East of Eden

Montezuma is easily one of the best canyons in the Ticaboo Mesa area, with fun down-climbing, deep dark narrows, some potholes, and an epic 270 foot rappel at the end of the canyon. Competent groups can easily do this canyon in one day, leaving time to do neighboring canyons, such as Euphrates or Tripoli. The canyon can be broken down into two sections, upper and lower. Upper Montezuma is narrow and shallow, with lots of stemming and down-climbing. All water in the upper section can be avoided by those with solid stemming skills, even right after floods. After the upper section ends, escape is possible on both sides of the canyon before the canyon deepens. The lower section is extremely beautiful, with a double arch room, dark twisty narrows, and a pothole or two depending on water levels. A wet-suit will be needed in the lower section if the air temperature is low, though due to the short nature of the swims, one forego the wet-suit in warm weather. With a 60 foot rope and pull cord, you should reach the bottom of all rappels in the this section, excluding the final rappel. The final rappel can be done off of a carin or dead-man anchor, using the rocks in the final staging area, and is roughly 270 feet, mostly free-hanging.

The approach is very easy and straightforward. You enter the canyon within a hundred yards of exiting the vehicle.

This would be a bad canyon to do if it is raining. I did notice one place to get out in an emergency at the location marked below. The canyon is a mix of V shaped sections that shred your shoes, easy stemming and galumphing to deep dark narrow sections requiring significant effort to tote your pack along. This canyon requires advanced anchor skills including building cairns in the water, meat anchors, deadman anchors, sand traps, and even a possible water anchor could come in handy. 37.656182,-110.556149