When we last left our intrepid adventurers they had successfully descended the technical portion of Neon Canyon and landed in the pool in the Golden Cathedral. Wet gear was hung out to dry. Chris Hardwick slept in his tent, sans rainfly, while Kerry and Max camped cowboy style on the sand. By 6 am there had already been signs of life. Gear had dried and the morning light was flooding the Golden Cathedral.

The three amigos, Kerry Ward, Chris Hardwick, and Max Simmons readied themselves for a challenging day. Kerry needs no introduction here, but some attention to his companions is warranted as they both have pretty extensive shared histories with Kerry.

Chris Hardwick is an Australian entrepreneur and adventurer currently living in Vancouver, CA. Chris owns a Land Cruiser named Thor that he keeps in Africa. He and Kerry spent a month last year driving Thor around the southwest of Africa and will be exploring east Africa in Thor this July.

Max Simmons is easily Kerry’s oldest friend. They were born within months of each other in India where their parents were doing work related to public health. Their parents are great friends and the families have maintained close connections over the years, doing things like vacationing together. When Kerry was spending his formative years in East Lansing Max was living in Ann Arbor and would often make the 60 mile trip to Lansing to hang out with Kerry at places like Pinball Pete’s.

There is a large rock wall near the Golden Cathedral that has a lot of petroglyphs, or artwork etched into the stone. Some of it was created by indigenous people from time immemorial, but there is also a lot that is of more recent provenance. Think of it like a big, stone bathroom wall.

The objective for the day was going to provide a peak adventure experience for the three amigos. There are certain constants when hanging with Ward. If there is a high place, he is up there; if there is Boba place he wants some; if there is a hot spring, he is in it. He is exceptionally attracted to slot canyons, the more difficult the better. In 2018 I was crew when he, Kerry Sherman, and Sam Edwards descended the very challenging Heaps Canyon, and the target of the day, ChopRock, promised significant problems to untangle.

According to Canyoneering USA, “It is a nice one, one of the best. It can be very difficult, and should always be taken seriously. It is not a place for “Youth Groups”, college outing club adventure hikers, or “experienced outdoorsmen”. It is a place for experienced canyoneers.” There is a certain body of knowledge required to safely descend slot canyons. Proficiency at using climbing harnesses and rigging anchors for rappels is essential. There are places where rushing water has carved out deep potholes (keepers) that may be filled with water, so the canyoneer must know how to deal with them. Narrow spots may be clogged with debris making every descent different from those that came before. Teamwork is essential to make it through, and while the Three Amigos are a pretty small team they rank high on that teamwork index.

Shortly after 8 am they made their way out of Neon Canyon and began wading up the Escalante to the mouth of ChopRock. Near the mouth of the canyon they followed a trail taking them up to the table lands above the canyon. By 9:30 they were well above the canyon and the serious route finding began.

The table lands above and between the canyons alternate between slickrock, or bare rock surfaces, and pockets of sparse soil. In a very lightly traveled region like that leading to a difficult canyon like ChopRock trails are largely nonexistent or very sparsely marked. Kerry is very adept at negotiating such a landscape as I saw first hand when Kerry, Tom and Mari Seletos, and I took a memorable trip to Rainbow Canyon in this area several years ago. You can find Kerry’s video on that trip here.

Much of of the area between bare rock supports something called cryptobiotic soil. Our planet is always changing, and bare rock ultimately weathers, erodes, and is transformed into barren soil. That barren soil is then transformed into biologial soil through the actions of cyanobacteria, algae, and fungi. According to the NPS, “Biological soil crusts, sometimes called cryptobiotic soil crusts, are an important part of arid and semi-arid ecosystems throughout the world, including those in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area”. The preservation of those crusts is of paramount importance, so it is important for travelers to stick to established trails and to avoid disturbing these patches.

By about 10:20 they had identified their slot canyon target below them and were looking for a way down to it.

They picked their way down to the slickrock along the canyon rim looking for an access point where they could make their way down to the bottom of the slot

By about 11:40 they had identified a point where they could scramble down to the bottom of the canyon. It wasn’t long before they came to their first rappel and immersion in water.

In this type of canyon there will be places where you need go go down but can’t even see the bottom. In the video below Max takes a leap of faith while praying that the rope is long enough to get him down safely.

Max did indeed find the bottom and Chris and and Kerry joined him shortly. Shortly after 1 pm they had another opportunity to rappel down into a lake. In canyoneering even entering into the rappel can be challenging.

The article on ChopRock in the Canyoneering USA broke the canyon down into different sections, and the slideshow below has some sights from the segment that was characterized as the “Happy Section”. According to the article, “The Happy Section alternates long cold swims with nice walking through slots, plus a couple of downclimbs.”

Happiness doesn’t last forever, however, and pretty soon they were into the “Grim Section” with some long swims and very tight squeezes. This is not a canyon for people with large frames!

Canyoneering is not recommended for anyone who suffers from claustrophobia. Also not for the portly among us! Kerry has a very slim build, and even he was squeezed on occasion.

Wetsuits are essential for this type of escapade. Part of the mystique of ChopRock stems from the fact that in May of 2005 a pair of young men attempted the canyon without proper equipment and wound up dying from hypothermia. Depending on water levels there may be many hours of swimming required.

The Three Amigos posted a lot of pictures and videos early in this adventure, but the volume of media dropped off sharply as they traversed the Grim section. It’s kind of hard to get out the camera when one is swimming through a long section trying to keep the gear bag high and dry.

There is a goodly amount of problem solving required to get through some of the tight spaces. There may even be sections where the bottom of the canyon may not be too narrow to afford passage and it is necessary to do things like go over an obstacle.

Near the end of the slot portion Max sustained an injury to his hand. On one of those difficult entries to a rappel he got his hand caught between the rope and a rock. If injured there is nothing much one can do besides soldier on. There is no backing out once you have descended into the depths of the canyon. Max did violate one of the precepts of responsible wilderness travel by leaving something behind, but I think the wilderness will recover!

Finally, the end of the slot portion was in sight. It is quite common for these slot canyons to end as hanging canyons requiring a significant rappel that is one of the highlights of a slot canyon descent. The final rappel at ChopRock pales in comparison to the 300 foot exit from Heaps Canyon, but a 90 foot drop is nothing to sneer at.

Once down it was an easy walk down the canyon back to the Escalante River. Kerry was able to send me a message just before 6:30 predicting that they would be back at the Egypt trailhead shortly after 9 pm.