ROUND VALLEY DRAW

Round Valley Draw is a good slot canyon located on the south side of Cottonwood Wash Road down from Kodachrome Basin.  The upper three or four hundred meters right at the top is the best and most colorful of the narrows.  It is worth exploring further down, however, because there are some very tall vertical sections, some fun chokestones to work around, and generally good scenery.  Kelsey's book presents several options for getting in.  I rim-walked both sides looking for the "slightly easier way down"  and could not see anything particularly appealing.  So I abandoned that and just chimneyed the very top of the draw, which is about a 12 foot drop.  If you are solo, lower your pack in first on a rope, leaving the rope secured under a small rock at the top in case you get half way down and change your mind.  There may be a log or a rockpile at the bottom to assist.

The narrows at the top are somewhat unique, with ribbing and a yellow-gold color I have not seen in too many other places.  Clearly one of the more photogenic non-technical canyons - if you don't count chimneying in as technical.  To capture the colored walls, which will usually be in the shade, take a tripod.  Since the top part of the draw isn't terribly deep - maybe 10 to 15 meters, go early in the morning before the sun beam goes straight in.  What you want is for the sun to angle in against the walls that are hidden from your camera.  If the beam goes straight down, as it tends to at mid-day, this won't happen.

Refs.  Kelsey, " Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau", Kelsey Publishing, 1999.

Disclaimer:  The goal of these trip notes is to suggest good photographic locations and what I consider pretty neat hikes.  These paragraphs should not be used as a canyoneering guide.  Seek out good maps and detailed information, and get properly prepared before entering any slot canyon.