Canyoneering | Inferno Canyon
Hype:
Inferno Canyon is an awesome canyon on Ticaboo Mesa. The canyon has some extended stemming sections that are mostly uniform width, so you don't have to climb up and down repeatedly. There are also a handful of rappels and some easy potholes. The stemming sections are mostly straightforward with only a couple of tricky or especially physical spots. This canyon can be combined with another short canyon for a full day.
Canyon Rating: 3B R- 
Time: 4-5 hours
Length: 1.1 miles from Trailhead to Junction at bottom of canyon, then 1.4 miles via climber's exit or 3.2 miles via hiker's exit.
Longest Rappel: 85 ft
Gear: Standard canyoneering gear.
Fees: None
Recommended Ages:
 | 0-3 |
 | 4-11 |
 | 12-19 |
 | 20-49 |
 | 50-69 |
 | 70+ |
Recommended Months to Visit:
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Navigate to 37.686711, -110.536334.
For the most part, you should be able to follow Google Maps. However by default, Google Maps navigation will (as of 2019) take you on a stretch of road that is extremely rough and impassible. At 37.695308°, -110.583872°, turn south instead of continuing northeast. Stay left at the next 4 forks, and the roads will meet back up at 37.695963°, -110.553218° where you will turn southeast and continue to the trailhead.
From the trailhead, head north then east then south about 1/3 mile to a break in the cliffs. From here, pretend you're a drop of water flowing downhill and you can't get lost. The top of Inferno Canyon is directly south about 0.1 miles.
The first section of canyon has a couple of small potholes and a chute to downclimb. It's moderately exposed and some people may require a handline. You can also bypass the first section on the east.
Next up is a V-shaped canyon section that funnels down into an extremely narrow slot canyon that is too small for a person. It's a little bit awkward because it's just a little too steep to walk on one side only, but it isn't narrow enough to galumph. After a hundred feet of stemming, a short elevator downclimb deposits you in a flat area.
The canyon soons tightens again into some good narrows. For the next 250 feet or so, you'll be mostly stemming interspersed with an occasional section at ground level. About halfway down this stemming section is a 35-foot rappel from a deadman anchor. This is a two-stage rappel over a pothole and down the next drop. Soon after that is a drop that can be downclimbed. For the rest of this section of narrows, you'll be stemming between inclined walls through slanted narrows.
The canyon opens up into a flat area and then soon narrows again. This long section of narrows requires you to stem up to 30 feet high above the floor for most of the duration. In the middle of the stemming is a small silo. To get across the silo, you can drop to the floor and then climb back up the other side, but most will want to cross directly. Continue stemming through the narrows a short distance until you come to a ledge on the left that is at the base of a narrow pinch. This pinch can be very tricky, especially alone. Most will want a partner assist to transition from the ledge, up the off-width crack to a spot that is wide enough to get your body in the crack to start stemming again. You're almost done with the stemming! A final section of narrows takes you back to the canyon floor.
After a short walk, you'll soon reach a 15-foot rappel from a deadman anchor. This deposits you in a sandy area. Walk a quick 400 feet to the start of a dozen potholes. The first 5 or 6 potholes can be bypassed on the west by climbing up to the rim and rappelling back down below the potholes. A sand trap or water pocket would be a lot more fun though and allow you to stay in the watercourse and conquer some fun potholes. The last half dozen potholes can be bridged over or climbed into and out of.
Inferno Canyon ends with two big rappels. First an 85-foot, two-stage rappel. Then an 80-foot rappel.
There are two exit routes. The fastest and most direct route is the climber's exit. This involves some 5th class climbing (around 5.4) for a couple of moves. After the first person is up, they can meat anchor the other group members.
The hiker's exit circles around to the south and is slightly easier scrambling but involves a lot of extra hiking. There is still a 4th class climb to get up to the rim.
We did both exits on different trips, and the climber's exit is definitely preferred by our group.
Closest City or Region: Ticaboo Mesa, Utah
Coordinates: 37.686400, -110.531506
By Jeremy Dye
Jeremy Dye, Sandy Crow, Stephen Dunne, Josh Allen, Jamie, Willow,
Start: 2:45 p.m.
End: 1:45 a.m.
R-Fest Spring 2019
After doing Paradiso Canyon in the morning and heading back to camp for lunch, we set off for Inferno Canyon around 2:45 p.m. On the approach, I was in the front. We were on the same trail we had taken earlier for another canyon, and I was so engrossed in conversation that I blew right past the point where we were supposed to leave the trail and drop down the rim to Inferno. We ended up about a third of a mile past our turnoff before Josh caught up and raised the concern that we were headed the wrong direction. We backtracked the third of a mile and got to the head of Inferno by around 3:20. Alex, Josh, Jamie, and Willow bypassed the first couple drops while Sandy, Stephen, and I took the direct route.
Once we hit the stemming section, it was immediately clear that Willow was out of her element. She's a super strong hiker and is great with ropes and rappelling, but stemming was really hard for her. We went painfully slow through all of the stemming sections. Willow had had a hard time in Paradiso, so we left her full pack at camp and gave her just a camelback to hopefully make the stemming easier for her.
After the first rappel, there was a section of slanted narrows. It was awkward for sure, but Willow had an especially hard time. The rest of us tried to help her as much as we could, but there was only so much we could do. She eventually made it through on her own, but she burned a lot of energy doing it.
After the second rappel, there was another section of stemming. Most of us went high where the width was easier to navigate, but Willow stayed low maintaining 10 feet off the ground because she was afraid of the exposure. Jamie coached her through that section. This was Jamie's first R canyon, and Josh had to keep reminding her not to get herself in an overly dangerous situation trying to help someone else. If one person makes a bad choice, it endangers the whole group. The stemming was going very slowly. Sometimes it took 5 minutes just to go a foot. Eventually we made it to where the canyon opened up and we could all take a rest on the ground. By this point it was 5:00 p.m. and we still had a lot of canyon to go. We rested for a bit and had some dinner, but we were worried about daylight and didn't want to hike out in the dark, so we pushed on.
The next section of stemming was painfully slow. Most of the group pushed ahead while Josh and I stayed back to help Willow. I stemmed right next to her, with my left leg under her right leg so that if she slipped, she would land on my leg and hopefully not fall all the way down to the canyon floor. We were going an inch per minute, and Willow was burning out fast. She kept freezing and freaking out. She was getting dizzy and felt like throwing up.
At the small silo, Sandy waited for us so that she could help however she could. Willow made it to where it starts to flare out, but she couldn't go any further. She didn't have the energy to climb down and back up or the skills, energy, or mental fortitude to pass the silo on her own. We were stuck, and it was not a good place to be stuck. Willow's legs were shaking uncontrollably and she still needed to cross the silo that was high enough and open enough that a fall would likely kill her or result in many broken bones. Josh and I were up canyon of the silo and Sandy was down canyon. I stemmed up high, over the top of Willow and over the silo. I planted my feet on one wall and my back on the other wall, and I clipped a piece of webbing onto my harness and lowered the other end down to Willow. Sandy threw another piece of webbing over the silo to Willow, and Willow clipped it to her harness. Then Willow hung onto my rope and Tarzan swung over the silo while Sandy pulled her across the void to the other side. 20 minutes to cross the silo.
Unfortunately we were far from finished.
The last section of narrows proved to be the most difficult, not because the canyon was any harder than before but because Willow was getting more and more tired and less and less agile.
I should probably interject here and say that the canyon, while technical and exposed, is not overly strenuous. Other than Willow, all of the group members were feeling great. We weren't especially tired or worked, and the people at the front of the group were having a great time. They didn't realize how difficult it was for Willow and how tired she was, so they just kept moving ahead. But for Willow, because she was going so slow, she was stopping in awkward positions and burning her muscles out in non-resting positions. And then it was just a downward spiral from there. Because she was tired, she was moving slower, and because she was moving slower, she was getting more tired because it was taking longer. What should have been an easy 5-minute section was taking a half-hour or longer of painfully meticulous movements.
After the silo was another section of high stemming. Through this section, we were probably 30 feet off the ground. It wasn't super difficult, but once again, Willow and I were stemming an inch at a time with my left leg tucked under hers for support. We soon came to a portion of canyon that changed width abruptly. We went from being 24 inches apart to being 30 inches apart, and Willow was scared to death of making that transition. After trying unsuccessfully to coach her through it, I finally just turned myself into a snowplow and pushed her over the lip against her will, while holding onto her arm so she wouldn't fall. We soon made it to the most awkward and difficult move in the canyon. You start by standing on a shelf that is 30 feet above the floor and it's fairly wide at this point. Then you have to transition to climbing an off-width crack that wants to spit you out backwards. You have to climb the crack about 6 feet before its wide enough to get your body through and start stemming again. Josh waited at this point, and I boosted Willow up to where Josh could reach down and help her up the rest of the way. Made it! Except then Josh and Willow kept going, and I was left behind with no one to give me a hand. I tried unsuccessfully 3 times before I finally made it up. I was honestly scared for a few minutes that I wouldn't be able to do it by myself and that someone would have to come back and get me. But I did make it through.
The narrows relented, and we were back on firm ground. We rappelled down a couple of drops and then stopped for a rest in a sandy area just above the last pothole section. By this time it was about 7:15 p.m. Willow collapsed on the ground and just lay there. We were extremely relieved because we had made it through all the stemming sections and nobody fell to their death. We took about a 10 or 15 minute break then started going again. We were on the home stretch.
...or so we thought.
Looking back after the fact, we should have waited here an hour and let Willow's muscles rest, but we were anxious to get back to camp before dark, so we pushed on. I knew she was struggling, but I didn't realize how much, and the others at the front of the group didn't realize how bad it was either. When Willow stood up, she almost fell over. She was very dizzy and nausiated and she had a hard time walking straight. We had about 12 potholes ahead of us, and some of them were filled with water.
Luckily for us, we could avoid several of the biggest potholes by walking along the rim to the right and rappelling back down to the canyon floor below. Willow was slightly delusional by this point, and we didn't want her to lose her balance while on the edge of a cliff. So we tied a piece of webbing to her harness and held onto the other end. We joked that it was her leash. She was so embarrassed, but deep down she knew it was necessary, so she endured the embarrassment. We got to the top of the rappel, and she couldn't see straight to hook herself up to rappel. I hooked her up, and we had a fireman belay at the bottom, and she went down like a champ. She was super solid on rappel, even not being able to see straight.
Normally the half-dozen small potholes would be pretty easy to bridge over, but given Willow's state, we opted for the direct route. Stephen went first then lowered a rope with footloops down so Willow could climb out. She couldn't even climb the rope ladder. I slid down into the pothole and boosted her out. We conquered the last 3 potholes that way.
The last two rappels went great, even through Willow's double vision turned into at least 6 swirling ropes while she was trying to hook up. We made it to the bottom of the canyon around 8:30 p.m.
Our original plan was to take the direct route back to camp, but this involved a section of rock climbing to get up the cliff face. We were worried that Willow wouldn't be able to do the rock climbing, so we decided to take the longer hiker's exit instead. We knew it would add time to our hike out, but at least we wouldn't be stuck at the base of a cliff overnight.
About 5 minutes into the hike, Willow started shaking uncontrollably. I had a long-sleeve shirt and a jacket in my drybag, which helped quite a bit. On the hike out, Jamie and I stayed back with Willow, while the others scouted the trail ahead. After a short while, Willow went silent. She stopped responding to our questions. We figured she was just too tired to answer, so we kept walking along. We stopped for a quick rest, and Willow fell sideways. She was non-responsive. We couldn't get her to acknowlege us at all. She just kept mumbling "have to keep going... keep going". We forced her to stop and rest and eat some peanut butter and honey, but after about 5 minutes she started shivering horribly. We had some hand warmers in out first aid kit, so we gave her 4 of those, which helped some. The only way to control the shivering was to keep moving, so we started walking again. Willow was staggering and swaying worse than the worst drunk I've ever seen, which is saying something. So I walked beside her and held her arm to keep her pointed in the right direction. We walked for a while until she couldn't go any further, then we rested. We rested until the shivers came, then we walked again. We kept that routine up for approximately 1 mile until we got to the base of the slickrock. Willow would have times where she was very talkative and told us all sorts of good stories about baking pies and selling them to the Bingo ladies at the church, but then a minute later she would trail off and go unresponsive.
At the base of the slickrock, we caught up with the rest of the group. This is where the trail turned uphill and got steep in places. Willow was still staggering, so Josh and I got on either side of her and put our arms under her armpits and basically walk-carried her up the cliffs. At almost half a mile from the base of the slickrock, we stopped for a rest and some food, and Willow fell asleep sitting up. We couldn't wake her. She was completely dead to the world. We spread the rope out on the rock to provide a thermal break between her and the cold rock, we spread an emergency blanket over the top of her and weighted it down with rocks on the edges, and we made a plan. I don't know what time it was at this point because I stopped being the tourist who takes pictures and switched over to rescue mode instead.
We talked through our options, the risks, and the what-ifs. We were about a mile and a half from camp with about 600 feet of elevation to go. We had no idea how long Willow would be out cold. We had limited gear for spending the night and had some food and water left but not a lot. We had headlamps for everyone but they probably wouldn't last all night. Our cell phones were nearly dead. Josh and Jamie had to leave first thing in the morning for a wedding or something like that, so they couldn't afford to sleep in the canyon.
After making a plan, we decided to split up. Jamie, Sandy, and I would hike up to camp. Josh and Stephen would stay with Willow. Then I would come back with gear, and Stephen and I would spend the night with Willow. We made a packing list and contingency plan and then headed off.
Jamie, Sandy, and I hiked up to the camp. It was mostly uneventful except that Sandy's foodhold blew out while she was climbing the nose of a fin, and she fell backwards about 8 feet and got tangled up in a boulder. Luckily she wasn't hurt. We made it to camp around 11:00 or so and gathered up 3 sleeping bags, oatmeal, a backpacking stove, a pot, 6 liters of water, headlamp batteries, and a cell phone charger. I grabbed a quick bite to eat then headed back down the trail to where Willow, Josh, and Stephen were bunkered down.
Willow slept for about 2 hours. Josh and Stephen laid down next to her and spooned from both sides to try to stay warm. They had the one emergency blanket, but it didn't do a whole lot. There was lots of shivering done by all, and especially by Willow. When she finally woke up, she felt a lot better, and they started the hike out.
Before we split up, we made contingency plans for various scenarios. If they started hiking out, they were going to blow their whistle every 5 seconds. It was a good thing they did that because on the hike out, they missed the final scramble up the cliffs to the mesa top, and they were hiking along the bottom of the cliff band while I was hiking along the top. If not for the whistle, we would have passed each other in the night and never connected. As it was though, I was able to coach them back to the break in the cliff where they were able to scramble up to the top. We divvied out the water and the food, and the four of us hiked back to camp with no further drama, arriving around 1:45 a.m.
The next day, we all had a lazy morning and slept in as long as we could. Willow was extremely sore but was just fine. She wanted to do another canyon that day, but we told her absolutely not! Because of the trauma of the event, Willow has no memory of the canyon after the first drop into the canyon.
Rappels
Downclimbs
Wading
Stemming
High Stemming
Pothole Escapes - Partner Assist
Fixed Anchors
Wetsuit Generally Not Required
No Drinking Water
Road Access is Dirt - High Clearance
Access Road is 2WD Accessible
Wayfinding
Camp Sites: 
Canyoneering: