SGA (con't) one must be careful not to bombard or be bombarded by loose rocks. Thus the charming, lively Left Fork River is reached. The skies are still open for these lower stretches of the river. The stream bed is filled with boulders and rocks of all sizes. The banks are sandy, except that the higher benches are thick with willows, reeds and low trees--alders, willows, and pines. The party hikes upstream about 4 miles, darting this way and that, over and around large rocks, changing from one side of the stream to the other and then back again (Approx. 50 times), Presently one encounters a series of cascades in which the water is a sheet only an inch deep and the flow is over a series of stair-steps. Now one approaches a region of tremendously undercut sandstone. A railway locomotive could stand completely within this undercut. One climbs steeply over crumbly sandstone aggregate, and then emerges at a delightful pine studded plot larger than a city dwelling lot. This makes a perfect camp spot and actually the very last possible place to camp, as the canyon is highly constricted beyond this point and wet from wall to wall. The hiking party is happy to unshoulder, back-packs and set up a cheerful camp. After an hour's relaxation the trip leader sets out with plenty of assistants to inspect and prepare the canyon for the morrow's peak climbing event. Going up canyon one very soon arrives at narrowing side walls with great undercuts on both sides. The undercuts are perfectly circular in cross section and quite dark in the chambers. There are numerous bath-tub sized potholes, one would plunge into if wading in high water. Then the sky view widens, but looking ahead, one notes a small waterfall tumbling into a deep water hole, all between constricting side walls. A ledge 15' high offers a bypass, so the trick is to gain the bench. We'll call the place the Danish Loaf, since the bench on top one must attain by surmounting the steep side and then friction walking the rounded crust to the top. Three separate efforts were launched. John McKinley swam the deep pool and then climbed up the pile of splintered log debris. Tren Bartlett climbed a 12' long log placed vertically against the bank, whereas Dave King tied runners into two rock-embedded eyelets thus giving him footholds to surmount. These men then proceeded to install a fixed line by looping Ed Treacy's 150' rope around a pine tree located on a higher ledge. By tying a series of loops into the rope, all other members of the party are able to quickly ascend. Next came a series of pools covering the entire width of the canyon. The sidewalls were latticed with more pools in the anterior chambers. The Hubbard engineers expeditiously placed two stout logs to traverse this gloomy place. The first log merely spanned a large pool, the second was a 35º ramp and was accompanied by a taut clothes-line rope handrail, secured by being tied into the lattice work of the sidewalls. But then there was a double header 16' long pool for which there was no bypass, forcing each person to wade. By carefully picking routes one could protect his person higher than the knees. Getting off route one would go in up to the thighs. The route was then uneventful. Albeit spectacular for a 200 yd walk before the next obstacle, which was another waterfall with ensconced pool. Again, a 20' high sandy bench allows a bypass. By scaling the steep rocks two young men, Doug Mantle and John McKinley, installed another fixed line around a small pine tree. Numerous hand-holds were tied into the McRuer gold colored line, thereby giving easy access to the ledge. On walking this ledge, one soon encounters a large overhang which at first forces the hiker to bend, then crouch, then crawl. We'll call the place "Monkey's Crawl". One must maintain foot friction on the wet slimy sloping floor and proceed in a very crouched position for 50'. This seemed a bit dangerous, so a horizontal fixed line was installed, but the safety aspects of this route were suspect.

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