FKT: Erin Ton - Gooseberry Canyon (UT) - 2024-11-25

Glad I scouted this 2 days prior. Most of the off-trail terrain is fairly straightforward-- running along the edge of the canyon and then following the canyon down to the river. However, the trickiest part of this route is dropping from the white rim down into the canyon. You must navigate your way through boulders and cliff bands on very loose, crumbly rock. Even after scouting, I ended up wrapping around too far to the left going down. My ascent line was better. My biggest concern on this route was encountering a mountain lion. 2 days prior, I had seen the remains of a bighorn sheep and a bunch of mountain lion tracks in that area. I told myself that if I went back down and saw fresh cat tracks that weren't there previously that I would turn around. Fortunately, there were no new tracks so I continued to the river. Still, you can't help but feel like you are being watched from the canyon walls and the cottonwoods down there. I brought a 500mL flask with 2 scoops of CarbsFuel and ate one gel.