Neon

Phenomenal trip. No bugs, perfect weather.

Dropped in ~2 miles higher than the "mid start", near 5267T on the map. Glad we did, as that canyon section was the favorite of the group.

Full of water. Swam over half the day. Keepers were non-existent. Upper section had one semi-keeper in water.

7 hours from the mouth of Neon and back, group of 6.

Bone dry except one barely wet pothole you can avoid. Even the last repel you can avoid getting wet if you swing. Took maybe 5-6 hours for JUST the canyon, not including the hike from the cars, but we took our time looking around. Webbing was in good condition. The last keeper pothole is full of sand. Saw a tarantula and a bunch of frogs. Beautifully diverse canyon. Last repel was "the most beautiful repel ive ever done" according to our group of 5. Highly recommend hiking up to the beginning. You can also shorten it to do just two repels or even just one. Group ahead of us actually finished and went back in to do the last one again. Backpacking in the night before is the way to do it. I cant imagine how tired wed be hiking in, doing the whole canyon and hiking out! Way out is brutaly steep. The navigation is not obvious either direction. I drank 2L on the way in in the dark, 3 during the canyon, and 3 on the way out.

We didn't see a single person anywhere on our trip. The pleasant solitude might have been related to the weather and the general lack of water in the canyon. The anchors were all in reasonable condition. The first keeper hole was dry but deep requiring us to use a combination of partner assist to escape. The second keeper is filled with sand. The final rappel is amazing; the water at the bottom not so much... ;) (Knee deep pretty ripe"

There is one small, calf-deep deep pool, and then a small amount of knee-deep water at the golden cathedral, but that is all. The canyon would actually be better with water in it though.

The keeper is bone dry and the final pothole is so full of sand that we didn't even notice that we passed through it.

Bring a water Filter!!! I've done longer, hotter hikes, but for some reason we went through an abnormally high amount of water trying to stay hydrated. Our average consumption was 6 liters per person and we still had people battling dehydration. We filtered at the Escalate River which is 3.4 miles from the trailhead.

Nearly dry, deepest wade was calf-height. The potholes are both bone dry. Bolts make the keeper avoidable if desired. Tons of sand make the final pothole a simple step up to get out. Extremely hot. We started at the longest suggested entry including the end of Fork Chop, and I wished I'd had more skin coverage for downclimbs than the spandex that was meant to go under the wetsuit I never used.

Escalante River was clear and good to filter.

The road in was a constant, hand-numbing washboard, but fine for 2WD with some care on one rutted spot by parking for one of the Egypts.

The deepest water was about my waste deep (I am 5'4"). The water was cold, but we did fine without the wetsuits. The last keeper pothole was not keeper any more, due to the sand accumulation near the edge. It was about 3' from the top of the sand to reach the rim to get out of it. We saw many frogs and it was so beautiful and pleasant.

The least amount of water I’ve seen in my 4 previous goes. No swims, water shin deep at most. No cold water pro was needed with daytime highs in the upper 70s. Entered at the sport entrance, first big keeper is completely empty, but easily avoided if wanted by the single bolt anchor on the left.

First keeper was easy to escape independently. Swam over the second one. Lots of cold water. Multiple swims. Wetsuits mandatory. Beautiful and interesting canyon. Last big repel was a hoot and the highlight of our trip. At the time of this visit, the anchors looked pretty new.

Swam over both keepers. Definitely in easy mode right now, as the first keeper is skippable anyway, and the seconds lip was under 6ft of water. No wetsuits worn, or needed. Water temps were amazing.

Rats nests of webbing on everything. Cleaned up quite a bit, but still lots to be removed.

Still pretty hot down there hiking out in the early afternoon.

HITR road is in great condition, and Egypt road has a couple tricky spots, although still passable with a Subaru Forester.

Water levels are definitely down in Neon. The area has seen a lot of water as of late, but Neon hasn’t received quite as much. The first keeper was visible but doable for just about anyone. Other parts of the canyon are full, some are very low. Swam over second keeper. Things could get better or worse in the coming weeks. Be smart! 7 hours from the car and back for the full trip. A tip I have with Neon is to look at the confluence and river level coming in and look for any signs of water. If things look dry heading in just be prepared to escape a pothole and consider not pulling your ropes.

Did full canyon. Tons of water. Canyon looked like it had flashed days before. No wetsuits worn. Multiple long sections of swimming.

Did the full meal-deal. The first half of the canyon up to the sport entrance had almost no water. First keeper was very low, up to the waist. Most of us stemmed over but one man got in and said the water wasn't too cold. 2nd half had some water but only one spot that required swimming. 2nd keeper is full swimmer and quite warm. None of us used wetsuits. Storms might change things soon, however.

Did the sport entrance as we had a larger, less experienced group of 9. Water was generally low. There were no long swims. Roughly thigh high water. The last pothole was full of water and we just swam across. The water was cold, but not excessively so. Wetsuits were optional and two went through without them. 14 hours car to car, with an hour spent at the Cathederal and another hour at the river before hiking out.

Water levels have dropped. The first keeper pothole will require a pack toss or a rappel using the single bolt high on the left. The second keeper pothole was full and we swam over it. Still enough swims near the end of the canyon that you'll want a wetsuit. We started at the Egypt trailhead and went car to car in 9 hours with a group of 8 people.

Started from Fence camp. Walk-in start, above the confluence. Plenty of cold water with swimming but was very comfortable in my 4/3mm Hyperflex Voodoo. Easily swam over last keeper and never saw the other potential keeper. 4.5 hours Fence to Fence with 3 people.

We were able to swim over both keeper potholes. Most of us had 3mm wetsuits and were fairly cold by the time we made it through to the golden cathedral. I would recommend at least a 7mm wetsuit for this time of year. Small 20 ft rappel before the golden cathedral had a sketchy anchor setup with a lot of slack in it. We didn't have enough time to reset it.

Lots of water in Neon, with an easy swim across both keepers. Water was cold, but 5mm wet suits kept us happy, 2 people in 2.5mm suits were cold. The final rap had quite a cluster of webbing and rope jumbled together into an anchor so we cleaned it up and left 2 webbing slings as redundant anchors. Had quite the audience watch us rappel the cathedral. 9 hours car to car (from end of egypt road)

Canyon was full of water after the storms that went through mid week. Swam over both potholes. Four people, 9 hours round trip from the Egypt trailhead. Two of us had full wetsuits(4/3mm, 5mm) and felt great the whole time. Two had 3mm farmer john style wetuits and got cold a few times on the long swims. Standard entrance.

Dropped in at "The More Fun Route" drop based on Tom's beta. Suite at first big puddle and swam a couple of long nice sections - some log soup and extra flavor in the water. Later there was a nice pool in the open canyon for jumps. At first rap into the lower narrows, some waders quick swimmers. Big pothole was full with clean water - got several jumps in. We had talked to some locals at the coffee shop in Boulder who said that it had rained heavy a week before and that there were not hot temps during the week. Maybe this is useful to try and gauge the water levels in this area when few posts have been made.

Still very full of water. No keeper issues. Most of our group had shorty wet suits and stayed warm.