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Canyoneering Route Description

Leprechaun Canyon Right (east) Fork - 3A II
North Wash, Utah.

Pictures 05-29-10

Quick Facts

05-29-10, 2 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 3 hours)

Distance - 3.8 miles Total, 1 miles Technical
Rappels - 3 Rappels, Longest Rappel 30 feet.  (40 feet if you do the optional rap at the top)

See the Canyoneer Trip Report Explanation Notes page for an explanation of how the technical mileage or the gear used list is determined.

Gear Used for Canyon

Rappelling and anchor gear, Ropes and or pull cords for rappels up to 30 feet and 30 feet of 1” webbing for sling placement.

General Comments

The Right Fork (east) of Leprechaun canyon is in my opinion more scenic and fun than the west fork.  But doing the Right Fork, you do not get to see any of the tight stuff in the Middle Fork.  If you were going to do only two forks of the Leprechauns, I would suggest the Right Fork then the Middle Fork.

Getting to the Trailhead and Exit Vehicle (Escape Pod) Parking

To get to the Trailhead

From the junction of highways 276 and 95, travel south west on 95 two miles to a dirt road on the left (north east).  Turn left onto this dirt road (extLeprechaun) and park at a wide spot on the left about 300 feet from the highway (tLeprechaun).

From the parking spot (tLeprechaun), walk about 500 feet up the dirt road and into the wash.  When you have a view straight up the wash you will be able to see an out cropping that resembles a hoodoo or a large chess piece straight ahead about 0.3 miles away.  The hoodoo will be straight ahead visually lined up with the center of the wash.  

There are a few paths worn into the wash here.  Follow whichever path is convenient and work your way over to near the base of the slick rock slope leading up to the hoodoo.   or a large chess piece straight ahead about 0.3 miles away.  The hoodoo will be straight ahead visually lined up with the center of the wash.  

There are a few paths worn into the wash here.  Follow whichever path is convenient and work your way over to near the base of the slick rock slope leading up to the hoodoo.  

From the base of the slope (wLepRtFk-RP-01) up to toward the hoodoo, walk about 250 feet up the slick rock slope and make your way up to the saddle to the right (east) of the hoodoo (wLepRtFk-RP-02).  

From the saddle (wLepRtFk-RP-02), follow up the ridge to the right (east).  A short distance up from the saddle will be a large rock out cropping.  Traverse around the left (north) side of it to continue up the ride to the east.  

After about 500 feet up the ridge you will begin to see a long cliff band running north to south.  The right (south) end of the cliff band has a prominent point and a dark red layer running along the base of the vertical portion.  Continue up the ridge and climb up to the base of the cliff band right below the point on the southern end.  The dark red layer below the prominent point is what you need to climb up to (wLepRtFk-RP-03).  The base of this cliff band is about 0.2 miles from the saddle.  

From the base of the cliff band (wLepRtFk-RP-03) locate a very well traveled trail running north along the base of the vertical portion of the cliff band.  The trail is so well traveled it feels like someone put in a sidewalk for you.  

About 0.3 miles along the trail will be a section of white flaky sandstone the trail crosses (wLepRtFk-RP-04).  While crossing the white sandstone the trail fades away and is difficult to follow for a very short distance. Continue north about 250 feet up and over a small drainage to find the trail continuing very defined again in the orange sand.  

The sand the trail is in starts turning whiter in color.  Follow the sandy trail about 500 feet where it will cross over some rock debris (wLepRtFk-RP-05).  The trail fades away again for a short distance as it crosses this rock debris.  Continue north over the rock debris a few feet to find the trail is well defined again traveling now in dark red dirt.  

About 0.2 miles further the trail crosses a sandstone drainage with two forks, each having tiny potholes in them (wLepRtFk-RP-06).  Look left of the left fork for the trail to climb up the dirt embankment up out of the drainage.   

A few feet up out of the drainage the trail is easy to follow and well defined again.  The trail is now out in open desert area.  After about 0.2 miles of open desert the trail starts to follow the rim of a side drainage.  The trail here is in red dirt with the white sandstone drop on the left.  

About 300 feet along the rim the trail crosses a drainage (wLepRtFk-RP-07) then follows around a sandstone nose.  

Another 400 feet the trail crosses another drainage (wLepRtFk-RP-08) and again turns left to follow around a sandstone nose.  

Another 700 feet the trail crosses straight over another drainage (wLepRtFk-RP-09).  The canyon on the left (west) is now the Right (east) Fork of Leprechaun.  

Another 500 feet the trail crosses a sandstone drainage (wLepRtFk-RP-10) with a series of potholes running along it.  The continuation of the trail is not easy to see while crossing the wash.  Just travel straight across the wash and up some dirt to find the trail again.  

Another 300 feet the trail crosses a drainage (wLepRtFk-RP-11).  You will need to travel up this drainage about 40 feet to find the trail continuing up and out.  

About 600 feet the trail crosses another drainage (wLepRtFk-RP-12).  From this drainage you can see the head wall of the Right (east) Fork of Leprechaun Canyon ahead to the north.  The head wall straight ahead is the location of an optional rap that most people do not do.  

Note:
If you want to get to the top of the optional rap look for a place to up climb to the rim about 80 feet south of the drainage (wLepRtFk-RP-12).  From the top of the up climb (wLepRtFk-RP-13), follow the rim about 800 feet over to the top of the head wall at the head.  The optional rap can be anchored from a few large rocks at the top of the drop (epRgtFkR-opt).  The total drop of the optional rap is about 40 feet.  

If you wish to use this approach to get to the Middle Fork of Leprechaun you can traverse 0.2 miles west across the desert to get to the middle fork.  

About 400 feet after crossing the last drainage, the trail comes to the top of a narrow slot dropping down and twisting (yLepRtFkTp).  This is the standard start down into the top of the Right (east) Fork of Leprechaun Canyon.   

Note:
From the standard start you could walk about 300 feet up canyon to the bottom of the optional rap at the head.  The bottom of the rap is in a slot you will need to up climb a little to see the rap from the bottom.

The Canyon / Technical Section:
From the top of the narrow slot (yLepRtFkTp) down climb down into the slot.  The slot is very twisty and as it drops down toward rap 1.  Rap 1 is short distance down the slot after 2 easy stemming style down climbs of about 12 feet each.  

Rap 1 (dLepRgtFkR1) is anchored from a dead man anchor in a pothole.  Rap 1 drops about 25 feet and can be down climbed by someone tall.  Short people will have an issue here since the walls at the bottom flare out.  

The slot down canyon of rap 1 is easy travel along a sandy floor with a couple easy down climbs of 5 or 6 feet each and a couple choke stones to climb over.  The walls in this section of the canyon widen out rapidly from about waist high so it does not feel claustrophobic at all.  Just before reaching rap 2 is a down climb of about 12 feet.  

Rap 2 is about 600 feet down canyon of rap 1.  Rap 2 is anchored from a dead man anchor in a pothole about 15 feet back from the drop.  Webbing should be strung over to the drop so avoid rope pull issues.  Rap 2 drops about 30 feet.   

Rap 2 can be down climbed.  Start down sandstone flute that runs most of the way down.  When you reach the bottom of the flute the drop goes vertical.  From here traverse RDC to the next flute.  As the second flute widens, put your back on the RDC wall and use features in the rock LDC to walk down.  

After rap 2 the slot is easy to walk along again with a couple short 6 foot down climbs along the way.  Almost 500 feet down canyon of rap 2 the canyon widens out a lot to a very open feel (wLepRtFk-RP-14).  

The open section is about 400 feet long and ends when you drop into the next narrow section (wLepRtFk-RP-15).  To drop into the next narrow section walk a few feet down canyon on the LDC side of the slot and slide down a slope to get down into the slot.  

Part way down this next narrow section is a large pothole of about 15 feet wide and only about 4 feet deep.  Drop down into then climb out the other side of the pothole.  After that walk along a section that feels like it has more small pothole like features in it before the canyon opens up again briefly.  

Another few hundred feet is the start of another narrow section (wLepRtFk-RP-16).  This next narrow section is easy walking for about 700 feet to a drop of about 10 feet.  The drop is very narrow at the start.  Getting down is made much easier if you Galumph (right foot and right hand on the right wall.  Left foot and left hand on the left wall) down canyon to where the drop gets a little wider before stemming down.  After the drop the narrow section gets a little tighter giving a closed in feel.   

Part way down this tighter section is a pothole that may have water in it depending on if there had been recent rains.  The pot hole is easy to stem over although it may not look like it.  If you do go in, the pothole is only about chest deep.  The section just before and after the pothole is one of the more scenic and pleasing sections of the canyon.  The section has a very sculpted feel.  

Soon the canyon widens out again giving a wide open feel (wLepRtFk-RP-17).  

A couple hundred feet after the wide open area is the start of another narrow section.  Part way into the narrow section is a down scramble down slick rock of about 15 feet.  At the bottom of the scramble is another drop of about 15 feet which is rap 3.  

Rap 3 (dLepRgtFkR3) is anchored from a dead man and drops about 15 feet.  

After rap 3 is an tight down climb of about 8 feet then you are at the confluence of the right and middle forks (tLepRgtMid).

Continuing down canyon from the junction with the Right Fork is a large room like narrow section.  The walls bell out in the middle and the ceiling is very high but closed up pretty tight giving the section a room like feel.  And the floor can at times hold a little water in the center.  Just after the wide bell shaped room the canyon opens up a little to a section that is a little reminiscent of the subway.  While there is no top to the section the walls are tall smooth and slightly rounded in while winding a couple times over a few hundred feet.  It feels like walking down a grand corridor.

Shortly after the grand corridor section the canyon opens up more and begins to become a wash with sections of sandstone and dirt along the floor.  A short distance down the wide open area is a drop of about 10 feet which can be down climbed on LDC of the head of the drop.  This is marked as the end of the canyon route (yLeprechaunBt).

The Exit:
Continue about 0.2 miles back to the spot where you started to climb up out of the wash (wLepRP-01).  Next continue down the wash another 0.5 miles to where you left the vehicle and started your journey.  Optionally you could start back up the sandstone slope up out of the canyon and go up to descend another fork of Leprechaun.

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

No exit vehicle is needed.  This is done as a loop route. ???????????????????

Maps

Map showing mostly the upper technical section.
Both Left and Middle forks shown. Various points for the Middle fork have been highlighted.

Click for High-Res version.
Right Click then select "Save Target As" to save the Hi-Res version.

GPS Waypoint Information

Details

The Approach:
From .......................

The Side Trips:
Describe route to and from side trip if there is one.

Back to The Approach:
Continue with approach info.................

The Canyoneering / Technical Section:
From ................

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
DELETE SECTION BELOW, AFTER TECH SECTION IS WRITTEN

Copy and paste section for repeatedly used concepts to save time and help standardize.

Standard start of Rap info:

Rap # () is about __ feetmiles down canyon of _____, is anchored from ____ about __ feet back from the drop and drops about __ feet down a __ wall with __ free hang.

Notes on additional anchor or rappel characteristic. At the bottom of rap #

Better down climber gives top belay.

For safety, one of the better down climbers in the group could provide a top belay then down climb last. Those at the bottom can provide assistance from the bottom if needed.

Courtesy hand loop for extended anchor to avoid rope groove.

Note / Caution / Warning -----

Rope Groves:
This rappel is such that rope grooves can develop from rope pull if not set up correctly. Over time and multiple descents of the canyon, these rope groves can become quite deep. The rope grooves not only scar and trash the beauty of the canyon but also start introducing more issues with getting ropes stuck in them.

Extend Rap Ring OVER the lip:
To avoid rope grooves being developed when pulling the rope, the anchor webbing should be extended so the rap ring or rapid is extended over the lip of the drop. Setting the rap ring over the lip will help provide a clear pull line and reduce or possibly eliminate rope pull grooves.

Courtesy Loop for Easier Start:
Extending the rap ring over the lip of the drop can make starting the rappel very awkward. A courtesy loop can be set up to make the start of the rappel easier to start for all but the last person. Tie an extra loop in the anchor webbing large enough for a hand that sits just above the lip of the drop (the courtesy loop). The loop for the rap ring can be clipped to the courtesy loop so the rap ring now sits just above the lip of the drop. All but the last person can now rappel while the rap ring is just above the lip of the drop.

The last person rappelling will have the most awkward start. The last person to rappel will need to unclip the two loops from each other so the rap ring is now once again below the lip of the drop. The last person pulls the rope up to them and rigs their descending device into the rope. The courtesy loop (still in the anchor webbing just above the lip of the drop) can be used as a hand hold for the last rappeller as they lower themselves over the lip onto the rappel. The last person should be cautious and remember to keep their brake hand on the rope at all times while lowering themselves over the lip of the drop. After they have slid over the lip of the rappel and lowered themselves using the courtesy loop they can rappel as usual.

Fireman Belay:
While fireman belays are commonly used, they should be a standard addition to this method especially for the last person. On some very awkward rappels the last person will have a very awkward start filled with its own mental challenges. It is comforting to know that one of your canyon mates is below watching you ready to pull the rope if you get into trouble.

DELETE SECTION ABOVE, AFTER TECH SECTION IS WRITTEN
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Exit:
From ..................

GPS Waypoint Information

Back to the Canyoneering Trip Report List page.

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