Farnsworth Canyon/Old Woman Wash (San Rafael Swell)-Photo Trip Report

Farnsworth Canyon/Old Woman Wash (San Rafael Swell)-Photo Trip Report

Page Type Page Type: Trip Report
Date Date Climbed/Hiked: Feb 16, 2008

Farnsworth Canyon/Old Woman Wash

February 16 2008

Richard (brother)and I completed a loop up Farnsworth Canyon and down Old Woman Wash in the San Rafael Swell in Utah. Old Woman, Ramp and Temple Wash were the last canyons cutting through the San Rafael Swell that I still haven't gone through.

The children Kessler (son), Matthew (nephew) and Josh (nephew) along with Mark (brother) and my father went most of the way up the Farnsworth Canyon narrows until stopped by a pool. They spent the rest of the day exploring Goblin Valley.

Approaching the mouth of Farnsworth Canyon



Farnsworth Canyon



Farnsworth Canyon



Farnsworth Canyon



Upper Farsworth Canyon



Upper Farnswoth Canyon



Richard and I continued the loop up Farnsworth and down Old Woman. There were lots of petrified logs on the benches in the upper end and it was found that Old Woman Wash has a pretty good but fairly short slot. There are two raps, 10 feet and 15 feet (but we carried 350 feet of rope since we had no beta) along with several nice icy downclimbs. The deepest pool was almost chest deep. Richard was crossing one of the frozen pools and busted through the ice (about 3" thick) to chest deep. I put on my wetsuit before crossing (so did Richard)! The loop up Farnsworth and down Old Woman took us 7 hours, but with snow, mud and ice covered rock to slow us down.

Climbing icy slabs



Temple Mountain



Upper Old Woman Wash



Upper Old Woman Wash



Beginning of the narrows



Old Woman Wash



Rapping



Tunnel section



Tunnel section



Careful traverse



Middle section of canyon



A little rock work



Busting through the ice!



Icy wading



Narrows section



More icy pools



Rap into the icy depths



Narrows of Old Woman Wash



Old Woman Wash


Comments

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tanya

tanya - Feb 21, 2008 12:34 am - Voted 10/10

Wonderful Album

Looks like a crazy place to be this time of year!

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