Slideanide Canyon, Poison Spring
Last Candition: May 29, 2011
Solid anchors. No pools but that will likely change with the upcoming rain.
The canyon was completely dry--not even a small puddle. We rapped the first anchor which can be avoided. It is a 2-point anchor off of slung blocks with new webbing. The connection to the LDC block is solid, but we had to re-work the RDC attachment as the sling was shifting towards the edge with the potential to come off. We made it better by re-positioning and retying the webbing around the block, but it might need to be improved further so inspect it thoroughly.
We down climbed all other anchors, except for one, which some in the group used as a hand line. It was a single sling around a horn. the webbing for that is in good shape.
When we walked up to the first rappel at the head of Slideanide, it appeared to be a much longer rappel than 80' and we were afraid our ropes would come short so we walked around the rim and hiked down the side drainage into Slideanide. Once in the main canyon it is was a fun couple of hours of down climbs and slides. You definitely understand why they called it Slideanide. Did not do any rappels through the canyon. You can down climb and slide down the entire canyon. Canyon was completely dry.
Canyon is completely dry. Lots of fun downclimbs and a cool 2 stage rappel at the end.
One inch of fresh snow made the approach and exit options unreasonably hazardous. In my opinion, none of the three Poison Springs canyons are a safe choice on a snow day.
Bone Dry, I downclimbed the whole thing except the chokstone rap at the end.
It CAN be done without rope!
Pass the entry rappel and walk around the rim to the other side of the canyon, RDC, until it's *obvious* you can safely climb in. There are some sharp boulders, but if it looks scary going in you haven't walked around far enough.
We just brought webbing for a handline for the chockstone rap near the end, but someone had left a handline there.
Bone dry. Road could be done in a Prius except for one deep, soft rut.
One small and easily avoidable pothole at the end. Otherwise, dry.
Totally dry. It's possible to downclimb everything with skill but some of the downclimbs are 20+ ft. long and challenging. The trickiest one you could squeeze under a boulder if you are very skinny (5'9 125lb), and use friction to get down without a handline. To go over would make it hard to safely get back into the tight area. Most people could do the whole canyon with a 30 ft handline in a couple places. Rappelling (except maybe #1?) and harnesses are unnecessary unless someone is new and terrified. I hooked a sling to my belt loops to dangle my pack and spare my harness.
We think the first rappel might be avoidable by walking around to the RDC side, but we rappelled in the 2 times I've done it.
This is one of my favorite short canyons. It's skinny and has SO much fun stemming and downclimbing.
Snow at the top, use the alternate entrance. Canyon is dry. Slight amount of snow on the exit, but not a problem.
Dry. People seem to be leaving set hand-lines in a lot of canyons these days instead of learning how to down climb with partner assist, the Poison Spring trio no exception. All rap anchors in good condition / easy rope pulls. Using an exit directly across from the bottom of Constrychnine (which we affectionately call the Barnyard Bypass) allows ample time to combine Arscenic, Constrychnine and Slideanide into a one day adventure. Roads just graded. Lots of people doing these canyons...
Good times in the canyon! Anchors in pretty good shape, replaced one. No water at all. My gear definitely looks like some sliding happened, but it was worthwhile. TH-to-TH in five hours with five people, not moving very fast.
Road to trail head was very good. Completed the route trail head to trail head in 5 hours with two of us after doing Arsenic. No water in the canyon. Canyon is a very rough on the clothing and gear, don't wear your latest canyon fashions on this route. Had a little trouble finding the canyon entrance. We would have wandered for a while without GPS.
Great canyon, anchors are all good, no water, road was perfect. Good day
No water in the canyon. Rebuilt three anchors, removed tons of old webbing. Road out was unremarkable. From the top of Slideanide back to the truck took 3hrs 20min.
Dry, anchors are in good condition. Road is in good condition.
Fabulous Canyon! Road in great shape. We used the walk-in entrance to the canyon on the east rim, on the right side looking downcanyon. It's about 300 feet from the rappel point and is a nice and easy walk down, saving harnesses, etc. for later (thanks, RoadTrip Ryan for pointing it out!). I really loved the way the canyon floor drops steeply but everything is a downclimb until the very end. One newbie was a bit spooked but managed it all without a harness. We used a handline twice before the end. Dry all the way and all anchors in great shape. A lovely 65-degree November day! We exited the canyon 0.5 miles below the junction with Constrychnine as a large drainage comes in from the left. Bluugnome calls this the "Slideanide exit," and it's a good one.
Road out to Poison Springs is easy for a 2WD. Not even a drop of water. Newish anchors still but watch the rubbing on the webbing on the first rap where it extends over the lip. One of the funnest canyons around (if you have knee/elbow pads).
Bone dry, anchors are in good shape.
Pulled off a hat trick in poison spring: constrictnine, arscenic, slidenide....and finished the day in zero g. Small wades and a bit of in poison spring canyons. Nasty pull in the first rap series in arscenic. We rapped the first 60ft and reset the rappel for an easier pull. Webbing acceptable in all canyons. 7.25hrs for all 3 poisons springs canyons. We discovered numerous escapes on to the bench that saved lots of time