Dark Canyon, Utah, in May- guidance?

Dean, there is pretty good info in the Hiking Grand Staircase-Escalante & the Glen Canyon Region book by Ron Adkisson.

Also this USFS site, you might contact Brian Murdock the wilderness manager
http://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/wildView?WID=148&tab=Trip%20Planning

There is also this ancient publication
http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5316023.pdf

They might have some current info over at the Bogley Outdoor site.

This trip report might be helpful for you:

http://theblondecoyote.com/2014/05/19/into-the-dark-canyon-wilderness/

As for maps, just use caltopo.com to plan your route

Actually, I had read that trip report already. :) It was one of the inspirations.

I have the Adkison book on order from Amazon. Good to know I picked an appropriate one.

I have not been into Dark Canyon. I have read Kelsey's write up on it and I have logged many trips into Cedar Mesa canyons just to the south.

My guess is that if you can't find any information saying there is a dependable year round spring, then, considering this drought year, you will likely be dependent on pools or pot holes from recent rains. But May 18th may be a bit late for pool/pothole water. It will depend on how much rain they get the end of April and those two weeks in May prior to your start. Problem is, if there is a lot of rain just before your trip, the roads could be a problem getting in there. But if you start a couple of weeks after the most recent rain, then there may not be any water. Considering the drought year thus far, I would think an earlier start would be a better bet. Last year the pools were drying up in Grand Gulch by the first week of May when I was in there. One 'dependable' well known spring was completely dry. By the 18th it would have been pretty dry in there.

Unless there is a well known dependable year round spring you will not be able to depend on anything any one or any book tells you about water this far in advance.

One fall back might be to change you hike to lower Dark Canyon if there is an extended dry period just prior to your start. Call the FS just prior to your start and see what the say… though they may have little or no information for you.

Billy

I would go to Wilderness.net, click on find a wilderness, go to Dark Canyon. At the top of the page, click on the trip planning box which has some very useful info on water sources.

Dean L

That is an interesting wilderness.net site that Dean posted.
And the 'trip planning' section makes it sound like there is plenty of water in the Woodenshoe/Peavine look you intend to hike.
However, I would caution again that the information is not current. We are in the 4th year of drought in the west now and many normally dependable water sources are dried up.

Here is a quote from the 'general' tab for Dark Canyon Wilderness at wilderness.net:
"Due to years of drought, some seeps and springs have disappeared making water very scarce. Plan to carry all the water you may need with you and/or contact those with local knowledge for the location of the very few water sources. Check the Dark Canyon Wilderness Blog at wilderness.net for updates on water and trail conditions."

Can't stress enough, it is CURRENT information that you need: ie, not from a book; you want information from someone who has hiked your hike a few days or a week before you plan to hike. Information more than a week old can be bad information. I have hiked in canyons were week old report say water is available only to find it dried up a week later.

Billy

I wasn't suggesting that someone hike without current info, that is a given.

What Dean L said. Also, Allen's Canyoneering 2 covers part of your route. The reliability of Kelsey water beta is not the best in my experience. It's been long enough since I've been there that I won't offer specific recommendations.

Compared to the Grand Canyon the greater Dark Canyon complex has quite a lot of water. With standard desert protocols you'll be fine.

Good source. Of course, that's what I expect from someone with such a fantastic name. I didn't know that Wilderness.net included water sources like that.

If Dark Canyon generally has more water than GRCA I'm surely set, but I have to know where the sources are! I'm piecing stuff together, though. Slowly.

And, yes, I always check with the rangers about water sources in this region. But at this point I just need to know that this loop is at least do-able without hauling six gallons of water each.

We may modify our itinerary to include more of the lower canyon. We'll see.

" But at this point I just need to know that this loop is at least do-able without hauling six gallons of water each."

Er… that's the whole point of checking the week of you trip… because you don't and won't know this far ahead that your proposed loop is do-able without hauling water…

billy

Er… hauling water isn't a problem. Three gallons is assumed. But hauling SIX GALLONS of water would be annoying.

But, to be more clear:

I am asking if in late May of a normal year there are enough reliable sources in the upper canyon that you wouldn't have to haul more than two day's worth of water to do the Woodenshoe-Peavine loop at a leisurely 5-day pace with sidehikes including downcanyon. My research thus far seems to indicate yes, with water at the mouth of Cherry Canyon, in lower Dark Canyon, and at the cabin, plus a few springs in side canyons. If so, then I'll just plan on inquiring about this year's conditions with the rangers and backcountry manager. (I happened to talk to a ranger a few minutes ago, and somewhat predictably she says that this has been a weird year for snowfall, so it's hard to say if it will be "typical" or not.)

But if you tell me "no, even in typical years it's very dry", then I might be motivated to research other hikes. (Likely still Dark Canyon, but the lower canyon.) Clearly, my guidebook is on the way, but why waste potential research time if the hive mind here can answer my question now?

I appreciate the due diligence, though, Billy Ray. If I die of thirst I promise that my estate will not sue you. :)

Have Fun out there Dean F…. maybe I'll bump into you, never know.

Billy

Are you going to be in the area? Heck, Brother, let's get a beer! I can pick your brain!

One month out and we've narrowed ourselves to three options- our final decision will wait on the weather forecast and on contacting the rangers for info on water sources shortly beforehand.

#1 Dark Canyon Wilderness, UT, Woodenshoe/Peavine loop. Probably the most scenic and remote (which we like). Water sources in the canyon bottom may be limited in this odd snow year, but we can cache some water using the jeep road in Peavine Canyon. We'll see what the rangers say.

#2 Dark Canyon Wilderness, UT, Youngs/Lean-To loop. Short and more technical, but more reliable water, especially down in the canyon bottom. Heck, you can go swimming. I'm relying on the description in Allen's book and some internet reports for route finding up and out of Lean-To, so that'll be the sketchy part. No good maps of that route to be found.

#3 Dark Ridge Canyon Wilderness, CO, Mee/Knowles loop. In case we get sick of driving that far to get to the Dark Canyon area. Several arches, and close to Colorado NM.

We'll probably have a couple of days to bum around the region after the hike, so we'll check out some other sites on the way back to Denver/Colorado Springs. Recommendations? Thus far I've spotted Natural Bridges NM, Colorado NM, Mesa Verde NM, Canyonlands NP, Arches NP, Canyons of the Ancients NM, Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP… and then we start hitting the usual Rocky Mountain stuff in my backyard. I'm personally more interested in Four Corners sites since I can do the Rockies any time.

#2 with a side trip down below the Sundance into the lower narrows.

I personally do prefer that option- there are several side hikes that can be done including down-canyon as you mention, and the routefinding with boyish "climbing around on rocks" thing does appeal to me. My only hesitance is, as I mentioned, while it isn't truly technical it's certainly a bit 'more' technical than the others, and this will concern my partners. Routes up Lean-To in particular are described as "a real bear" by Allen. Technically he was describing down Lean-To, but I'm sure it's no easier going up.

So I'm pretty sure my partners will prefer option #1 if the water report isn't dismal. And for historical reasons (at least three unfortunate incidents) I am no longer allowed to make final decisions on routes for this annual hike- my partners do. I just get to make the list of options. :)

My recollection of the area is not recent, but Lean-To is certainly strenuous. That big bypass in the upper reaches looks intimidating for sure.

My preference for that rather than the Woodenshoe area is that the upper canyon is a little less spectacular and certainly less unique. The middle and lower sections of the Dark complex are unlike anything else in the state.

Seems like I recall discussion on bogley that there is an easier route out of lean to and I know there's at least one detailed TR on there. Might be worth a search.

What's bogley?

Bogley.com

An outdoors forum with a particular focus on Utah Canyon Country

I think I found this trip report on bogley that was mentioned. And, oddly, I had found the same one verbatim elsewhere. I guess it got cross-posted or something. It mentions taking the trail up the canyon wall just inside the mouth, if that's what you all are talking about. Not much "detail" per se, though. What I worry about is where do I exit the canyon?

But that's ok. Figuring this out will be fun.

We did the lower Dark Canyon hike. Trip report here:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=103604