High Spur is an absolutely beautiful canyon that is outrageously remote and requires a high clearance vehicle to access in the best of conditions. This canyon had been on my list for awhile, but it’s a technical canyon and I wasn’t comfortable doing a remote technical canyon. But we decided to head out there on October 26, 2013, and see how much of the canyon we could do before we hit a rappel.
The drive out there is very long and requires a high clearance vehicle. There is one rocky section of the road after leaving Hans Flat that is very slow to drive, and the entire route would be impassable after rains. The drive is pretty close to three hours one-way from the closest gas station, most of it on dirt roads, so be sure to fill-up before heading out here. And it’s not a bad idea to take extra gas with you if you plan on exploring the area.
We explored some along the road out to the canyon, enjoying some great views of the White Rim of the Green River along the way.
Once at the canyon, we hiked down to the top of the canyon and then just walked down canyon. The canyon was very narrow, and then opened up after about 30 minutes. The canyon floor got very muddy just before the first rappel, so we decided to call it a day. Once we turned around, we found a crack in the wall on the left side looking up canyon, and we climbed out of the canyon in this crack. This exit was unnecessary because we could have just walked out at the top of the canyon where we came in, but we wanted to mix things up. The climb out was a little challenging, and then we had to navigate across the desert to get back to the car. While this exit was unnecessary, it was fun.
We were definitely able to see some of this beautiful canyon without doing anything technical, and I’m glad we went out there. I have since done the whole canyon, and you do need to do the technical sections to see the full beauty of this canyon. But it’s worth seeing it even without doing the technical sections.
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