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Potato Canyon

A mysterious first descent.

Suhei Eddy and myself claimed the first entry, and later the first descent, to this remarkably accessible slot.

Unbelievably, the canyon had never been entered despite being less than a mile from pavement, and only 15 minutes walking from a dirt road.

We found that the entry immediately required several difficult downclimbs, which would be even more difficult to reverse, and many rappels of up to 70 feet.

As in all our explorations, we fixed ropes and re-ascended. Several up-climbs required partner assists and spotting.

The canyon itself gets fairly narrow, to about shoulder-width, and is rather pretty. After some high-quality slot, it opens up into a wider area of walking, still with rappels.

We reached the powerlines, from which it appears to be 2-3 more rappels to get to the main intersection with the pothole, which we had reached previously via Cheerio Canyon.

There are several locals homes nearby. Locals do not want outsiders in. We asked permission, and, after a long conversation where I explained the years I've spent living and serving on the reservation, we were granted permission. We were told, very clearly, that other outsiders will be denied. Serve the Navajo people, gain their trust, and then maybe consider this one.

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