Fall, October 2 2004 5:47 PM MST.
The olds was still navy blue and primer at this point. Packrat still had his bronco. Both are in the photo are there, so, I know this is a caving club trip. Also because the cliff face I took this from is an extremely hard climb, so much so that I don't remember many people doing it and the route names completely escape me. Not that it matters, the names have probably already changed (again). But, an overhanging cliff is a great place to practice free rappels. It's nice to take first timers someplace where there is lots of light and they can walk to the start and walk off the finish. We started at dusk and fooled around until everyone was comfortable and bored. That weekend, we went to a real cave.
A lot of the bouldering stuff is at the left. Battle arms, Waterfall, and a chossy route called Pumpkin Spider come to mind. I had to stare at it for a good long time to remember all that. I never saw water flowing in the canyon, not even after the Great Hailstorm of 2004.
I have surprisingly few pictures of Box Canyon. At least, there are only a few that are recognizably box canyon. In retrospect, one needs to be pretty high up, and not be busy with ropes or anchors, and have a camera handy, in order to actually get a photo, much less a good one.
Of course, I spent so much time in box that you'd think I'd statistically get something worth looking at. Then again, it would be years before I owned a memory card that would hold more than about 30 photos. I used to have to pick and choose. So your guess is as good as any.
Life in NH, and then here in DC is so wildly different that some of the things I used to do seem almost fairytail in nature. To share a canyon with a few people, alone, for hours is unheard of. The cars are all new. There are lines and paperwork everywhere. People don't know anywhere else and aren't keen to leave. They like it this way.
I like things that way.
In a way.
I may have some pics of Box Canyon. On film.
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