Canyoneering Route Description

Mumbai Canyon 4A(B) IV X
Escalante National Monument, Utah.

Quick Facts

04-23-16, 5 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 11.75 hours)

Time Required - 11 to 14 hours
Distance - 13.1 miles Total, 0.6 miles Technical
Rappels - 2 Rappels, Longest Rappel 90 feet.  (bring a 120 foot rope though - see general comments below)
Elevation Range - 4230 - 3720 Feet
Shuttle Required - No  Vehicle - Carefully driven Passenger Car - High Clearance, 4WD if bad road conditions Permit Required - No

Gear Used for Canyon

Rappelling and anchor gear, Ropes and or pull cords for rappels up to 120 feet and 40 feet of 1 inch webbing for sling placement.  Also have a pot shot on hand but it may not be needed.  Wet suits likely will not be needed (see notes below).  A water filter or water purification system is a good idea to refill water once down in Fiftymile Creek.

General Comments

WARNING!!       This is an X Canyon:
There are potentially deadly situations with no way to add protection.  When that happens, friends or gear are of no use... You truly are "on your own" (with an audience).  Do not attempt an X canyon until you are proficient with sustained high stemming and confident with your technical abilities including advanced anchors, ascending, pot hole escape and partner assists.  Information about X canyons is of little use if you lack skills or experience.  Making a mistake at the wrong time can kill.
Drop into an X canyon.... "At Your Own Risk".      Ultimately you are responsible for your own actions.

Where terrain allows, a rim team can be a safety net and moral support.  Unfortunately terrain rarely allows for such a luxury.
WARNING!!

Mumbai Canyon has been on my desired to-do list ever since Ram posted it in the Yahoo Canyon group back in 2010 or was it 2012?  Turns out it is a fun worthwhile adventure!  Thanks Ram and Aaron for sharing your find.

 Mumbai Canyon can be done by accessing it via Lake Powel and boating up the Escalante River then up Fiftymile Creek as far as possible.  Once docked in Fiftymile, hike up Fiftymile to a moki exit to the rim then over to the head of Mumbai and down Mumbai back to Fiftymile.

Not having access to a boat we started looking at maps and thought Mumbai may be doable in a day from the Hole in the Rock road.  Turns out the overland route works well.

The mid-point entry on the RDC (southern) side, combined with forgiving terrain along the rim, allows Mumbai Canyon to be broken up into an upper and lower section.  Stashing gear down in the mid-point of Mumbai works well for this route so you can travel lighter and faster through the upper half of the canyon.

The route we chose was to follow our overland route to Mumbai Canyon then drop down into the mid-point of the canyon.  At the mid-point we stashed most of our gear then set off for the head of Mumbai taking very little with us.  After getting through upper Mumbai we found our stashed gear along with packs full of lunch goodies for a fast break.  After lunch we took everything with us down through lower Mumbai exiting down into Fiftymile then hiking up Fiftymile back the Hole in the Rock Road.

There are only a couple spots where you will get wet in Mumbai and those are in the lower half of the canyon.  The spots where you do need to swim are short and not worth bringing a wet suit for.  While it may be tempting to do Mumbai when it is colder out so the heat does not sap your energy, the pools would be very unpleasant.  Hot weather can sap your energy when stemming for any length of time.  Mumbai would be best done in cool but not cold weather.  Since the canyon is mostly dry but does have a couple spots where you will get wet the canyon was rated A (B) for water.

Upper Mumbai:
Unless there have been recent rains you will not get wet in upper Mumbai.  I think I remember one pool that was easy to stem / galumph over.

There is a lot of sand and loose rotten rock on the walls. Be very mindful of what is solid and what is not.

It is a good idea to have a 40 foot length of rope with you in the upper section to provide a handline for the first person down the bombay at the end of upper Mumbai, who can then guide others down the correct path.  You will not need anchoring gear in upper Mumbai but it may be wise to have at least one harness to compliment the rope.

Upper Mumbai has more high stemming than lower and gives the feel of sustained X canyon.  All the silos in upper Mumbai can be crossed by shorter people (we had a 5 foot 1 person on our trip) but they may have to work a little more by crossing lower then stemming back up.

Lower Mumbai:
It is good that lower Mumbai is where the water is so it can be done later in the day when it is warmer.  The pool below rap 1 in the lower section can be waist deep or if flushed clean can be much deeper. A couple pools near the end of the lower section will be swimmers.  One of those lower 2 pools will likely be a swimmer for 30 or 40 feet.

Lower Mumbai also has a lot of sand and loose rotten rock on the walls. Be very mindful of what is solid and what is not.  Lower Mumbai is more physical work than upper Mumbai.

All the silos in lower Mumbai can also be crossed by shorter people, with the exception of one silo near the end of lower Mumbai where tall people can help pull the shorter people around a nose to avoid the need to drop down into the silo.  Lower Mumbai also has a deep pothole to get over that will challenge everyone, even the tall people.  A tensioned traverse can help get over / around this pothole with out need to drop into it but is a little tricky

Lower Mumbai still goes high putting you in the X zone in a few spots but has a significant amount of stemming in the R zone. While the lower section doesn't feel as high in general, it does work your harder requiring more energy to make the required moves over more convoluted shapes and angles.

About mid-way through lower Mumbai is a bommbay section that can be tricky to navigate (more on that in the details portion of the route description).  The portion of lower Mumbai after the bombay changes character and is still stemming off the deck but is a very different type of travel. The movement becomes overall easier with sculpted walls and lots of features to use.  The movement also becomes slower since there are so many varying angels to transition over.

The final rap is about 90 feet but is anchored from a semi fragile arch and may not last forever.  Another option is to farm a chokestone or driftwood from somewhere if possible and set it in the narrow slot about 20 feet back.  If this becomes needed a 120 foot rope will be good to have along.  Another reason for a rope longer than 90 feet is to be prepared for the mud at the bottom to erode away over time if the lake level stays low for a while making the drop longer than 90 feet.

Of note that if the lake is at full pool the final rap will be low water and you will need to swim up Fiftymile Creek instead of walk up.

Warning / Suggestion:
It is a good idea to have a potshot on hand just in case it is needed at the pool below rap 1 or at the tension traverse pothole before the final rap.  The tension traverse is over / around a pothole about 15 feet deep with a narrow slot exit on the other side. Doing an escape from this pothole would be difficult. We were able to cross this pothole using a tensioned traverse where someone was lowered a couple feet into the pothole on rope where they could reach to grab good features on the exit side to pull themselves across. Once someone is on the other side they can assist others across.

As you hike up Fiftymile Creek there is spring fed water running for most of it.  However there is beaver activity so be sure to filter and or prufy your water. 

Driving Directions

To get to the Trailhead

From the city of Escalante drive about 4 miles southeast on Hwy 12 to the turn off for Hole-In-The-Rock road on the right (extHoleInRock). The condition of the dirt Hole in the Rock road varies a lot with recent rains and road maintenance.  High clearance may be needed in extreme cases but most of the time passenger cars will be fine for the first 30 or 40 miles on Hole in the Rock road.

Travel about 43.5 miles southeast on Hole-In-The-Rock road to the turn off for Fiftymile Bench Road on the right (exHTR280-50Mil).  This will be about 2.9 miles after passing Sooner Wash.

From the turn off onto Fiftymile Bench road, stay straight to continue on the Hole in the Rock Road for about 2 miles to where you cross over a cattle guard (Mumbai01).

Drive about 0.2 miles past the cattle guard to a turn off (pkMumbai) onto a small unmarked dirt road on the right (southwest).  Park here to start the overland route to Mumbai.

Note:
If you find yourself at Soda Spring, which is signed and very smelly from cow activity, you have went too far.  Turn around and drive about 2 miles back up Hole in the Rock Road to the turn off where you will park. 

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

No exit vehicle is needed.  This is done as a loop route.

Maps

GPS coordinate information listed at the bottom.  For information about waypoint naming and map symbols, refer to the Glossary page.

Click the links for maps of the route. Map of the drive into the route.
Map of the entire route.
Map of the technical section.

Details

The Approach:
From the parking spot (pkMumbai) walk north up the Hole in the Rock Road for about 0.22 miles to a cattle guard (Mumbai01).  Of note you may see one of many use trails in this area coming up out of Fiftymile Creek.

From the cattle guard (Mumbai01) walk about 900 feet farther north up the Hole in the Rock Road to a non descript spot (Mumbai02) and leave the road to travel eastish through open desert.  When we were here this spot on the road had an area that looks like it was partially plowed to clear vegetation to start a side road / trail but only for about 30 feet. Would be easy to miss if not looking.

As you leave the road (Mumbai02) walk eastish for about 500 feet to find an old mostly overgrown road that travels northeast then follow that old road northeast. The direction you will be traveling through the desert from here is to the northeast but if you go east to the old faint road you will find an easier to walk route since the vegetation has been cleared reducing your need to weave around dodging bushes.

About 500 feet from the Hole in the Rock Road you will cross an old faint road (Mumbai03) that travels northeast through the desert. Turning left and following this road to the northeast makes travel through the open desert easier since the path has been cleared of vegetation to weave around while walking.

About 0.3 miles farther the road becomes more over grown (Mumbai04) and you may lose it in places. Continue northeast using any of the many cow / use trails through the wide open desert.

About 0.6 miles farther northeast the dirt peninsula of desert begins to narrow a little (Mumbai05) and you will be on the right (southeast-ish) side of the peninsula where there are some heavily used cow trails to follow and you can see the sandstone rolling down to the southeast.

About 0.4 miles farther the dirt peninsula continues to narrow and begins to give way to mostly rolling slickrock (Mumbai06). From here look to the northeast and note a large flat mesa about 2 miles in the distance. Continue northeast down and through the slickrock and route finding your way over to that mesa.

Note:
The terrain is forgiving so you can use what ever path you choose. Walking down into and through the sand will involve less up and down travel but is sandy walking. Following over slickrock is easier but involves more up and down. Choose your poison.

About 1.8 miles farther will be a top of a slickrock bench (Mumbai07) where you have good view of the mesa ahead again. This is a bit of a false peak feeling as you regain view of the mesa ahead and realize you are not quite there yet.

About 0.16 miles farther you will be on the slickrock bench below the mesa (Mumbai08). Travel east along the slickrock bench along the south side of the mesa.

About 0.43 miles farther is a spot along the bench where you have a path that is only a couple feet wide (Mumbai09) with a large almost vertical drop down the head of a drainage. Cross over this spot and continue east.

About 0.32 miles farther the shelf you have been following gives way to open dirt then rolling slickrock (Mumbai10). Continue due east for about 900 feet to a spot that can loosely be called a saddle in the slickrock.

When you reach the saddle like area (Mumbai11) travel down rolling slickrock to the southeast to go toward the middle section of Mumbai which is about 0.35 miles away.

As you route find your way toward the mid-point of Mumbai it is relatively straight forward route finding to find where you can scramble down into Mumbai (jMumbaiMidEE) on the RDC (southwest) side.

The Canyoneering / Technical Section:
Once down on the canyon floor at the mid point of Mumbai (jMumbaiMidEE) you are in a good place to take a snack break and look around the place.

Note:
On our trip some of the group hiked up canyon to the bottom exit of the final bombay of Upper Mumbai to survey the scene.  While there they placed a rock on the canyon floor to assist in identifying a good route down when you get there later from the top.

Gather minimal gear to take to the head of Mumbai and stash the rest down in the mid section.  Scramble back up out of Mumbai and route find your way along the RDC (southwest) rim up to the head of the canyon about 0.5 miles northwest.

As you get to the head of Upper Mumbai (yMumbaiTp) you will see a bowl like area that is easily scrambled down to from the rim.

About 80 feet down canyon you begin to downclimb down a sloped v-slot and will have one drop of about 8 feet before you begin to need to travel off the canyon floor.

About 160 feet farther is where you will need to start to stem / galumph off the deck (Mumbai12) staying up as the canyon floor starts dropping. The stemming section goes for a little over 100 feet down canyon where you will be up to 40 feet off the deck. Next you will angle down and drop to the canyon floor where you will briefly touchdown then stem up 5 to 10 feet in places for another 100 feet before dropping to the ground just past a rock outcropping overhead on the RDC side.

After passing the overhead rock outcropping (Mumbai13) is walking / galumphing only a few feet off the deck for about 250 feet until the canyon narrows again.

Where the canyon narrows again (Mumbai14) you begin to stem up again as the canyon floor drops. For the next 170 feet down canyon movement is mostly easy galumph style where you will be about 15 feet off the deck before reaching a pinch forcing you to go higher. At the pinch you will be forced to stem up an additional 15 to 20 feet placing you about 35 feet off the deck. Down canyon movement remains easy galumph style for about 120 feet past the upclimb to a silo to cross.

A silo to cross over (Mumbai15) where shorter people will need to drop lower to cross this silo. A person 5 foot 1 inch can cross with moderate difficulty at about 25 feet off the deck.

Just past this silo the canyon pinches again forcing you to stem back up 10 to 15 feet higher. Stemming and galumphing continues for about 175 feet down canyon to where the bombay section is.

As you get to the end of the upper technical section (Mumbai16BmBay) you will be about 30 feet off the deck with bombays below you. From here you can see the ground where the canyon starts to open up into a wide walking section down canyon of you. Be careful on choosing a spot to downclimb between the skinny walls to the floor as the walls flare out into bombays below you. With a little care you can find a good way down where the walls stay close together allowing an easy stem down to the floor. It may be a good idea to have a 40 foot length of rope along so you can provide a handline for the first person down who can then guide others down the correct path.

After getting to the canyon floor below the bombay, you can walk the mid section down to the top of the lower technical section with one easy downclimb of about 6 feet (Mumbai17) about 180 feet down canyon.

About 633 feet down canyon is the start of Lower Mumbai.  Don't forget to pick p your stashed gear along the way.

Lower Mumbai starts with a downclimb of 15 to 20 feet (Mumbai18) that is moderately difficult and may require a partner assist. Down canyon of here are a couple easy stem / bridges over a couple spots low off the deck before reaching rap 1.

Rap 1 (dMumbaiR1) has a semi awkward downclimb of about 8 feet just before it. Anchored from a choke stone and drops about 25 feet down an almost vertical wall. Rap 1 has been downclimbed but is difficult and most will want / need to rappel here.

A few feet after rap 1 is pothole that was waist deep on my visit but was sand filled and could get deeper. If scoured out and low it may require partner assist and or a potshot to escape. After at least one person is across a tensioned traverse can easily be set to get everyone else around a steeply sloped nose on the LDC side.  The nose is just a little too steep to traverse un aided so only a little help is needed from the tensioned rope.

After the pool is walking for almost 200 feet to a spot where you will stem up about 15 feet (Mumbai19) then stem over a pool before walking more.

Shortly down canyon is another spot where you will need to stem up about 15 feet (Mumbai20) then back down to the floor in a boulder debris area. As you go through the boulder debris the canyon begins to angle down where you will need to stem / galumph down toward a silo ahead.

About 100 feet down canyon is a gaper / silo that is easily crossed (Mumbai21) where you will need to work your way down about 15 feet to a place to cross it about 15 to 20 feet off the deck.

After crossing the silo you will be forced to stem up about 15 or 20 additional feet where you will be greeted with a second silo that is easily crossed using features on the walls about 40 feet off the deck.

Travel beyond these silos is all stemming / galumphing high off the deck with moderate difficulty. There will be one more silo to easily cross where tall people can cross high but shorter people will need to drop down about 12 feet then stem back up 12 feet.

Fun Note:
As you travel down canyon toward the bombay section keep an eye out way down in the cracks below you.  On our trip though in 2016 I noticed a pink golf ball way down in there wedge between the walls.  I can only assume someone had scrambled up to a high point from a boat then whacked a golf ball out over the slickrock which eventually bounced its way down into Mumbai.  If I remember right the golf ball is a little over 200 feet after the silos while you are stemming / galumphing down canyon.

After about 350 feet of stemming down canyon you will be nearing the end of the long stemming section where you can start to see canyon floor below (Mumbai22BmBay).

Choosing the correct line down to the canyon floor is critical since most of the walls flare out in bombay like fashion at the bottom. Stemming down in the wrong place can lead to a bombay where you may fall to the floor. The best idea is to provide a meat anchor for someone who can rappel down about 35 feet to the floor then identify the best route down and guide others from below.

There are likely a few spots you can stem down here but the route we found down is on the down canyon side of some white calcium deposits on the RDC wall that look like climbers chalk which make a good landmark for finding the route. Even if you think you have found a good spot to downclimb it is still a good idea to put the first person on rope.  The white calcium deposits on the wall look pretty permanent and will likely aid in finding the correct route down the final bombay.

After downclimbing to the floor you can see you have been stemming over a subway / bombay section for a while. With headlamps it may be interesting to go up this section and see how far it goes under the route you just came down.

Continue down canyon scrambling along the floor through the subway section for about 100 feet to a couple of downclimbs.

A little over 100 feet down canyon are 2 downclimbs of about 10 feet each with pools at the bottom of each (Mumbai23). The first is a short pool that is waist to chest deep with an easy exit. The second pool when full will be a swimmer for about 40 feet with a sandy exit. After exiting the large pool walk down canyon through a vegetated chamber about 90 feet to where the canyon narrows again.

As the canyon narrows again (Mumbai24) it has very twisted and sculpted walls and silo / pothole features to stem / galumph through. Making movement through the 450 feet of canyon to the final rap a little easier but slower as you get over and around a lot of varying angles.

A short distance down canyon is a skinny spot you will need to climb up about 12 feet to get over it. Just past the skinny part you climbed over is a silo that taller people will have an easy time getting over while shorter people will need some assistance to be pulled around a nose to avoid going in the pothole.

Continuing down canyon will be a few silos to easily cross over as you galumph and dance your way down toward the final rappel.

Just before getting to the final rappel is a pothole about 15 feet deep with a narrow slot exit on the other side. Doing an escape from this pothole would be difficult. We were able to cross this pothole using a tensioned traverse where someone was lowered a couple feet into the pothole on rope where they could reach to grab good features on the exit side to pull themselves across. Once someone is on the other side they can assist others across.

This pothole is about 60 feet before reaching rap 2 with two silos to cross before getting to a sloped v-slot going down to rap 2.

Rap 2 (dMumbaiR2) is anchored from an arch on the RDC side and drops about 90 feet to a muddy floor when the lake is low.

Note that the arch is fragile and may not be around for a long time. Another option is to farm a rock or drift wood from below to set a choke stone anchor about 20 feet up canyon of rap 1. A JellyFish may also be a good fix for this issue.

Note:
If the lake were to stay low for a long time this mud could get washed out of here making the rappel longer. If the lake is high you will have water to rap or jump to. At full pool mark the last rap is actually under water.

Walk about 150 feet to where Mumbai ends and dumps into Fiftymile Creek (yMumbaiBt)

The Exit:
From the bottom of Mumbai (yMumbaiBt) turn right to walk southwest up Fiftymile Creek.

Note:
There is spring fed water running most of the way up Fiftymile Creek.  You can filter almost anywhere but one of the better spots is just above a small waterfall about 1.2 miles up canyon.  Be sure to filter / purify your water as there is beaver activity in the area.

About 0.7 miles up Fiftymile Creek is the lower end of a section with tall narrows walls (50Mile_89). The lower end of this section feels like a subway like section with super tall walls that almost close in over head in a twisting fashion.

About 0.3 miles farther up is the upper end of a a long stretch of tall narrow walls (50Mile_87). This is also the down canyon end of a long slickrock trough leading up to a water fall about 500 feet up canyon.

About 600 feet up canyon is a water fall of about 15 feet you can easily scramble up and down (50Mile_85).

About 0.12 miles farther up Fiftymile Creek is near a corner (50Mile83) that is supposed to have moki steps up the LDC (north) wall. We did not see any and it looks super steep so if they are there it would not be a fun route up.

About 0.18 miles farther up there is beaver activity (50Mile81) and travel on the RUC / LDC rim helps get around the beaver dam and vegetation.

Continue up Fiftymile Creek passing several side canyon / drainages for about 2.7 miles to a fork (j50MileFrk01).  To exit up to Hole in the Rock Road stay right to travel west up the right fork. The left fork running to the south from here is the main Fiftymile Creek labeled on maps. The right fork running up to the west is the route commonly used to exit back to HTR.

About 1.2 miles farther is a spot where cairns mark the route up sloped slickrock to the LDC (north) side rim (j50MileOut-1A) where use trails can be followed back to Hole in the Rock Road.

Follow the cairns up the side to the northern rim to find the use trails headed west-ish toward Hole in the Rock Road.  Going up Fiftymile Creek from here leads to more narrow slot that the use trails bypass.

About 0.13 miles south west the bypass trail crosses a shallow wash (50MileFrkTrl1) where there is also a barbed wire fence. Note the huge rock point on the cliffs about 1 mile to the west. That point is close to where the parking is and makes a good landmark to route find toward.

About 0.3 miles farther the trail crosses another drainage (50MileFrkTrl2). From here you can pretty much take what ever route you want west toward the road. However going up the use trails to the left (south) of the small drainage here make travel easier.

About 0.53 miles farther the use trails will get you back to the Hole in the Rock Road (j50MileOut-1B).   If looking for this trail from the road to follow in it will be difficult to see as it blends in well. But there are many places where these faint trails go to the same place here.

Turn left to walk south down Hole in the Rock road and walk a few hundred feet back to your car. 

GPS Waypoint Information

Click to show / expand the list of waypoints below........

Mumbai (1) - Drive In

extHoleInRock          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.72769   W -111.53143        Elev: NaN Feet Turn off to Hole-In-The-Rock road from Hwy 12. exHarrisWash          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.60644   W -111.42794        Elev: 0 Feet Turn off to Harris Wash Road to the east. extEgypt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.54114   W -111.36176        Elev: 5,279 Feet Turn off to the Egypt Road to the east (left on the drive in on Hole in the Rock road.. extDryForkTH1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.46638   W -111.22344        Elev: 4,890 Feet Turn off of Hole-In-The-Rock road toward Dry Fork trailhead. BLM road 252 exChimneyRk          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.39317   W -111.14345        Elev: 4,831 Feet Exit to Chimney Rock off off Hole in the Rock road. exDanceHallRk          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.35633   W -111.10254        Elev: 0 Feet Exit to the parking area at Dance Hall Rock. exHTR280-50Mil          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.30398   W -111.03864        Elev: 0 Feet Turn off to Fiftymile Bench Road to the right (southwest) on the drive in. Mumbai01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.29368   W -111.02102        Elev: 4,253 Feet Cattle guard used to assist route finding for where to leave the road when hiking into Mumbai. Continue walking north op the Hole in the Rock Road about 900 feet before leaving the road. Of note that are multiple use trails in the desert to the right (east) which lead up out of Fiftymile Creek. pkMumbai          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.29073   W -111.02054        Elev: 4,230 Feet Park / camp here on side road to start the overland route to Mumbai. To start the Mumbai overland route, walk north up the Hole in the Rock Road for about 0.22 miles to a cattle guard.

Mumbai (2) - Approach

pkMumbai          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.29073   W -111.02054        Elev: 4,230 Feet Park / camp here on side road to start the overland route to Mumbai. To start the Mumbai overland route, walk north up the Hole in the Rock Road for about 0.22 miles to a cattle guard. Mumbai01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.29368   W -111.02102        Elev: 4,253 Feet Cattle guard used to assist route finding for where to leave the road when hiking into Mumbai. Continue walking north op the Hole in the Rock Road about 900 feet before leaving the road. Of note that are multiple use trails in the desert to the right (east) which lead up out of Fiftymile Creek. Mumbai02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.29604   W -111.02111        Elev: 4,271 Feet Leave road here at a non descript spot on the way into Mumbia and walk eastish from here for about 500 feet to find an old mostly overgrown road that travels northeast then follow that old road northeast. The direction you will be traveling through the desert from here is to the northeast but if you go east to the old faint road you will find an easier to walk route since the vegetation has been cleared reducing your need to weave around dodging bushes. This spot on the road had an area that looks like it was partially plowed to clear vegetation to start a side road / trail but only for about 30 feet. Would be easy to miss if not looking. Mumbai03          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.29633   W -111.01943        Elev: 4,267 Feet Route meets up with an old faint road here that travels northeast through the desert. Following this road to the northeast makes travel through the open desert easier since the path has been cleared of vegetation to weave around while walking. Mumbai04          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.29987   W -111.01611        Elev: 4,283 Feet The old faint road is more overgrown in this general area and you may lose it in places. Continue northeast using any of the many cow / use trails through the wide open desert. Mumbai05          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.30572   W -111.00833        Elev: 4,298 Feet Continue northeast as the dirt peninsula of desert begins to narrow a little here. The spot this point is marked at is on the right (southeast-ish) side of the peninsula where there are some heavily used cow trails to follow and you can see the sandstone rolling down to the southeast. Mumbai06          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.31056   W -111.00327        Elev: 4,359 Feet The dirt peninsula continues to narrow and begins to give way to mostly rolling slickrock. From here look to the northeast and note a flat mesa about 2 miles in the distance. Continue northeast down and through the slickrock and route finding your way over to that mesa. The terrain is forgiving so you can use what ever path you choose. Walking down into and through the sand will involve less up and down travel but is sandy walking. Following over slickrock is easier but involves more up and down. Choose your poison. Mumbai07          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32543   W -110.97915        Elev: 4,321 Feet Top of a slickrock bench where you have good view of the mesa ahead again. This is a bit of a false peak feeling as you regain view of the mesa ahead and realize you are not quite there yet. Mumbai08          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32604   W -110.97590        Elev: 4,310 Feet On the slickrock bench below the mesa. Travel east along the slickrock bench along the south side of the mesa. Mumbai09          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32746   W -110.96908        Elev: 4,291 Feet Spot along the bench where you have a path that is only a couple feet wide with a large almost vertical drop down the head of a drainage. Cross over this spot and continue east. Mumbai10          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32974   W -110.96418        Elev: 4,237 Feet Shelf below mesa gives way to open dirt then rolling slickrock. Continue due east for about 900 feet to a spot that can loosely be called a saddle in the slickrock. Mumbai11          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32972   W -110.96105        Elev: 4,212 Feet A spot that can loosely be descried as a saddle in a slickrock area. From here travel down rolling slickrock to the southeast to go toward the middle section of Mumbai which is about 0.35 miles away. jMumbaiMidEE          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32787   W -110.95548        Elev: NaN Feet A spot where you can scramble in and out of the middle walking section of Mumbai on the RDC (southwest) side. yMumbaiTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.33166   W -110.95923        Elev: 0 Feet Top of Mumbai Canyon. This is in a bowl like area at the head of the canyon that is easily scrambled down to from the rim. About 80 feet down canyon of this spot you begin to downclimb down a sloped v-slot and will have one drop of about 8 feet before you begin to need to travel off the canyon floor.

Mumbai (3) - The Canyon

yMumbaiTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.33166   W -110.95923        Elev: 0 Feet Top of Mumbai Canyon. This is in a bowl like area at the head of the canyon that is easily scrambled down to from the rim. About 80 feet down canyon of this spot you begin to downclimb down a sloped v-slot and will have one drop of about 8 feet before you begin to need to travel off the canyon floor. Mumbai12          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.33131   W -110.95887        Elev: 4,018 Feet This is where you will need to start to stem / galumph off the deck staying up as the canyon floor starts dropping. The stemming section goes for a little over 100 feet down canyon where you will be up to 40 feet off the deck. Next you will angle down and drop to the canyon floor where you will briefly touchdown then stem up 5 to 10 feet in places for another 100 feet before dropping to the ground just past a rock outcropping overhead on the RDC side. Mumbai13          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.33060   W -110.95854        Elev: 0 Feet This is about 30 feet after passing a rock outcropping overhead on the RDC wall. From this point is walking / galumphing only a few feet off the deck until the canyon narrows again. Mumbai14          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.33034   W -110.95775        Elev: NaN Feet Walking in the v-slot ends and you begin to stem up again as the canyon floor drops. For the next 170 feet down canyon movement is mostly easy galumph style where you will be about 15 feet off the deck before reaching a pinch forcing you to go higher. At the pinch you will be forced to stem up an additional 15 to 20 feet placing you about 35 feet off the deck. Down canyon movement remains easy galumph style for about 120 feet past the upclimb to a silo to cross. Mumbai15          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.33015   W -110.95674        Elev: NaN Feet A silo to cross over. Shorter people will need to drop lower to cross this silo. A person 5 foot 1 inch can cross with moderate difficulty at about 25 feet off the deck. Just past this silo the canyon pinches again forcing you to stem back up 10 to 15 feet higher. Stemming and galumphing continues for about 175 feet down canyon to where the bombay section is. Mumbai16BmBay          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32987   W -110.95611        Elev: 0 Feet This is the end of the upper technical section where you will be about 30 feet off the deck with bombays below you. From here you can see the ground where the canyon starts to open up into a wide walking section down canyon of you. Be careful on choosing a spot to downclimb between the skinny walls to the floor as the walls flare out into bombays below you. With a little care you can find a good way down where the walls stay close together allowing an easy stem down to the floor. It may be a good idea to have a 40 foot length of rope along so you can provide a handline for the first person down who can then guide others down the correct path. After getting to the canyon floor below the bombay, you can walk the mid section down to the top of the lower technical section with one easy downclimb of about 6 feet about 180 feet down canyon. Mumbai17          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32938   W -110.95587        Elev: NaN Feet 6 foor ledge that is easily downclimbed. jMumbaiMidEE          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32787   W -110.95548        Elev: NaN Feet A spot where you can scramble in and out of the middle walking section of Mumbai on the RDC (southwest) side. Mumbai18          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32763   W -110.95540        Elev: NaN Feet Downclimb of 15 to 20 feet that is moderately difficult and may require a partner assist. Down canyon of here are a couple easy stem / bridges over a couple spots low off the deck before reaching rap 1. dMumbaiR1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32759   W -110.95529        Elev: 0 Feet Rap 1 - Mumbai Canyon with a semi awkward downclimb of about 8 feet just before it. Anchored from a chokestone and drops about 25 feet down an almost vertical wall. Rap 1 has been downclimbed but is difficult and most will want to rappel here. A few feet after rap 1 is pothole that was waist deep on my visit but was sand filled and could get deeper. If scoured out and low it may require partner assist and or a potshot to escape. After at least one person is across a tensioned traverse can easily be set to get everyone else around a steeply sloped nose on the LDC side. The nose is just a little too steep to traverse un aided so only a little help is needed from the tensioned rope. After the pool is walking. Mumbai19          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32754   W -110.95446        Elev: NaN Feet A spot where you will stem up about 15 feet then stem over a pool before walking more. Mumbai20          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32708   W -110.95376        Elev: NaN Feet Another spot where you will need to stem up about 15 feet then back down to the floor in a boulder debris area. As you go through the boulder debris the canyon begins to angle down where you will need to stem / galumph down toward a silo ahead. Mumbai21          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32673   W -110.95370        Elev: 0 Feet Gaper / silo that is easily crossed where you will need to work your way down about 15 feet to a place to cross it about 15 to 20 feet off the deck. After crossing the silo you will be forced to stem up about 15 or 20 additional feet where you will be greeted with a second silo that is easily crossed using features on the walls about 40 feet off the deck. Travel beyond these silos is all stemming / galumphing high off the deck with moderate difficulty. There will be one more silo to easily cross where tall people can cross high but shorter people will need to drop down about 12 feet then stem back up 12 feet. Mumbai22BmBay          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32587   W -110.95321        Elev: NaN Feet This is nearing the end of the long stemming section where you can start to see canyon floor below. Choosing the correct line down to the canyon floor is critical since most of the walls flare out in bombay like fashion at the bottom. Stemming down in the wrong place can lead to a bombay where you may fall to the floor. The best idea is to provide a meat anchor for someone who can rappel down about 35 feet to the floor then identify the best route down and guide others from below. There are likely a few spots you can stem down here but the route we found down is on the down canyon side of some white calcium deposits on the RDC wall that look like climbers chalk which make a good landmark for finding the route. Even if you think you have found a good spot to downclimb it is still a good idea to put the first person on rope. After downclimbing to the floor you can see you have been stemming over a subway / bombay section for a while. With headlamps it may be interesting to go up this section and see how far it goes under the route you just came down. Continue down canyon scrambling along the floor through the subway section for about 100 feet to a couple of downclimbs. Mumbai23          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32565   W -110.95244        Elev: 0 Feet 2 downclimbs of about 10 feet each with pools at the bottom of each. The first is a short pool that is waist to chest deep with an easy exit. The second pool when full will be a swimmer for about 40 feet with a sandy exit. After exiting the large pool walk down canyon through a vegetated chamber about 90 feet to where the canyon narrows again. Mumbai24          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32562   W -110.95214        Elev: NaN Feet Canyon narrows again but this time with very twisted and sculpted walls and silo / pothole features to stem / galumph through. Making movement through the 450 feet of canyon to the final rap a little easier but slower as you get over and around a lot of varying angles. A short distance down canyon is a skinny spot you will need to climb up about 12 feet to get over it. Just past the skinny part you climbed over is a silo that taller people will have an easy time getting over while shorter people will need some assistance to be pulled around a nose to avoid going in the pothole. Continuing down canyon will be a few silos to easily cross over as you galumph and dance your way down toward the final rappel. Mumbai25          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32582   W -110.95088        Elev: 3,860 Feet A pothole about 15 feet deep with a narrow slot exit on the other side. Doing an escape from this pothole would be difficult. We were able to cross this pothole using a tensioned traverse where someone was lowered a couple feet into the pothole on rope where they could reach to grab good features on the exit side to pull themselves across. Once someone is on the other side they can assist others across. This is about 60 feet before reaching rap 2 with two silos to cross before getting to a sloped v-slot going down to rap 2. dMumbaiR2          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32589   W -110.95068        Elev: 3,840 Feet Rap 2 - Mumbai Canyon. Anchored from an arch on the RDC side and drops about 90 feet to a muddy floor when the lake is low. Note that the arch is fragile and may not be around for a long time. Another option is to farm a rock or drift wood from below to set a choke stone anchor about 20 feet up canyon of rap 1. A JellyFish may also be a good fix for this issue. Note: if the lake were to stay low for a long time this mud could get washed out of here making the rappel longer. If the lake is high you will have water to rap or jump to. At full pool mark the last rap is actually under water. yMumbaiBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32615   W -110.95009        Elev: 3,720 Feet Bottom of Mumbai Canyon where it dumps into Fiftyile Creek. Turn right to walk southwest up Fiftymile Creek to exit up Fiftymile to Hole in the Rock Road.

Mumbai (4) - Exit

yMumbaiBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32615   W -110.95009        Elev: 3,720 Feet Bottom of Mumbai Canyon where it dumps into Fiftyile Creek. Turn right to walk southwest up Fiftymile Creek to exit up Fiftymile to Hole in the Rock Road. 50Mile_89          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32138   W -110.95542        Elev: 0 Feet Lower end of a section with tall narrows walls. The lower end of this section feels like a subway like section with super tall walls that almost close in over head in a twisting fashion. 50Mile_87          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32242   W -110.95946        Elev: 0 Feet Upper end of a a long stretch of tall narrow walls. This is the down canyon end of a long slickrock trough leading up to a water fall about 500 feet up canyon. 50Mile_85          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32110   W -110.96024        Elev: 0 Feet Water fall of about 15 feet you can easily scramble up and down. 50Mile83          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32028   W -110.96112        Elev: 3,705 Feet Near a corner that is supposed to have moki steps up the LDC (north) wall. We did not see any and it looks super steep so if they are there it would not be a fun route up. 50Mile81          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.32117   W -110.96329        Elev: 3,703 Feet Beaver activity just down canyon of here. Travel on the RUC / LDC rim helps get around the beaver dam and vegetation. j50MileFrk01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.30325   W -110.99099        Elev: 3,898 Feet Fork in Fiftymile Creek. To exit up to Hole in the Rock Road stay right to travel west up the right fork. The left fork running to the south from here is the main Fiftymile Creek labeled on maps. The right fork running up to the west is the route commonly used to exit back to HTR. 50MileFrkTrl1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.29926   W -111.00916        Elev: 4,079 Feet Bypass trail crosses a shallow wash here where there is also a barbed wire fence. Note the huge rock point on the cliffs about 1 mile to the west. That point is close to where the parking is and makes a good landmark to route find toward. 50MileFrkTrl2          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.29594   W -111.01251        Elev: 4,142 Feet Bypass trail crosses another drainage here. From here you can pretty much take what ever route you want west toward the road. However going up the use trails to the left (south) of the small drainage here make travel easier. j50MileOut-1B          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.29173   W -111.02028        Elev: 4,204 Feet Bypass trail out of Fiftymile meets the road here. If looking for this trail from the road to follow in it will be difficult to see as it blends in well. But there are many places where these faint trails go to the same place here. pkMumbai          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.29073   W -111.02054        Elev: 4,230 Feet Park / camp here on side road to start the overland route to Mumbai. To start the Mumbai overland route, walk north up the Hole in the Rock Road for about 0.22 miles to a cattle guard.