Canyoneering in the Middle Fork of the Maidenwater

Last weekend we went canyoneering! It was my first time and there's a good chance it was my last. It was actually really difficult. But we made it through!

We drove down on Friday night to Hanksville, UT, which is a pretty tiny town. We had made reservations in the local motel and got there about 9:30pm. When we arrived, an envelope with our name on it was taped to the office door with our room keys inside. That was a first!

The next morning we were planning to eat out for breakfast but there wasn't really a place to eat before lunch within an hour of driving. So we ate the muffins and fruit I brought and then headed out to the canyon which was about a half hour from Hanksville, in the opposite direction of civilization.

It took us about two hours to hike up to the place where we got into the canyon. The weather was the right temperature for hiking--not too cold or hot. It had been very cold earlier that week--13 degrees one morning--but fortunately not this day. It got a little chilly in the canyon in the shade when we were waiting to do the rappelling.

Scott was pleased when we found the geological survey marker he remembered from the time he did this canyon before.

Eventually we got into the canyon. Something I didn't realize earlier was that once you are in, it's pretty difficult to get out any other way than rappelling and walking out.

Mindy looks like a pro but this was actually really anxiety-producing for her. I'm glad she was able to do it.

We had to do a lot of rappels, probably 10 or 11. Plus a few times where we had to shimmy down between the rocks. There are no pictures of me rappelling but I also did it and had the injuries to prove it--nothing severe just scrapes. And a twisted ankle which fortunately didn't hurt too much until we started driving home. If anything serious had happened, it would have been really difficult to get out and get help. We didn't see anyone else the entire time. So I'm really grateful we were fine.

It took much longer than we anticipated--about 7 hours total.

At the very end, we had to walk through a tunnel that went under the road.

By the end, the girls and I were exhausted.

To get back to the car, we had to climb up this very steep hill with some very loose dirt and rocks.

It was hard but we did it!

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