Humble Pie Blast from the Past...

We even chuckled when Pete asked, "So what do you consider yourselves as canyoneers?" I instantly replied, "Beginner, with some experience." Kevin replied, "Well, we have no experience with keeper potholes and swimming deep pools. Novice."

Pete came back, "Experienced then." Kind of. Ill-prepared and inexperienced is what we would find out we were to be.

After maneuvering our first `slot tunnel' we regrouped, recharged, reevaluated the weather, and repacked our gear for the south fork of Maidenwater.

The guidebook for the south fork calls for: 5-6 hours, no more than 4 people, 100' of rope, slings, webbing, etc. The book also calls for knee deep to wading in water with a good chance of a mandatory swim at the end, 5-6 rappels for the "experienced canyoneer," and plenty of enjoyment. What we received was a little bit different and not at all what we expected.

http://tinyurl.com/2jsooe

I went through the south fork of Maidenwater this past Tuesday, March 18th. Luckily there wasn't much water in it. The big pothole was about knee/thigh deep and very cold. There were a couple of other spots with ankle deep water that were easily avoidable. A couple of the anchors made for challenging rope pulls. The Henrys were covered with snow and eventually all that water will have to go somewhere...

Also did the west forks of Blarney and Shillelagh and east fork Leprechaun on the 15th & 16th and they were all completely dry, FYI.

Jeremy