TRIP REPORT PHOTOS
Gallery Canyon starts out near the canyon mouth with a brief constriction:
The red walls on both sides of the canyon come close together:
There are just a couple of small bends through this narrow part:
The canyon then opens back up. Off in the distance there looked to be a rock cathedral:
Getting closer, the rock cathedral turned out to be a large formation of rounded cliffs:
A fun section of boulders to either climb over, under, or around:
Very impressive rock walls in the early canyon:
The scenery through here was quite beautiful to be immersed in:
The early canyon came to an abrupt end at the 1st major dry fall:
It looked tempting to try to climb, but I decided to head back out and look for a bypass:
Here, I have climbed the ridge and am looking into the 2nd section of canyon:
I found an obvious sheep trail back into the canyon, but rejected it in favor of continuing along the ridge:
This high wall on the opposite side of the canyon was quite striking:
This is where the bypass turned difficult. It was necessary to navigate through this steep area of boulders and loose talus. Trying to stay close to the canyon, I went straight for a while and then circled around near the upper left side:
As I circled around the upper left side, this view of the 2nd stage of the 3rd major dry fall came into view:
Once back in the canyon, I went and looked over the edge. Note the pretty rock coloring:
From there, I scrambled over to the right side of the 1st stage of the 3rd major dry fall. This was the view back down the section of canyon which I missed:
Heading up canyon once again, I had no idea of what to expect:
The canyon remained narrow with small boulders filling the wash:
And then some larger boulders appeared as seen in the next two pictures:
In the next two pictures, take note of how water has eroded and polished these boulders into small dry falls with flash floods through the years:
Navigating around a small wall of boulders:
Passing by a neat little arch on the side of the canyon:
While the canyon remained narrow to this point, it had not been particularly interesting so far:
That changed when the walls closed in and grew in height all of a sudden:
Similar to the previous picture, this view shows another small hole in the left side canyon wall:
As the narrows progressed, the canyon walls burst into a variety of colors:
This view gives a good indication as to the height of the narrows:
Seeing so many colors on display was really captivating:
The narrows tightened up very close at some spots:
In this picture alone, there are so many colors of the spectrum on display. You can understand why we called this The Gallery:
Steve in the midst of the Lower Gallery narrows:
Notice the texture of the canyon walls, which are not smooth marble but rather rugged rock:
A simply beautiful canyon wall which almost looks like a pastel painting:
Notice how the colors kept changing through different sections of narrows:
A very unique rock wall rising above the canyon:
This picture is fascinating because of the distinct coloring of each wall and also the streak of red which angles down the left side:
The beauty of The Gallery continued with more colors and shapes:
There were lots of small caves or oddly shaped openings in the canyon walls:
The walls of the narrows grew considerably the farther I went:
Even without the colors, these narrows would still be very interesting due to the unusual formations on the walls:
The narrows were now towering above me:
It is safe to assume that very few people have ever seen these pristine narrows with the exception of some canyoneering groups:
A picture of Steve deeper into the Lower Gallery narrows where the walls have become very high:
A very nice picture showcasing a dramatic turn in the narrows:
More odd indentations in the canyon wall:
The Lower Gallery came to an end at the 3rd major dry fall of Gallery Canyon:
Thus, I headed back down the narrows for another look until I could find a way back up to the ridge:
When I finally got up there, I found that the ridge was very rocky:
The top of the ridge provided a breathtaking look down into the narrows which I had just passed through:
I kept working my way around the ridge until I found a place to drop back into the canyon past the shallow narrows seen in this picture:
You can probably see the faint sheep trail I followed back down on the right side:
Back in the canyon, I turned around and was happy to see that the same colors of The Gallery could be seen in these shallow narrows located above the 3rd dry fall:
It was a good thing that direct sunlight was not saturating the shallow narrows, which would have ruined picture taking:
Although much shorter than the Lower Gallery (or narrows below the 3rd dry fall), the Upper Gallery (or narrows above the 3rd dry fall) was nice as well:
Another very nice shot taken in the midst of the narrows:
The route down canyon continued for a short distance before ending up ahead above the 3rd dry fall:
Four more pictures showcasing the amazing colors of the Upper Gallery:
Beyond the shallow narrows of the Upper Gallery, the canyon opened up into less interesting terrain:
This was another brief constriction of red canyon walls:
There looked to be a large wall up ahead in the canyon:
It was a solid wall which contained the 4th major dry fall. Check out the unique rock shape hanging out above the left top of the dry fall:
The 4th major dry fall is a good stopping point for a hike through Gallery Canyon:
