Imlay Canyon 4B R

[rcwild]

NOTE: If you have corrections, additions or current conditions for this canyon, please post as a reply to this thread.

Rating: 4B R V
Time Required: 12-16 hours
Longest Rappel: 175 feet (54M)

Preferred Season
summer, fall

Water Concerns
thick wetsuits or dry suits required at all times

Special Challenges
pothole escapes

USGS Topo Maps

Directions to Trailhead

Trailhead UTM Grid Coordinate

Approach

Canyon Entry UTM Grid Coordinate

Exit

Canyon Exit UTM Grid Coordinate

[rcwild]

Reserved for accident reports from this canyon

[deputc26]

Done via right sneak route.
As of July 4, 2009. Canyon relatively dry, 3 pothole escapes that are unclimbable without assistance (for a solid 5-11b climber).

Farmer John style wetsuits were sufficient. Canyon would be on the edge of doable without wetsuits if you moved quickly (took our group of 4 10.5 hours bus to bus and at that speed it would have been on the bleeding edge of doable sans wetsuits, not safe.)

Removed an anchor that consisted of a stick jammed in a crack and then webbing TIED to the stick with STRING. No lie, the webbing itself wasn't tied to the stick, it was attached with string. It broke while pulling on it.

[IanOutThere]

I believe Michelle and I did the first descent of the season on June 18, 2010. This was our first trip down Imlay.

The approach was done in the shade
(thanks to the awesome express 5:45am bus).
Social trail is grown in and has some deadfall but good route finding prevails. Two very small snow patches between the two passes, otherwise clear of ice/snow.

After the first few rappels we encountered a very unstable debris dam. We swam under it and realized the fraility. We backed out and poked at it with a long large stick. After 5-10 minutes the whole thing came crashing down, large stumps and trees fell maybe ten feet and made a large waved that pushed us, and the debris we floated in, back into the pool. We crawled on top off the pile and then the second section settled with a big woosh - like a avalanche. I can't explain how spooky this terrain was. After this opening epic we found all the mid-stream anchors buried in sand and debris, much time was spent digging out webbing and chockstones. We dismantled some and downclimbed, also simul-rappeled others after discovering the unstabilty of many anchor points. All the webbing we found was pretty well worked. While we had lots of webbing we did not have 200+ feet, so we left many questionable anchors behind and used creative ways to avoid them or otherwise rebuilt and dug out others. There was a handful of awkward pool drops with loose debris clogging the rap stations.

In the second terminal narrows section the anchors were less buried through they all were still covered in sand/mud and muck. This second section was much more fun for us with many beautiful raps into clear cold pools. It was obvious many of the single spinning bolts had been hammered by water and erosion. We used all of our webbing and links and rings. The longest raps had reasonable bolts but required work. A lot of time was spent cutting apart rigging and rebuilding. Also digging and kicking and throwing debris. No deep potholes were encountred; grovelling, crimping on bolt holes, and a lasso or two sufficed. The bolt kit and hook kit stay in the pack, though if time would have allowed I would have added new bolts to atleast two single-bolt very questionable stations. Many rappels (the last being 130' and amazing) led to the high flow, 120cfs Virgin River, which was more of an undertaking than expected at such a late hour after a long, hard day.

Soapbox: In my opinion many anchors in this canyon are quite questionable. I understand the park's and the canyoneering community's desire to keep bolting in these very special places to a minimum and understand good rope work and knowledge leaves many of these short drops boltless. Though on the flip-side a single bad bolt is NOT an anchor. An anchor failure here may lead to death in such a remote location. A rescue in Imaly would likely impact the canyon much more than adding a second bolt to these dangerous stations.Good, solid two-bolt chain anchors would do little to change the nature of the canyon while making sure no one craters. I'm sure many folks will disagree with me on this.

This is a serious route for small, experienced parties.
13.25 hours (4.25 on the approach, 2 hours down the Virgin, the rest spent in canyon)

Gear notes: 3mil full wetsuits + 3mil jacket tops, 2+3 neo booties, NRS thick neo gloves, 120' and 200'8.3mm, 60 feet of anchor webbing, many links/rings, helmets, a big long stick, rap gear, many caribiners, ascending goodies, Temple of Sinawava topo

not used: drill/hammer/hangers/bolts, hooks, tent pole

IanOutThere

ianoutthere.blogspot.com

[adkramoo]

Wonderful report. Thanks. Its very special to be the first one down a canyon in any given year. Especially the bigger systems. Often full of surprises of all kinds. Appreciate all the clean up work. As for bolts in Zion? It has been a bolted area for decades. While I applaud the several obscure and newer descended slots done in Zion without drilling, Imlay has been a bolted canyon for 10 days more than 32 years now. The local ethic prevails. Congrats on a fine adventure.
Ram

[ratagonia]

As ramoo said, bolts are an accepted tool in Imlay. People who have the skills should bring a bolt kit and bring stations up to a reasonable standard. Competent work is appreciated. Please post somewhere when you place bolts. Thanks for all your anchor work, we will prod people to continue with the same ethic.

Tom

[84x4bronco]

just a heads up. when the term "bad anchor" is used, it is in reference to spinning hangers. all bolts in the canyon have no movement. i guess i am just used to spinners from places like waterholes and a few here in az...

the bolts are all solid, though a few rawl bolts are only hanging on by 2 or 3 threads.

i would say pay close attention to a single bolt on canyon right, up above a large log wedged in the watercourse, second narrows after a rappel off of two bolts with 4 frozen quicklinks on them on canyon left, hidden in a depression. The bolt does not move, but the hanger dates it back a ways, and there is a small amount of rust on a washer under the hanger. i do not know if the rust is from the washer, hanger or the bolt neck. appears to be an earlier style compression bolt, like a powers.

this bolt was bypassed (perhaps by you) using a black sling around the log. this makes for a rough start for bigger guys as there is a place to squeeze below the boulder, but is a perfectly acceptable method to get down. i bounced about 5 times using full weight on the bolt while keeping my hand on the head, and there was no movement.

hope this helps to add to the anchoring status in Imlay.

[nickdiy]

The black sling in question was left there by my party - it just felt safer than the bolts to use a natural anchor. I am glad someone else was able to use it - I remember kicking myself for not setting it up as a retrievable anchor.

We did the canyon the day after your party and owe you a few cold ones for all your work digging out the anchors and debris. It took us a total of 7 hours (3 for the hike-in and 4 for the canyon) thanks to your hard work.

[Bethamphetamine]

Approached Imlay via sneak route on 8.14.10 in a group of four. Were on the early shuttle to The Grotto. 7 hours to the crossroads. We planned it as an overnight and took our sweet time enjoying the hike. Also had a couple route-finding issues as none of us had ever done the Sneak before.

Killed our water filter in pothole skank. Got kinda chilly overnight in bivy sacks and emergency bags. Plan accordingly.

Started the lower half at 0800 Sunday. All pools were completely full. No hooking, log lassoing, or other shenanigans required. Was a lot easier than we had planned and were geared for. Wearing 7mm full wet suits, we were all overheating in the first section, but fine thereafter. General consensus was that we could have gotten away with 3mm, but at least for me, the last half-dozen raps before the Narrows would have been uncomfortable to miserable.

Canyon was full of logs, debris, and decaying organic matter. Felt like we were in Star Wars in that scene where everyone is stuck in the trash compactor!

No hikers were there to see our hero rap into the Narrows! :( 8 hours from Crossroads to Narrows. Saw lots of Germans on the way out!

[mountain man]

Saw lots of Germans on the way out!

Germans in Imlay again (http://climb-utah.com/Zion/germantourists.htm)