Hunter Canyon

(solo)

11/9/08

04:42a - Start time
01:23p - Arrived at first rappel
03:07p - Bypass to next rappel
06:50p - Finish time

Time to first rappel: 8 hrs 41 mins
Total time: 14 hrs 8 mins

With most of my friends tied up for the weekend I decided to head to Saline Valley and attempt a solo descent of one the canyons on the eastern side of the Inyo range.  Although I rarely do solo canyoneering and don't recommend it I do on occaision find it alluring.  It's no different than hiking or climbing solo.  There are risks and if you get hurt your options can be limited.  None-the-less for some there is a certain appeal to be reliant completely on one's self.

Of all the canyons on the eastern side of the Inyos I picked Hunter because it was one of the easier ones with apparently only 3 mandatory rappels the highest being 125 feet.  This seemed acceptable for a solo journey.  In a way I knew what I was in for.  A month earlier I had descended Hall Canyon with Mike Schasch.  From a report I had I figured this canyon would be similar though hopefully not quite so intense.  While I had no reports of any of these canyons being done in a day I figured Hunter would give me a descent chance.

This would be my first time in Saline Valley.  Friday night I began my approach to Saline Valley via the south pass.  I stopped briefly at the road closed signs.  I hadn't expected this.  I hadn't come all this way just to turn around.  Thus I continued on wanting to at least see what the closure was for and with the hope that I would be able to proceed past the obstacle.  Perhaps the signs are simply left up all the time to keep out only those who are determined to reach the remote valley.

Up to south pass the dirt road was exceptionally good.  Just on the other side of the pass however things got a lot rougher and the washboard continually grew worse the closer I got to Saline Valley.  It was just after midnight when I finally hit what was probably the reason for the closure.  Next to the Salt Lake and only a couple miles from my final destination the road had been damaged severely.  It appeared an entire hillside was attempting to slide over the road.  The road was filled with quite a collection of large boulders.  Fortunately however enough people had been through here and the largest boulders had been moved out of the way.  It was still a delicate task to get my vehicle through without damage.

Safely past the damage I arrived at my destination.  Whatever cataclsym had damaged the Saline Valley road appeared to have completely erased the road that once lead to the mouth of Hunter Canyon.  I parked off the side of the road and settled in for the night.

In the morning I was tired and by 7:30am I knew I would not have time to do the canyon thus I decided to save it for Sunday.  This would also give me more time to prepare and I could even scout out some of the approach (a crucial decision as it turned out).

 and attempt to scout out some of the approach


R1 - 140 to 145 feet from rap ring
R2 - 30 feet ? or 40?
R3 - 100 feet (or so)
R4 ?