2 die in SW fork of Choprock

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phatch

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First, some information about where they were. The main canyon of Choprock is fairly wide and with some nice riparian areas. A nice backpacking trip into the Escalante off the Hole in the Rock road. For the technically skilled, a wildly variable slot canyon is a tributary.

Unlike most of the Colorado Plateau slot canyons, this canyon is harder when full of water, though not flowing. Most of these technical canyons form potholes and waterfalls between potholes. When the water level is high, the potholes are full allowing easy egress. When they're low, they are very challenging to get out of.

This fork of Choprock tends to from logjams in big floods. As the canyon is quite narrow, these jams can stack up forming 40 foot walls of unstable logs. Eventually, these jams wash out but the exact conditions in Choprock are not yet well known this year as the season is still young.

Part of getting through choprock involves some risky chimneying and stemming and the water is very cold as it never sees sunlight to warm it.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600127747,00.html

Bodies of 2 BYU students found

By Jesse Hyde
Deseret Morning News

Two Brigham Young University students were found dead Tuesday in a remote and rugged canyon in southern Utah.
Rescuers had been searching for John Anderson, 25, and Brad Underwood, 24, for almost four days when divers found their bodies in a pool of water 10 to 15 feet deep.
Family members, who had traveled from Arizona and Provo to assist in the search, identified the bodies at about 4:30 p.m.
Anderson, from St. David, Ariz., and Underwood, from Tucson, were supposed to graduate from BYU this week.
"This is a shame to have it end this way," Garfield County Sheriff Than Cooper said.
A group of seven hikers from Montana who exited the canyon Tuesday found a rope and a backpack that may have belonged to Anderson or Underwood.
Those hikers told searchers that they felt symptoms of hypothermia and worried that their lives were in danger as they hiked out of the canyon.

One of those hikers, Perry Fishbaugh, described the hike out of the canyon as treacherous. He said there were areas where his group had to swim and rappel.
Anderson and Underwood began hiking last Wednesday, exploring a rugged and sandy canyon range on the border of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. They had planned to finish their hike by late Friday or early Saturday.
When they didn't return, family members contacted the Garfield County Sheriff's Office, which began searching for the men after finding their car near Egypt Trailhead off Hole-in-the-Rock Road.
Three helicopters and 15 ground searchers scoured the wilderness area Saturday looking for signs of the hikers, scanning a handful of canyons and deep gorges.
By late Monday, searchers were concentrating on a narrow-slot canyon known as Choprock Canyon that is 16 inches wide in some places. In other areas, the canyon is 10 feet wide and the walls are 300 feet high. Some spots are covered by water measuring 5 feet to 20 feet deep.
Anderson and Underwood, said to be experienced outdoorsmen, were found in this area.
Anderson was studying construction management, and Underwood was studying physics.
"He was one of those guys who was always happy and had a smile on his face," said Lyle Anderson, a cousin of Anderson. "We're going to miss him."
On Tuesday, no one was home at Underwood's south Provo apartment. A bouquet of flowers expressing support was left at the door for his wife, Roxanne.
David Cullen, a friend of Underwood's for the past two years, described him as a well-rounded person who excelled at everything he tried.
"I tried to stay close to him because he was the type of person who was going to bring the best out of you," said Cullen, a BYU student.
He was with Underwood's wife Saturday night when she became worried about her husband's absence.
"He was very careful, so it comes as a great surprise to me that he would find himself in a situation he couldn't get out of," he said.
Underwood was one of the brightest students in the physics department, Cullen said, and planned to pursue a career in the Air Force after graduation.
"I know when someone dies people only remember good things about them, but there are only good things to remember about Brad," he said. "He was an exceptional person."
Jay Christofferson, chairman of the construction-management program at BYU, said Anderson was well-known by students and faculty alike.
"He was very likeable, very friendly and outgoing," he said.

Contributing: KSL-TV
E-mail: jhyde@desnews.com
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Be careful out there.

Phil
 
I was reading this earlier and it is quite sad. These two were expierenced at canyoneering and equipped with wet suits and ropes. Just a gruesome reminder that this can happen to anyone.

For those that don't know, this area is 1.9 million acres of wilderness in the south central area of Utah, stunningly beautiful but very rugged.

Since moving to Utah I've become fascinated with that area. At 61 years old, I'll not be doing any serious canyoneering but I will be in the Escalante on a regular basis. We've hiked a couple of slots off Hole in the Rock Road and they are pretty easy when dry but you can see how the water has worked its magic to form them. Flash floods are a real threat in this area.

Win

Lick Wash, easy day hike Escalante are up by Bryce Canyon, the entrance. This was just last Sunday:
 

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I do feel bad for those two guys... RIP... after looking at those pics I gotta say as much as I love the outdoors , you guys are nuts ! :eek: You couldnt lure me in those tight , slippery looking canyons for a free gold mine.
Give me the wide open mountains anyday :)
 
Here's the Park Service's report:
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (AZ,UT)
Two College Students Die in Backcountry Slot Canyon

On the morning of Sunday, April 17th, dispatch was advised of a search in progress in the Choprock and Neon Canyon areas of the Escalante drainage within Glen Canyon NRA. Two BYU students in their mid-twenties had entered the recreation area via the BLM Egypt trailhead on Wednesday evening to complete a circuit loop of the canyons. When the two failed to return on time, the family notified the Garfield County Sheriff's Office. Searchers from the park and from the sheriff's office were supported by rangers and a helicopter from Grand Canyon, local volunteer rescue groups from Tropic and Boulder, Utah, and Classic Aviation from Page, Arizona. A total of three helicopters and 32 searchers were involved. The bodies of the two students were found and eventually removed from Choprock canyon, one of the most technical, difficult slot canyons in southeast Utah - a canyon that is infrequently hiked due to the advanced skills required. The recovery efforts occurred in a long narrow slot section of the canyon that averaged 18 inches wide at the recovery site. The canyon at that location is over 200 feet deep, trends east and west, and receives no sunshine. Temperatures in the narrow, dark canyon were hovering around 40 degrees, with a water temperature in the low 40s. At the bottom of the slot, a log jam dam created a debris-filled pool 40 yards long, eight to 10 feet deep and less than two feet wide. The NPS recovery team (rescuer names deleted by phatch) were starting the difficult process of removing the first victim when they found the second victim under the first and lying on the bottom of the pool. The cause of death is thought to be a combination of hypothermia and drowning. The medical examiners report is pending.
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There has been speculation among local canyoneers that this party was in trouble before they got to this location. The obstacle could have been "easily" chimneyed over. So the theory is that the hikers were already into hypothermia and couldn't think clearly to problem-solve past the obstacle.

Phil
 
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