Ding Canyon
Another of the San Rafael Reef canyons, Ding is a short romp through a fairly easy canyon. There are some minor obstacles to avoid, and some basic rock scrambling skills are helpful but in reality the canyon is pretty easy. Kevin Brooks, Sarah Vitale and I did this canyon in the fall of 2010, on a weekend mission to Green River. Kevin and Sarah hadn't been in a slot canyon at that point, so it was my goal to get them into some before we went on our Spring Slots Trip the next spring, and Ding looked like it would be a good option. We wanted to skip the ultra-busy Little Wild Horse, as it is basically a Disneyland ride now, but wanted something on the Swell, so we eyeballed the next canyon pair south of LWH, which is the Ding and Dang combo.
To get to Ding requires first walking down a sandy wash for about a mile to reach the canyon mouth. Once you reach it, you are in it, however, as once you climb past the first slab you are immediately into the narrows. The Reef here is really steep, so you cut through the layers really quickly. The Navajo, which is very sensual here as it twists and turns and sculpts, starts flat but quickly reaches a section of small obstacles to overcome. Most people can get up and down these quickly, and with a little bit of ingenuity dogs can too. Once you hit the Kayenta the canyon opens up some and the views become magnificent.
After a spell of walking in, around, under, and over a bunch of large boulders, the Wingate appears on the canyon floor, and very quickly a string of potholes appear, including one that may be hard to get out of by yourself if you should end up in it. Luna, Kevin's dog, ended up in this one and I had to pull off a Boy Scout manuever to get her back out. Above these potholes the canyon narrows into the Wingate section, but you will find more dryfalls to negotiate here, most of which are bigger and more awkward than the ones below.
The loop hike that is very popular with this canyon starts by going up this canyon, after which it crosses a ridge next to Ding Dang Dome, and then drops down into the next drainage to the south, commonly known as Dang Canyon. We were unable to get Luna up one of the drops, so Kevin and Sarah and her tried to bypass the drops by going up and around them on the north side of the canyon wall, but ended up getting cliffed-out, and had to turn around and bail. Sometime I will make it back and finish the whole loop.
All photos copyright Kit Davidson unless otherwise noted.