TCF Day 5: Cassidy Canyon

The Objective: Cassidy Canyon in Capitol Reef National Park. Notice the large arch at the top. That is the first rappel.

Monday was our last day in the canyons. All of the group had somewhere to be Monday afternoon, so we needed a fairly short one, that was somewhere between North Wash and Salt Lake. Ram and Tom had done Cassidy not too long ago, and decided it fit the criteria. Sounded good to me.

The canyon actually starts directly under Cassidy Arch, following the trail to the arch overlook. At one point in the past, a via ferrata type trail accessed the bottom half of the canyon, and there are still plenty of remnants of the old trail in the canyon. It is also a different type of canyon then the typical North Wash navajo slots. This one is in Kayenta, which seemed quite a bit more golden, more abrasive, and more prone to joints and weaknesses in the formation, resulting in less super skinny slot sections, and more grotto type areas. I found the canyon extremely photogenic and it had some fantastic scenery.

The last rappel in Cassidy. In the foreground are remnants from an old bridge that used to access the arch in the grotto upcanyon. The general public used to be able to climb up all the way to the arch, but most of the trail was taken down sometime ago.