Sierra Canyon - Technical Canyoneering Day Trip in the Supes - 3AIII

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This is a 4 rappel 3AIII technical canyoneering trip in the northern Superstition Wilderness with an exit at lower Fish Creek. You must have canyoneering experience or have taken a recent rappelling class. All hikers will be approved by the hiker leader.

Physical Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous

Time Needed: 6-7 hours

Distance: 5.5 mile loop

You must provide: harness, helmet, PAS, belay device, carabiners, auto block, gloves, and proper canyon footwear.

The hike will start on lower Fish Creek just east of the Fish Creek Bridge on Apache Trail. We'll head downstream along Fish Creek for a half mile before climbing to the east up a drainage to Horse Mesa Flats. This will be the most strenuous part of the trip. We'll then bushwhack our way over to the north fork of Sierra Canyon. The north fork has less raps than the south fork but the raps are better.

There are a total of 4 rappels in Sierra Canyon, and although the longest rappel is 85 feet, a few of the rappels have very difficult starts and landings to avoid water. There is an excellent chance you will get wet and you may have to wade through the water depending on the water levels this time of year. We'll exit at Fish Creek and hike back to the vehicles.

Although this canyon is ACA rated at 3AIII, it sometimes earns the rating of 3BIII due to water levels.

We'll meet at the Home Depot/Burger King parking lot on Superstition Springs Blvd. and carpool together to the start of the hike, which is a dirt lot on the north side of Apache Trail Rd just past the bridge at Fish Creek.

No wetsuit required.

HikeArizona.com Description of this Route (http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=17626)