May 04, 2019 — Illusions Canyon has been on ever-present my radar since I first started canyoneering. Its mossy walls and gorgeous-looking rappels were always inspiring in photos, so my friends (Shawn, Josh, Yoshi) and I set out for a trip to Sedona. We prepared as best we could, complete with wetsuits, too much webbing, a new canyoneering pack, and a grappling hook (in case the final keeper pothole was in keeper mode). There are many ways to complete the route. We decided to spot a car on State Route 89A, then take another car to the plateau and descend Illusions Canyon and then the West Fork of Oak Creek (Call of the Canyon Trail). It seems like most people descend Illusions Canyon and then re-ascend to the plateau via a sneak route. Others start from State Route 89A, hike up a trail to the top of the plateau, and then descend the same way we did. I'd say despite the long shuttle, I think we were all in agreement that the one we chose was the way to go.
A note, mostly as a rant to myself: I break an average of two DSLR cameras per year in wet canyons, so I got a waterproof camera and I was extremely unhappy with the poor quality photos. This trip report is a combination of all my friends' cameras, plus my iPhone and waterproof crap, so a bit of a mess... I think I'd rather risk breaking a camera in order to get better shots of a place as gorgeous as this route deserved. If you want to see better pictures of West Fork and the area in general, check out my report on Immaculate Canyon. Anyway, onward.
From the top of the plateau, downed trees forced us to walk along the road before descending into the head of Illusions Canyon. The gully required some bushwhacking, but was overall fine. There's an avoidable rappel, but it was mossy and pretty, so we opted to go for it, testing the water for the first time. It was cold. Very cold. More bushwhacking led to a Coconino National Forest register at the start of the narrows. We signed and began the fun obstacles, avoiding some of the smaller rappels by just spotting each other. The canyon eventually narrowed significantly, and we were faced with a bunch of fun rappels and obstacles, including a really cool arch and some small potholes. Nothing out of the ordinary for a technical canyon in regard to difficulties, but the colors and shapes of the canyon were among the best I've seen. We just wished we weren't so cold and could enjoy it more. The canyon opened up after an 80 foot rappel and we let our bodies thaw for a bit before the last set of narrows, which were equally as beautiful as the previous section. The last rappel reportedly has a very deep pothole, and it wasn't visible from the top of the rap, so we were happy to see the pool was overflowing. Make sure you know your keeper escape techniques, because it could be a pretty big disaster if not.
From the bottom of the last rappel, we took off our gear and headed north toward the West Fork of Oak Creek. We had to do one more rappel to get out of our tributary and into Oak Creek, but then it was easy hiking through the overwhelmingly beautiful West Fork of Oak Creek. Like I mentioned before, I didn't have my camera with a wide angle lens and so I certainly couldn't do this hike justice. But it's gorgeous and I hope to do more technical routes that allow us to descend the Call of the Canyon Trail at some point.
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