# Animas River Sieve pics below rockwood



## rg5hole (May 24, 2007)

Rez and I took a hike to find the fabled Animas River Sieve...it does exsist! I have read these threads that say something about getting gear out of there....highly unlikely...in fact I am calling bullsh the canyon walls are 90% sloped granite hundreds of feet tall.

The Sieve is actually beautiful though...there is like a 30'er in the middle of it that is maybe 3 feet wide and the whole river runs through it...on the top and bottom is caveman land though. 

I may have to go back when it is absolutely juicing just to hear satans roar of eterity coming from the HUGE and very narrow canyon.

pics should be attached....enjoy

-rg


----------



## yetigonecrazy (May 23, 2005)

:shock:


----------



## hullflyer (Aug 22, 2004)

Well, I beg to differ on that comment about not being able to retrieve gear there. I have witnessed boats and paddles attached to climbers harnesses and jugged up the 300' on a 500' long caving static line by crazed spelunkers with all the gear. Very much possible and has been done many times. It takes about an hour to jug up with all that weight on your harness but your reward is a mangled boat with no insides left!!


----------



## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

doesn't look like a happy place.


----------



## Rez072 (Apr 21, 2008)

I have some more photos posted in the creeking gallery...

and yea.. during the exploration we found a couple places where the opposing walls were no more than a yard or two away from each other!

I have this theory though... that one could set up a rope and leave it waiting for them in one of the pools above the sieve. One would do this to run the mile or two of whitewater after the upper take-out and before the sieves.
It's not like --at this low water level-- the river poors into the sieves...
pools form...
therefore... if you had a rope waiting for you...you could access one of the two or three escape routes that require only 3rd and 4th class climbing, that is, after ascending one regular pitch (5th class)..
What one would have to do is - when they get to their pool... tie the end of the rope that is waiting in the pool (preferably with ascenders waiting too) to the boat and then carefully exit one's boat whle beginning to ascend up the rope to the 3rd and 4th class exit route... Then pull the rope w/ the boat up when one finds a stable area to do so (maybe they would need to anchor themselevs to a tree of the wall or something)...
Yea.. it may require another technical pitch in the ascent somewhere.. but then again... maybe not.. there were some decent escape routes on both western and eastern sides...
Staying off people's land is difficult though...
Maybe just getting permission would be the best way... another discussion entirely...

Rg5hole and I saw some quality whitewater between the take-out and the sieve.
However, when it's juicin' this idea is not advised as I imagine all hell breaks lose in that narrow canyon (and the sieves probably start to create some very impressive stuff)...
Low water mission only... unless you've got a death wish


----------



## bwest (Mar 13, 2008)

pretty sure damon already tested your idea...and ran that shit


----------



## Rez072 (Apr 21, 2008)

I don't doubt it. Looks like a pretty good time. Good way to kill some hours...


----------



## Warren (Dec 28, 2003)

So all of that has been run accept maybe the one that barrels into the wall. Apparently one of the last eddies before the sieve has an anchor bolt set into the wall. At really low water the take out is in this pool, hanging onto the bolt, exiting while in boat and climbing out with your gear from there. Been done but I have not personally checked out the exit route. There is another exit, river right about 3-4 drops above it. Crosses private land so be careful but you can add a couple drops to the Rockwood section. Just don't miss your take out.


----------



## rg5hole (May 24, 2007)

looks to be only one rapid worth it...setting aside the canyon and its awe itself. That canyon that houses the sieve is absolutely awesome, but just as visible from the top and sides as it is from the bottom...complete with the danger...if you slip you are a gonner.
I recognized only one really challenging (rez posted a photo) rapid but by the time you get through it you can have lap 2 underway in rockwood.

Then of course there is pandora's...pic number 4 shows you how committing that is! Pretty much the same gorge too...very deep.

-rg


----------



## rg5hole (May 24, 2007)

how low for pandora's by the way???? will it go at 350 min flow of rockwood...and how stout is it at that point?

-rg


----------



## COUNT (Jul 5, 2005)

Since we're on the subject, I heard some talk about people rappelling into the Inner Baker's Gorge (below sieve) running a handful of sketch drops and ascending out (above another sieve). Not my cup of tea but I'd like to hear stories/beta/info/tall tales about this.

COUNT


----------



## Rez072 (Apr 21, 2008)

Baker's or Pandora's begins almost immeadiately after the sieves. The sieves are take up 200 or so lateral feet of the river. There isn't any point in descending into the middle gorge... just continue a Rockwood run and have an escape set-up waiting for you above the sieves.


----------



## rg5hole (May 24, 2007)

I think the put in for bakers is right below the sieve...if it is the spot with the 100' "rappel" with the permanent rope tied to the juniper than that must be bakers...I really cant imagine hauling a boat further than that unless it is for middle kings, the pine, or Clarks Fork ...

The first 3 drops though look better than average, after that only the walls can tell, or those who have ran it.

I would also like to hear a lot more about pandora's...due tell quiet ones.........


----------



## fullmer (Aug 23, 2006)

*It's a Sweet Section*

I ran "the sieve section" a few years ago with Evan Ross. We had a "support crew" of two people that ferried across the river and then hiked while we boated. 

We carried our boats down the Rockwood take out. It was pretty low water, maybe 400 cfs. The first part of the run is tight with some boofs. Then the run opens up with a huge boulder garden. This reminded me of the middle section of Baker's Box (Pandora's). We ran this section down the left side, at the end of which was a LARGE boulder that we boofed off. 

The next rapid was, well, horrendous. Damon ran this rapid down the left side, but I think he had more flow. After this rapid is a mandatory portage and then the boof into the pool above the sieve. We opted not to run the horrendous rapid, which was even more ominous because an Elk's head with an impressive rack of antlers was stuck on a boulder in the middle of a key move. We stared at that Elk's head for a long time, long enough for a blizzard to blow in. We opted to carry our boats back to Rockwood. Along the way, on a rocky beach, we found two AT paddles, possibly "lost" by Steve Fisher during his downriver race adventure.

I had a great time on the run, it's quality whitewater and breathtaking scenery. If you're young and filled with energy, I encourage you to fire it up.

Fullmer


----------



## Warren (Dec 28, 2003)

Pandoras is only for those with a guide. Blind drops and NOOO scouting for the first four. The ones you saw are the first two and it just gets rowdier. Shear walls and no exit for the first five. Then some exit routes then the portages (depending on water levels and testes).
As for levels, 350 is LOW. Went in at the high 200's and it wasn't that amusing. Tossed salad is nasty. Now the nines and above, thats amusment. Recommended first level is 450. Filled and fluffy. BIG changes with every 100 cfs at Tacoma so be ready.
Once again, take a guide. The access is iffy at best and with traffic in the wrong spots access could become worse. A guide will also make those first five manageable.


----------



## Uncle B (Nov 14, 2003)

Free gear in the bottom? Thats what my friends and I heard and sure enough after a few hundred feet of raps we found two manky boats. Both had been in there a season or two, stuffed to the gills with wood, and covered in a brown slimy ooze. After a few hours they were at the top of the canyon freed from the sieve. Upon inspection the boats had no names or contact info. Sadly these boats could not be returned to their owners. Remember though, Durango is a small town. After a few years of telling this story in El Rancho and Pongas, word finally got to the "owner" of one of the boats. It must have been about 4 years since we hauled those boats out of the canyons innards. The owner calls my friend and demands his boat back after all these years. He got really mad when my friend said NO. It had been 4 years, he had no contact info on the boat, and he wants his boat back just like that? After a few more unsuccessful calls to my friend we didn't hear from him anymore. Then one morning we wake up to go boating and sure enough that salvaged boat was GONE. The fucker came back and stole it out of our garage! He could of at least left a 30pack for our hours of work getting his boat out of the canyon....


----------



## rg5hole (May 24, 2007)

After seeing what it would take to get to the bottom of the sieve from top I feel that it should not be done for anything less than personal gain.

Money, gear, and accomplishment...that guy certainly did not deserve his boat back to begin with and what a fukr for takin it.

Were there no paddles down there? I would also expect to find a few cold and frothy ones lost over the past few...could be a welcome relief! A finely aged pibber, left in its entirety awaiting its eminent consumage...ahh, where are my ropes?


----------



## relikpaul (Feb 20, 2008)

Uncle B said:


> Free gear in the bottom? Thats what my friends and I heard and sure enough after a few hundred feet of raps we found two manky boats. Both had been in there a season or two, stuffed to the gills with wood, and covered in a brown slimy ooze. After a few hours they were at the top of the canyon freed from the sieve. Upon inspection the boats had no names or contact info. Sadly these boats could not be returned to their owners. Remember though, Durango is a small town. After a few years of telling this story in El Rancho and Pongas, word finally got to the "owner" of one of the boats. It must have been about 4 years since we hauled those boats out of the canyons innards. The owner calls my friend and demands his boat back after all these years. He got really mad when my friend said NO. It had been 4 years, he had no contact info on the boat, and he wants his boat back just like that? After a few more unsuccessful calls to my friend we didn't hear from him anymore. Then one morning we wake up to go boating and sure enough that salvaged boat was GONE. The fucker came back and stole it out of our garage! He could of at least left a 30pack for our hours of work getting his boat out of the canyon....



i would agree 
dirty move


----------



## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

dirty move im sure the river gods will take back the boat he more than likely doesn't deserve.i would have offered 2 cases or one kick ass night at the bar on me.


----------



## G-man (May 24, 2005)

And i heard he wanted his 4 year old chacos back too!


----------



## Uncle B (Nov 14, 2003)

Yeah he did, Chacos I had worn for 4 years....talk about mank...what a tard


----------

