Arizona Canyoneering: Using Ropes to Escape

The silhouette of the mountain range is in my rear view mirror when suddenly a jackass driver flashes his lights, speeds by me, slams on his brakes and cuts me off. Yep, reality check number one: I was back in the city. Reality check two confronted me as soon as I walked through the house door: my brand new blazer. Another slap in the face that the corporate world was awaiting my return on Monday. I grabbed a beer and reflected on my dual provocation.

I arrived in Arizona with an itch to explore the mountain ranges but not on a foot hike or a bike tour. So, how? Canyoneering!

It turns out that I do not have the knowledge nor tool set to do this alone. So, I emailed and called every tour guide company in Arizona in search of this thrill. Finally, I got an email from CenterFocus Experience's tour guide, "Sue, if you were willing to go out on an informal/under the table level, and meet me 30 minutes south of Sedona in Camp Verde, I could possibly take you out myself on Wednesday. Cheers, Garrett Bennett." Yep, he could be a serial killer looking to murder me in the desert. In addition, my doctor told me specifically no rock climbing due to my stitches and my quad muscle was still screaming from the previous day's hike. Yet, it was TOTALLY worth the risk. Let's go!

We met in Camp Verde, a small town, in which the only bar just went out of business. Garrett enlightens me that you would have to punch the first person you see to earn the right to enjoy a drink at that bar. Guess it is a good thing its closed.

We off road and climb up to 7000 feet above sea level as we enter the Coconino National Forest. The road is not just rough but barely passable making the area completely isolated. We park and throw bags on our shoulders and begin to scramble over rocks creating our own path to the "crack" in the earth.

The challenge with canyoneering is once you commit, you can only move forward (or call Search and Rescue). The first drop was 80 ft into the slot and the rappelling continued 5 more times. Each time we landed in snow-melted pools of water which continued to decrease in temperature. The last rappel I landed in the water and began floating on my back away from the cracked earth into the flowing creek. The journey continues as we hiked up the creek (literally in the water) to begin our exit. It consisted of a 1000 ft rock climb to the top of the basin. No time to really think about the danger, I found grips for my hands and began to push up with my legs to ascend this monster. At the top, the deep basin we just climbed out of became a vantage point to the horizon. We then continued to hike a game trail to the car. We celebrate the canyon, the adventure, and new friendship with a beer and watched a storm creep over the north side of the canyon.



Back home, I sip on a new beer and check my gmail account only to find a welcome email from my new company. I ignore it because today I want to play in the woods!