Monday, June 25, 2012

West Leprechaun

Tony and I descended West Lep on June 25th, 2012. It is nearly as good as it's neighbors, and enjoyable even in the summer heat. It was 87 degrees when we left the car and 102 when we returned.

We made one mistake on the first rappel- we should have extended the anchor to prevent rope grooves. Once we got to the bottom we verrry gingerly whipped the rope while pulling it to prevent one. If you visit this canyon in the near future please consider extending the anchor through the mini-potholes. Also, it will make your pull a lot easier.

A really creepy thing happened to us on our descent. We climbed under the rockfall and into Belfast Boulevard and were enjoying to cool air and the tremendous view above. As our eyes adjusted to the darkness we noticed a few daddy long legs scurrying onto the walls above. Tony mentioned that there were about 30 on the wall above him and many more down canyon. I unzipped my pack and removed a flashlight. I turned on the flashlight to find a cluster about 75 of the buggers about a foot from my face! I looked down canyon and saw three more very large clusters about head high.

I frantically turned off the light and went for my backpack. Just then the zipper busted spilling some of my stuff on the pitch black ground below. Frantically, I stuffed my cargo shorts with stuff and hauled my busted pack out of the slot while avoiding a facefull of spiders. Sheesh, it was a little too Indiana Jones-ish in there for me.

The photos below will tell the rest of the story. Enjoy.







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