Baxter On Trip: Jason Baxter, Ben Simon, Nick Johnson, Dave Herron (Narrated by Jason) Dave provided another cliff lead. A mere 60' or so off the ground this time. Went on a scouting trip the previous weekend, and determined we weren't prepared for obstacles presented. (Very fragmented limestone, few solid spots for placing protection.) This was our return trip. Dale allowed us to borrow some necessary equipment, and we brought a different set of climbing gear with us. We left SLC about 9:00pm, and arrived at our campsite at about 1:00am on Saturday. Set up a tent and crashed into bed. Nick's thermometer said 47 degrees in the tent the next morning, low 20's outside. I decided that late October may be pushing it for camping trips... We drove the last few miles up the road, and hiked in to the cliff the hole is located in. After I spent a long couple of hours standing at the bottom of the cliff, Ben yelled down that he was safely up and the rope was rigged for me to come up. He didn't tell us what the lead looked like until this point, despite the threats from cavers below... :-) Definitely a cave, with 4-5 inch thick flowstone on the ledge outside. Exciting to think about. Nearly six foot high entrance, and about 10' wide. Interested in the cave yet? Unfortunately, this is where it starts a downward spiral. The passage quickly narrowed down smaller due to breakdown and debris on the floor. We crawled to the "back" at about 15', and discovered a massive breakdown block that had slid from the ceiling. It fills the available passage from side to side, and goes up above the remaining cave ceiling. Only possibility is digging under it, for who knows how far. If someone has a death wish, and enjoys digging in unstable conditions, let me know. Otherwise, we have checked this one off the list and don't intend to go back. On to the next high lead!