Eardley Canyon + Zero Gravity Canyon

On May 25th, 2019, Steph, Tony, Byron and I took a lap through Eardley Canyon.  It was full to the brim, easy to get through, and pretty fun.  The technical section was much shorter than I expected.  It is a canyon that is worth doing once, but probably not twice.  Steph decided to rest a sore knee and skipped Zero G.  So, Tony, Byron, and I splashed through Zero G, which filled out our day nicely.

First you have to pay if you want to play in Eardley...

It is worth a minute to find these pictographs.  They are excellent.

Notes on Eardley Canyon:

We used the shortcut entrance which was difficult to decipher, time-consuming, and dangerous due to loose rocks/boulders and death-fall exposure.  I have been told that the other entrance is worse, but find that difficult to believe.

Getting to the top of the approach earlier would have made our morning more enjoyable.  We started hiking at 7:30AM, but that wasn't quite early enough.  Start hiking at sunrise (would have been 6AM on this day).

4/3 wetsuit was good, but a little chilly.  A 3/2 wetsuit would not have been enough for me.  The daytime high temp was about 75 degrees.

Going through a few days after it fills would be optimal because the sediment suspended in water would settle, then the pools would become clear.  When we went through, the water was still silty from the rain the day before, which took jumping into pools out of the equation.

Then on to Zero Gravity...

Notes on Zero Gravity Canyon:

Zero G is more fun when empty because some of the best features are hidden when full. 

A 4/3 wetsuit was perfect during full conditions.

There are a couple of unused bolts at the end of the canyon that could easily be pulled and patched.  A sturdy glue-in eyebolt has been placed above the final chokestone, so the remaining hardware is no longer useful.

Zero Gravity

Stephanie and I checked out Zero G on May 4th, 2012. The conditions were great! The water was low but very clean. The section with the keeper pothole was short, but really nice. It's a great way to spend 3 hours if you are in the area.

Check out our Zero Gravity video HERE.

The section with the bomb bay was much tougher than it appeared from above. I chose to go high and rig a rappel. Standing on top of the chokestone above the bomb bay, the descent looks really simple. It proved to be an optical illusion. I dropped down on the far side of the chokestone, maybe two or three feet away. As I slid down, the walls pinned my chest until I was suck. I didn't have the foresight to rig an extended rappel device, so one horns of my Piranha was pinned between my chest and the wall, stabbing me in the Solar Plexus (Ouch, *&^%, ouch). My feet and calves were hanging free in the bomb bay; I was making the Zero G signature move. The stabbing pain in my chest motivated me to slide sideways about 2 feet where the canyon widened about a half-inch. I was then free to drop into the bomb bay.

Stephanie is much skinnier than I am. She went under the chokestone then used the rappel rope as a hand line. When the lower half of her body was in the bomb bay she lost control, smacked her head and slid down the handline burning four of her fingers. She only fell about 2 feet, but her hand is burnt pretty badly. Good thing she was wearing a helmet. Again, that section looked really easy to her, but proved to be worthy of the R rating.

Bob