Started about 4 PM on September 11, 2026. timing was intentional so that we would hit the black hole swim in the afternoon the following day.
plenty of water this year because of a heavy monsoon season, so we drank silty water as much as we cared to. But that made for slow going because we had to go around slippery mud and puddles to keep our feet kind of dry. Getting wet was often a requirement.
We used a hand line off the ledge in Burch Canyon. The evening was beautiful near natural bridges. Nighttime was even prettier: We were following a cougar trail for about 20 miles. Found an ancient ax head in the dark. A light rain north of us produced bright red lightning. I’m guessing it was red because the light was passing through a red dust cloud.
We had cached supplies at Soldier Crossing (5 gallon bucket for hot breakfast), and then again at Duckett Crossing (dry bags, snacks, one of us a wetsuit)
The Black Hope swim was really nice because it changed things up from all the boulder crossings and mud with tricky footing.
The section after black hole was surprisingly difficult, lots of boulders to get past, and no clear way through, so trial and error repeatedly till the canyon opens up about a half mile from the end.
We made it to the road about 630pm then short hike to where our car was parked, grateful for some rest. The hardest part for me was getting back on our legs to fetch our cache buckets after sitting in the car for a few minutes.
This certainly gets our vote for most difficult downhill 100k.