Apr 10, 2021 — Hard Day Harvey was our group's favorite canyon in the Ticaboo area we've completed. It's long and scenic, and the opportunities for enjoyable stemming and obstacles feel endless. We were surprised at how long the canyon lasted, certain we'd be reaching the end once it would open up temporarily, and then the canyon would narrow again and the fun continued. Although the canyon is pretty, it's more about the obstacles than the beauty. To reach the trailhead, we turned off UT-276 here (37.69713, -110.67133) and followed this dirt road to the rim. The road starts in great shape, but a few miles in high-clearance becomes required. There are a couple of rocky sections, but overall it's just some dips and bumps that will stop sedans. The last couple of miles were easy dirt with some humps.
We started southwest into an obvious drainage that quickly introduced the first rappel, a short drop off the rim. The route continued through a wash for a long time before teasing us with a couple of short sections of narrows. To be honest, the canyon's wiggles kind of all blended together, but expect lots of typical canyon obstacles and down-climbs mixed with short rappels for the majority of the route. I rated Hard Day Harvey "R-" because of a couple of very skinny sections that could give bigger (or claustrophoic) people some difficulty. Additionally, a few sections require slightly higher stemming than a beginner canyoneer might enjoy. The canyon did seem to progressively get more difficult, and not because we got tired; some down-climbs may introduce the need for a handline or partner assist.
The final rappel was an uneventful drop just past the confluence of Good Day Jim Canyon. We continued for a while through non-technical wash terrain until we were stopped by a cliff at the top of a spring, marked by trees below. We kept to the right on a social trail and located a Class 3 weakness on the right. From below the route might be daunting, but the boulders and slickrock seemed to lead us in the right direction naturally. Cairns helped somewhat as well. We got to the top of the weakness and continue north on easy, gorgeous slickrock for about a mile until we reached the base of a cliff. We kept to the right of this cliff on a social trail and headed north, keeping to the right of the cliff base. I think it might be easier if you ascend to the left when you can, but we just stayed on the social trail as it brought us into a drainage and were eventually stopped by a cliff, where a Class 3 upclimb on the right brought us out of the drainage and up to the desert above. Some wandering led out to the dirt road and back to the trailhead.
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