A Remote & Beautiful Slot Canyon - High Spur Canyon - Utah

A Remote & Beautiful Slot Canyon - High Spur Canyon - Utah

Here's the video from Karl. Check it out:

Karl Decker video of High Spur    • Utah's High Spur | The BEST Slot Canyon Yo...  

‪@KarlDeckerPresents‬ thanks for the awesome video!

Do you guys read these? I feel like some people do. If you do, I'm sorry because I don't like writing. I'm more of a visual storyteller. And by the time I get to the video description part, I've already spent a day or more hiking and several days editing, so the last thing I want to do is write an essay. Seems like homework. So you get this; me randomly writing randomness.

Anyway, High Spur Canyon. It's absolutely stunning. Some say it's the most beautiful slot canyon in Utah. I don't know about all that since I haven't been in them all, but I can say it's one of my favorite slot canyons to date. I'll take a remote, rugged, long and beautiful slot canyon over the crowded likes of Antelope Canyon any day. Another thing that makes High Spur stand out is that a large portion of it is non-technical. You don't make it very far in your average slot canyon before you come to a dryfall or some other obstacle that you can't make it past without ropes or sketchy downclimbs. Yet we clocked about 2 miles (I think, don't quote me there) in this canyon without encountering anything that we couldn't climb up or down.

But let me add that canyons change. A great example was when we came to our turn around point in this trip. You see it in the video, but it's hard to gauge from a camera so I'll describe it a little bit. It was a 15~20' dryfall. The first 5 or so feet were a relatively tight chute where you could use your body and friction to climb up or down. But then it opened up at the bottom, sort of like an hourglass. And in this section, the sides of the canyon were too far apart to reach, making it impossible for people of our skill level to climb up without a rope.

This isn't strange to find in a slot canyon at all. But the thing is, none of the beta I researched said anything about this. My best guess is that water came through this area and washed away sand at the base, creating a much higher dryfall on our trip through than what the beta writers before us encountered.

And that's half the fun of slot canyon exploring; they change. Different water levels plus debris and displaced rocks can create obstacles on one trip you didn't encounter on a previous trip. That's why you need to be careful and prepared when you enter a slot canyon, and why you should be extra careful to not exceed your abilities.

Regardless, High Spur Canyon is amazing. And while it has to be taken seriously, odds are you can explore a good deal of this canyon without encountering any obstacles that require technical gear. But like all slot canyons, it still needs to be taken seriously.

Oh, and there are those 58 miles of dirt/sand road you have to deal with. It's not bad (if it's dry) until the last few miles. For those, you'll probably need high clearance 4WD. You also want the route clearly marked; we got off course and ended up on an extremely sketchy section of road that actually made Tina nervous. (She's usually just laughing at me white-knuckling the dashboard on relatively mild off road routes.) But at least during this section you get to see Canyonlands in the background.

So that's it. I'm gonna go work on the next video. Enjoy.

Music by Artlist:
Investigations Inc - Artlist Musical Logos
Better Believe (Creative Cut) - Tiko Tiko
Sail Away - DaniHaDani
Piano Sonata No 16 - Bishara Haroni
With Some Malice - Francesco DAndrea