Slot Canyons

[ScottP]

Does anybody know of any slot canyons in Washington? I have a friend who's into canyoneering and he is looking for good descents closer than Utah/Arizona. He has heard of some in MRNP, but has no details.

Thanks

[Szyjakowski]

i dont think they exhist in WA...perhaps you'd find something similar in the coulees but as for Slot Canyons they are in the SW US

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

ScottP said:

Does anybody know of any slot canyons in Washington? I have a friend who's into canyoneering and he is looking for good descents closer than Utah/Arizona. He has heard of some in MRNP, but has no details.

Thanks

 

Columbia River Gorge?

[glen]

Considering the amount of rainfall in the cascades, any slot canyons here would likely be choked with water and asking to drown you. It is a bit further than Rainier, but there is a pretty fun canyon stretch in the descent of Tenaya Canyon down in Yos. it is the part of the touron map marked "Don't go here" in big red letters.

 

Maybe your friend should get into ridge descents- they're kinda like inverted canyons with better views...

[erik]

ask trask

 

sounds like the type of wimmin he dates

 

 

[cj001f]

glen said:

Considering the amount of rainfall in the cascades, any slot canyons here would likely be choked with water and asking to drown you. It is a bit further than Rainier, but there is a pretty fun canyon stretch in the descent of Tenaya Canyon down in Yos. it is the part of the touron map marked "Don't go here" in big red letters.

 

If you wait till Sept/Oct you shouldn't have a problem - and I think you'd be surprised how many are hiding around this neck of the woods if you open your eyes and use a little imagination.

 

Tenaya Canyon's supposed to be a blast.

[dberdinka]

Our very own DRU posted an article at bivouac.com on a canyon descent he did along the North Shore of Vancouver that sounded excellent. Rappelling waterfalls, deep narrows, the whole bit.

 

A web search should turn up a few sites that have canyoneering descents from the Rainier and Mount Adams area. While not as spectacular as what you find in the SW they looked pretty cool. Wet Suits looked like a must.

 

I think we'll see a lot more canyoneering occuring in the NW in the near future. It's out there, it's just going to take the right mindset to find it.

[j_b]

Mt Rainier has a couple: Cowlitz Canyon and Box Canyon on Stevens Canyon road. Box canyon would be quite spooky: http://www.tnaqua.org/JoinUs/westimage17.htm

[MATT_B]

I bet there is some intresting stuff in the Columbia River Gorge. Oneatta gorge is short but very cool. It is the closest thing to a slot canyon that I have seen in this neck of the woods

[texplorer]

What about Beckey's "obvious decent gulley"???

[Szyjakowski]

any geologists out there want to tell me otherwise....

words below from here (to give proper reference...)

Most slot canyons are remote, hidden and difficult to reach and explore, but this only adds to their appeal; one can get a good idea from a photograph, but this is no substitute for visiting in person. The canyons tend to be dry for most of the year but receive occasional flash floods of great force, most frequently during the late summer months. It is these sudden torrents of water, carrying logs, stones and other debris that have been cutting through the relatively soft rock for millions of years, resulting in a great variety of colourful rock shapes and forms.

In general, true slot canyons are found only on the many rivers and their tributaries that ultimately flow into Lake Powell, in Utah.

 

ok---have a nice day!

[Off_White]

j_b said:

Mt Rainier has a couple: Cowlitz Canyon and Box Canyon on Stevens Canyon road. Box canyon would be quite spooky: http://www.tnaqua.org/JoinUs/westimage17.htm

 

Yeah, I was thinking of that canyon on the Muddy Fork of the Cowlitz on Rainier, I think it's one of the two you mentioned. I always thought it would be a great shot to rap down off the middle of the bridge spanning the chasm and shoot a few photos.

 

Real slots do take sandstone though, and we don't have the right stuff. I went down Buckskin Gulch on the Paria River years ago, and it was a hoot. I think it has since become rather popular. I believe the Paria empties into the Colorado below the glen canyon dam, and I've been in a slot canyon much farther North (wild horse, lost horse, white horse, something like that) that I'm pretty sure drains into the Green River, so I don't think Szy's geologist's statement is exactly correct.

[Szyjakowski]

Off_White said:

[so I don't think Szy's geologist's statement is exactly correct.

hey man, it is a quote from that website...true slot canyons are in sandstone...which I initially implied...

[j_b]

true ow. although there are few slot/box canyons, some cascade streams can be fun as well (darrington area is a fav). around here ascending rivers ends up being a necessity to avoid the brush anyway.

[gapertimmy]

there are some excellent volcanic cracks, not really slot canyons, that one can crawl down into and explore, as well as some dry river bed canyons around central and eastern oregon, but nothing like what is seen in southern Utah and Arizona

[lummox]

ScottP said:

Does anybody know of any slot canyons in Washington? I have a friend who's into canyoneering and he is looking for good descents closer than Utah/Arizona. He has heard of some in MRNP, but has no details.

Thanks

check the urban canyoneering in the city sewers. its amazing how long it takes a condom to decay.

[nolanr]

I've dinked around Oneonta Gorge many times as a lad, fun place, it's been years. I bet the Owyhee in the very SE corner of Oregon has some terrain more closely resembling the true slot canyons of the desert SW. Maybe there's some interesting canyons around Yakima?

[bobinc]

Yeah, I don't think we have the classic slots here like Brimstone, Death Hollow, Wild Horse, etc because of stratigraphy. But... for a real thrill, how about getting some caving gear and heading to Dynamited Cave out near Trout Lake? It has multiple levels, pits, big chambers, and running water. True, it is 38 F and underground, but that's the nature of the beast.

[Mr._Natural]

bobinc said:

Yeah, I don't think we have the classic slots here like Brimstone, Death Hollow, Wild Horse, etc because of stratigraphy. But... for a real thrill, how about getting some caving gear and heading to Dynamited Cave out near Trout Lake? It has multiple levels, pits, big chambers, and running water. True, it is 38 F and underground, but that's the nature of the beast.

 

the bat caves too, although they aren't caves in a true sense.

[Szyjakowski]

Mr._Natural said:

 

the bat caves too, although they aren't caves in a true sense.

Right, the caves are there due to the massive rockfall from the main cliffs.........

[j_b]

on the issue of whether we can have slot canyons in Washington. steep sided narrow canyons exist whenever the river cuts down much faster than the side walls can relax to the angle of repose. in the southwest, erosion of sidewalls relative to river cutting rate is small (little precip, veg, etc ...). so if you can find a setting in washington where the relatives rates of erosion (river bottom versus side walls) are similar to that of the southwest you could get a slot canyon irrespective of rock type. glacial environment have very high down cutting rates (flashy discharge with many abradors, water under pressure, etc ..) and often produce box canyons. if you haven't done so you should check out Box Canyon at rainier, it is quite a sight.

[Dru]

slot canyon on north shore follow eroded basalt dykes in granite. true slots with up to 100 foot deep, 5 foot wide canyon in places.

 

slot canyon in new zealand in all sorts of non sandstone rocks.

 

granite slot canyons in christmas tree pass area (granite) SE of vegas.

 

whoever said you gotta have sandstone to slot canyon has his head up his ass geologist or no. all you need is an eroded canyon much deeper than it is wide. hell the north gully of the chief is almost a slot canyon except that it isnt water eroded. there are some wicked almost-slots descending to the squamish highway that one day it will freeze enough to climb on ice all the way from the highway to the summit.

 

lots of these type of features up near lillooet too (in limestone) and in the cdn rockies ( in limestone).

[Szyjakowski]

From my stat/sed prof....

"Slot canyons don't seem to be a speciality of anyone around WWU,

and I

don't know of any web sites specifically covering them or how they

form. (There are some pretty pictures out there, though.) I do know

that

they aren't restricted to sandstones, since I've seen them in limestone

and Doug remembers one in marble in Death Valley. In order to

form

a slot canyon, there must be rock that can be eroded but that is strong

enough to hold near-vertical slopes. It must also be relatively

homogenous, with no weak strata along which mass-wasting can cause

slope

failures. To the best of my knowledge, they are characteristic of arid

regions, as a guess, that could be because running water is restricted

rather than there being a lot of overland flow."

 

took her almost a month to say this....geologists are such slackers!