It was a beautiful sunny morning at the end of May when I found myself standing on the shoulders of two strapping men in a 15-foot-deep pothole, trying somewhat unsuccessfully to get out. It was day two of our Ticaboo adventures and we were planning to descend the wonderfully named “Good Day Jim” canyon, with this pothole being the first obstacle. Our get-together had grown large enough that we decided to split into two groups. The first group consisted of several younger folks, which we decided to call “Team Testosterone”. Our group consisted of some of our more mature folks, aptly named “Team Old Lady” 😉.
Team Testosterone went first, wriggling their way out of the pothole in no time. Sadly, in the team shuffles one of the members who we thought was going with us took one of our potshots, leaving us with only one functioning potshot and another that was leaking quite badly. This was not a great start to our day. This particular pothole was blessedly dry, so we had no issues taking our time to solve it. There is an overhanging lip that is tricky to get over and right behind the lip is a low angle sandstone ramp that does not have great geometry to hold weight.
For those of you who are not canyoneers and have never heard of a pot shot or a pothole, let me explain the situation. A pothole is a large hole created by water, erosion and sand. Potholes tend to fill and empty with sand or water over the seasons and years, and the amount of sand or water in the pothole determines how easy it is to get in and out of it. For example, some potholes, when full of water, can be easy to get through because you can swim right through them and slide out on the other side. This particular pothole was so deep that we had to rappel into it. When a pothole is very deep and it is not possible to simply walk or climb out of it, there are some specialized tools and techniques that allow people to escape. A potshot is a small bag that can be filled with sand or mud and attached to a rope that hangs down out of the pothole. You can string multiple potshots onto one rope and throw them over the pothole to create an anchor that allows you to climb up the rope. All you need is one person to escape, as they can then facilitate escape for the rest of the party. Now, tossing potshots past a pothole is an art and must be done carefully to ensure a solid anchor is created. Our most experienced members stayed on top to supervise. As I was the lightest, I was sent first to try to get out of the pothole and haul everyone else up. Ah, the life of a pothole dwarf 😊
Standing on the shoulders of my boosters gave me about a five-foot boost up, but I still had five more feet to climb to reach the rim. Our plan was to throw both of our potshots over the hole and then have me ascend the rope to the top, using them as my anchor. Unfortunately, because there was no lip at the top to hold the bags, there simply was not enough force to hold my weight. So back we went to the drawing board. One member of our group had the great idea of tossing a backpack filled with sand and other heavy items to add to the potshot weight and solidify the anchor. Finally, after struggling to overcome the rim that was gently sloping downward, I made it out! I was pretty pooped at this point, but there was more work to be done to haul everyone else out. Max came next and I was able to add my weight to all the other bags so he could escape. At this point, we chucked all the bags down to the bottom of the ramp after the pothole, and I went down to add myself to the weight and take a well-deserved break.
Good Day Jim is one of the easier canyons in the Ticaboo area, but it most definitely is not a walk in the park. The forces that created this canyon really enjoyed potholes and very skinny corridors created through fault lines that change direction continually. There are a few short rappels into potholes that are fairly easy to get out of, and many downclimbs through very skinny vertical slots. The canyon makes many 90 degree turns within these corridors. We were very lucky that water levels were low the day we went and most of the canyon was dry.
About two-thirds through the canyon, we encountered a giant pothole that had quite a bit of water in it. We chose to bypass it on a sandstone ledge to the right, but some on our team were already making plans for a return trip to tackle it. After a few more narrow slots that we wiggled through, the canyon finally opened up, ending with a beautiful rappel down a sheer wall to the bottom.
Soon we found the confluence with Hard Day Harvey, the neighboring canyon that is known for very tight slots and a lot of high stemming. Below the confluence, a spring appears and the canyon really greens up with vegetation and trees, including redbuds. The walls here are striking with beautiful alcoves and towering sandstone. We wandered downcanyon until we found a huge alcove with excellent shade and, to our surprise, Team Testosterone! Apparently, they had been resting there for several hours while waiting for us to come out. We were not aware that they were planning to wait for us and so we were taking our time in the canyon. Clearly, we were on a different schedule. LOL!
We thanked them for their care and consideration and took over their spot. It was around 3pm and we wanted to rest for an hour to wait for the sun to go down a bit. The exit was going to be long and exposed. We napped for an hour and then started the slog back up. The Good Day Jim exit is about 3.5 miles long with elevation gain of around 900 feet. The hike starts on a fairly clear trail and eventually heads to a series of weaknesses that allow access to the benches above. Eventually we reached broad, white sandstone domes at the top with views of surrounding canyons and Lake Powell. Some of the exit is shared with the route from the previous day from Montezuma Canyon. About two and a half hours later, we made it back to the car and it was time for Team Old Lady to get some food and rest! It was a long but amazing day with a great team.
