3/22/14 - Moab - Medieval Chamber Loop

My friends and I (6 of us total) scored a free trip to Moab due to our friend Matt, who is a Meteorologist who flew out from California, who needed to check out a few monitoring stations in Monticello.

After checking up on the stations in the morning, we drove up to Moab and had a early lunch around 11am in town. Afterwards, we wanted to hit up Medieval Chamber and do the simu-rap (a 2nd and 3rd for a few, and 1st for others) off Morning Glory Arch. And rather than doing a shuttle or hitchhiking, we used limited beta for the loop trip. Some people said it was easy, others said it was hard. Who really knew? Lets find out!

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Attachment 72472 A few extra double-fisherman's on a static and semi-static ;)

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so green!!

After hiking up canyon for about 30 minutes, we see some breaks in the cliffs - could these be the routes the others have mentioned?? Well, we are going to find out.

We split up in 3 groups of 2 and take 3 routes. The yellow route is the "hardest" at a 5.5. It definitely has some big exposure and is not for the weary. A handline may help here.

The blue route was the 2nd easiest of the three. It is steep climbing in the wash until you hit a 10ft 5.5 chimney. You can use a handline but it's not too tough. Most folks shouldn't have any problems with this one.

The purple route was the easiest of the three and doesn't contain exposure and large chimneys to climb up. Just steep. AND...this was the shortest of the routes too, go figure.

After you reach the top of the mesa, hit one of the 4x4 roads and head back to your car.

Not bad for 4 hours, car to car with 6 people and doing the simul-rap. :cool2:

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Edit: those pics that I uploaded weren't that small. They were re-sized automatically to fit the screen. That's why it looks pretty bad. I apologize for the drawings - my editing skills aren't the greatest. But I hope it can help others who are planning to do Medieval Chamber as a loop. And there is probably a easier canyon exit too - we just didn't find it this go around...

Awesome.... I've always planned to scout out the loop exit and just never got around to it. You saved me some leg work :-)

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

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Originally Posted by Iceaxe

Awesome.... I've always planned to scout out the loop exit and just never got around to it. You saved me some leg work :-)

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

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We tried looking for the return loop hike last year by going North-West towards Negro-Bill Canyon Trailhead, but didn't find it. It cliffed out. This year we went east. Much easier.

Plus, I think doing the loop hike is the preferred way. I mean by the time you hit the Negro Bill Trailhead, you will have travelled an additional 2 miles, will either have to hitchhike or jump into your shuttle vehicle, drive back through town which will be another 15-20 minutes, drive up the slick-rock trailhead and wait behind other vehicles. I mean the shuttle will cost an hour and half to two hours just to retrieve your vehicle...

Why not save that time, enjoy the scenery which most folks won't see, still follow the stream up for most of the way (even on a hot day!), and spend a few more calories hiking? good stuff.

I did it this fall from the top with no shuttle but went and set up a line on a drop in the slot right above the "H" in Chamber in your first pic. I later ascended this line after the arch rap.. was kind of a pain.

How is the hike up the canyon to the exit? Is it a good trail?

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

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Originally Posted by Iceaxe

How is the hike up the canyon to the exit? Is it a good trail?

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

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It is actually. It's defined pretty well too. No cairns too (thankfully, I get tired of seeing those things). No bush whacking. Easy desert hiking.

There is a "fork" about 10 minutes up the canyon after you hit the junction after leaving Morning Glory. The higher route isn't hard but it's a lot of ups and down. The preferred route is to stay close to the steam as possible - much more level.

And once you make the canyon turn and head south and see the exit routes in view, jump to the west side (right side, L.U.C.) of the stream and start climbing higher on one of the game trails until you choose your escape route.

Nice TR! Almost makes me wanna go back and do this route again! :D

Very cool! Looks like you guys had a blast.

I followed Jman's exit beta this last weekend and it was perfect! His pictures made it really easy to follow. Here are my additional observations:

1. The main part of our group went down to Negro Bill trailhead while I went back up to retrieve the car. I was moving pretty quickly but after comparing notes, they got down to the river 15 minutes faster than I got back to the car. It took 30 minutes for me to drive down and pick them up.

2. There is a lot of crypto along the route--especially once you get up and out of the stream area. Right now it is for the most part undisturbed--it would be unfortunate if everyone makes their own haphazard trail through there and destroys it. There are enough washes and slickrock to walk in and on that it doesn't have to change...

3. Overall, I wouldn't exactly call the loop option "easy." I had a couple new people with me for Medieval Chamber and I GUARANTEE they would not have enjoyed the hike to the top nearly as much as they enjoyed the leisurely walk out the bottom. I followed Jman blue route and while technically easy, it featured a fair amount of steep scrambling and route finding.

4. If a car shuttle is available, I would probably suggest that is the easiest and quickest option. If you don't have a shuttle or you really like off the radar hiking (like I do), Jman's loop is a great option.

5. Make sure you find a prominent high point to aim at on your return hike that will help you find your car otherwise you will wander for awhile on the jeeping roads. (there is a tall, funky looking flat top mound just east of where we parked--that worked for me).

Thanks again to Jman for the beta.

Dave

Just did this one last month. One of the guide companies have installed a very nice new anchor rope with rapid link off the juniper for the arch rap. The two rap stations on the Chamber drop are in good condition also, though the bolt hangers spin on the ones looking right down canyon. Another group used them though, so I think they are fine. The bolt heads don't turn. We didn't have any water in the hanging pothole half way down first rap. Water at the bottom was easy to avoid.