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On Saturday, November 22, we completed Wife 4, The One That Got Away (TOTGA), Wife 3, and Wife 1. After hiking in, we left our gear at a rally point off the Cohab Canyon trail and started up the slick rock. Since all the Wives exit via the Cohab Canyon trail, you can leave your extra gear and longer ropes behind and travel lighter, then refuel before the next canyon. We had no issues descending the canyons and found the existing anchors and wedding in good condition. There were some shallow pools of water, but everything was avoidable. We had a great day in Capitol Reef with a fun crew!
Wife 1 is a bit more difficult than a 3AI, based on my trip I would say it alone was about a 3APGIII or 3APGII, as it took me and a partner a full 7 hours to complete. While I confess that we were inexperienced, this struck me as harder than initially presented. Exercise caution on the last big rap, as it is around 80-100 feet NOT 60. It's easy for it to be a free-hanging rap if you take it head-on, but it can be done with both feet on the wall if you stick to the left side when facing down the canyon.
Didwith Ian.. it was a hot day and I got a little bit of heat on the approach. It took us a while to find the right Canyon. Each repel was a little awkward and challenging. He ended down climb to the final repel was a bit sketchy. We found a stuck rope from a group that was just before us that they had cut. His Canyon was a bit of an adventure.
Wife 1
Wife 5
Wife 3 during Uberfest.
I took Kate, Ryan Madsen, Kyle Oswald and John Wirthlin. Total move time was 4 hrs 10 min. Started around 3PM and finished approx 8:20PM and it was pretty dark. We decided to do Wife #5 first then Wife #3. We can see why people do #3 first and leave their rope rigged and retrieve it later since pulling it was super difficult even though we got it done. The 200' rap in Wide #3 was incredible. Getting into Wife #5 was challenging with some downclimbing. This may have taken us longer than usual since we were rout finding and trying to determine where the head of each canyon was. The GAIA map on the phone proved it's weight in gold and took a lot of the guess work out. Wife #5 had a few pockets of water just over knee deep.
Wife 4 - 5hrs car to car, with Nolan & Brandon Easy enough to find the first rap, stay on the left side of betrothed and it’s easy to get up. Did 3 optional raps, watch the pull on the long skinny slot. Brandon struggled with the down climbs but we made it work!
Went to Wife 03, followed by Wife 05. Wife 03 is still the best of the wives canyons I have found. I did not really like wife 05. Many awkward starts. Laura freaked out when going down the first rappel of this canyon because she couldn't see the bottom.
Did wife 5
On the approach, don't go up the drywall as RTRyans map appears, facing upcanyon go up the left side and it will merge with the canyon to ascend. You need to go down from the path after passing W6, just before W5.
Did Wife 5 solo. I was very cautious and nervous - I didn't want to go down the wrong canyon and get stuck. I went down several and had to climb out because it wasn't the right one. Don't go down the one with the popcicle gutter ... You might die. I had a 200' and 66', but just used the 200 for everything. I was also nervous that I was going to have to build all the anchors, but luckily some else had been down this year and put in new webbing. A few tough downclimbs. Had to use a handjam and accidental elbow jam to get down to the first rap. Overall, great canyon and now I have experience, I look forward to doing it again.
Did Wife 3 for Halloween trip! With Dana, cat, Madeline, Dane, and ammara. Approach can be tricky - there is a pretty easy ramp walk up the left side of betrothed canyon, right at the first white/pink rock transition. Huge free hanging drop to start, make sure the webbing is super long and you courtesy rig/get a clean pull. Also double check the solution pocket anchor.
Went to Wife 01, Wife 03 and TOTGA. Really liked Wife 03, the rappel is spectacular, with a nice slope to the point where you go free hanging. Wife 01 was fine, found webbing for rappel or backup on several spots that could be down climbed. TOTGA is tough! And tight. The first down climb was very intense, and the wall is very crumbly. I was first down, was showered by rock and pebbles as the rest of the team descended behind me.
11/13/2021 - Wife 5,4,3,1 with Brett. 5 and 3 are great. 5 had three little puddles of water that were easily avoidable. 4 has 2 squeezes, but was pretty interesting. 1 is probably not a repeater for me.
Wife 3 only with Carma
Did Wives 3 & 5
Wife 5 with Jacq - 2 hours 20 minutes car to car (moving quickly).
3 and 5
3 and 5. No issues.
Wive 1, rappeled first drop then series of DCs and rappels as described. All dry. Wife 4 the first rap has a spooky start, then clean. Fun scrambling/chimneying below.
Wife 5
Wife 5 with Eugene and hyonjee. Car to car (10-3) with difficulty finding the start of the route. We found the start to be a double stack of rock (white nub) with a short down climb to a series of rappels.
Wife 1 complete on to the rest.
Short canyons. Did 1 and 5. No bolted anchors. Some sketchy anchors. Lots of down climbs.
Gotta get back to do the rest. perfect couple hour trip. 5 done the rest to go.
wife 5
Wives 2 & 3
did 3rd and 5th wife with BYU canyon class. 200 ft rap at 3rd wife was sweet. Practiced using meat anchors.
Always some fun canyons. 3 and 5 are great. Wouldn't recommend the rest.
Did wife 5. Nice. Pretty. Wet up to thighs in pothole alley.
wife 5 is great! awesome 3 hour outing
Only did wives 3 and 5. The cool part of these canyons is the problem solving between raps, they really make these canyons more fun than advertised.
Did Wife 3. The first rap gives you an amazing view down canyon. Fantastic!
5th Wife was sandy
Great day learning from a good buddy that had a ton of canyoneering experience! We did 2 of the wives.
Did wive 5, enjoyed all the downclimbing
approx. date. did 3 & 5 on way to saddlefest
