Canyoneering Route Description

Pottymouth Canyon - 2A I
Ticaboo Mesa, Utah.

Quick Facts

05-19-12, 8 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 2.75 hours)-Time estimated since we combined routes  Pictures Icon
11-08-14, 6 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 7.1 hours)-Time is for doing Pottymouth, Pinworm and Sinusitis.

Time Required - 2.5 to 3.5 hours.  (add 30 minutes to time if exiting up Warm Springs Canyon)
Distance - 0.9 miles Total, 3.3 miles Technical  (add 0.2 miles to the distance if exiting up Warm Springs Canyon)
Rappels - 0 Rappels, Longest Rappel N/A feet.  There are a couple downclimbs that will require effort.
Elevation Range - 4525 - 4030 Feet
Shuttle Required - No Miles Vehicle - High Clearance - 4WD if bad road conditions Permit Required - No

Gear Used for Canyon

No ropes or gear are required for Pottymouth.  However it is a good idea to have a short rope to assist others if needed.

General Comments

Pottymouth is a short fun route requiring no ropes.  Pottymouth has a technical rating of 2 but there are a couple downclimbs that will require some effort.  Pottymouth is referred to as Fun Slot in the Kelsey book.

Warning:
Be sure you have your navigation correct when aiming for Pottymouth.   Pottymouth requires no ropes and is a fun easy romp down into Warm Springs Canyon.  Sinusitis however does require ropes and requires escaping a deep pothole.  Sinusitis also drops into Warmsprings Canyon down canyon of a drop that can not be upclimbed.  If you accidentally drop into Sinusitis and make it to Warmsprings Canyon you will likely be stuck and in need of rescue.  If you plan to do only Pottymouth and accidentally find your self in Sinusitis you will get more than you bargained for.  Pay attention to your navigation.

There are two options for exiting from Pottymouth.  The fastest route would be to exit out of Pottymouth and Warm Springs Canyon and go directly back to the car park area.  Another option would be to exit up Warm Springs Canyon and scramble out near the head then route find your way back to the cars across open desert.  Exiting up Warm Springs Canyon will involve a few difficult upclimbs that will likely require partner assist to get up.  Skilled upclimbers may be able to do the route solo but a partner is recommended. Add about 30 minutes and 0.2 miles to planned route time and distance if exiting up Warm Springs Canyon.  This route description is for Pottymouth and does not include GPS info for the Warm Springs Canyon exit.  For GPS coordinates for the Warm Springs Canyon exit refer to the route description for Warm Springs Canyon.

Pottymouth makes a good entry route to go set ropes for the exit of Sinusitis.  If you are setting ropes for the exit of Sinusitis, you can refer to the Sinusitis Canyon route description for info.

Side Trip Note:
Pinworm Canyon is a short side slot near the end of the Pottymouth drainage.  Pinworm extends up to the north up out of Pottymouth about 650 feet and can be upclimbed all the way up to the bottom of a 25 foot drop right at the head of the canyon.  Pinworm does not offer a technical challenge but is a fun excursion if you are looking to add a little time to your day.  If you get near the bottom of Pottymouth and want to add a little more time looking around take a journey up Pinworm.  You can also scramble up the RUC (east) side and drop in at the mid point then explore up and down canyon.

We coined the name Pinworm for this side slot partially because it is small in size and to fall in line with names of nearby routes being akin to diseases.  There was a logic to why we chose this name but have since forgotten our reasons.  The name was a result of banter among the entire group on the trip.

Note about Photo Gallery Pictures:
The pictures in the photo gallery for 05-19-12 do not include all the pictures from the day.  On 05-19-12 we did Pottymouth, dropped down Warm Springs Canyon to set exit ropes for Sinusitis, did Sinusitis exiting up to the bottom of Pottymouth then continued up canyon in Warm Springs Canyon back to the cars.

When placing these pictures in albums for the respective canyons I did not include all pictures of the day in each album. This was done to reduce confusion if someone were looking at the pictures to get an idea of what is in the canyon itself.

Driving Directions

To get to the Trailhead

Note:
There is a maze of roads on Ticaboo Mesa making it a good idea to study the map ahead of time and keep a close eye on the map as you drive.

From Hanksville, UT., drive south on highway 95 for 26 miles to the junction of highways 95 and 276.

From the junction, drive south on HWY-276 for 25.6 miles then turn left (east) onto BLM dirt-road 13400 between mile markers 25 and 26 (extTicaboo1).

About 1.5 miles from the highway is a junction (TicabooDP-01) of BLM roads, 13400 continues east and 13410 branches off to the south.  Continue east on BLM road 13400.  Note: If you were headed to the Smith Fork area you would turn south onto BLM road 13410.

About 2 miles farther is another junction (TicabooDP-02) of BLM roads, 13400 continues east and 13420 branches off to the south. Continue east on BLM road 13400.  Note: BLM road 13420 to the south goes out to Cane Spring Well about 1.25 miles south.

About 0.2 miles farther is short side road (TicabooDP-03) on the left (north) that goes to a camp area.
Stay right to continue on BLM road 13400.  Beyond this point the roads will have intermittent rough sections. 
About 0.37 miles past here is a fork in the road where the two roads rejoin a short distance later.  The low road is typically the smoothest.

About 1.7 miles farther is another junction (TicabooDP-04) of BLM roads (13400 continues north-ish and 13430 branches off to the south).
Continue north on BLM road 13400. 
Note: If you were going to the roads between Warm Springs Creek and Sevenmile Creek, you would turn south onto BLM road 13430.

About 0.3 miles farther is another junction (TicabooDP-05) of BLM roads (13400 continues northeast and 13440 branches off to the north).
Continue straight northeast on BLM road 13400.
Note: BLM road 13440 to the south goes out to Colt Spring Well about 0.4 miles north.

About 0.5 miles farther is a junction (TicabooDP-06) of BLM roads (13400 continues northeast and 13450 branches off to the north).
Continue straight northeast on BLM road 13400.

About 0.9 miles farther is a junction (TicabooDP-07) of BLM roads (13400 continues northeast and 13430 branches off to the south).
Turn south onto BLM road 13430.
Note: If you were going to Tough, SF Ticaboo or Sleepytime Trio Canyons you would continue northeast on BLM road 13400.

About 700 feet farther is a fork in the road (extWarmSpring).  At this fork veer right and and travel south toward the Warm Springs area.

Drive the road south for about 3.6 miles to a junction with another road (WarmSpngDP-01).  This is where the alternate drive in route joins back with this standard drive in route.  Turn left at this junction and continue to the parking spot you need to go to.

About 0.3 miles farther south on the road you will come to where the road makes a sharp bend to the right.  On the left side of the road at this bend is a large clearing where a few vehicles can be parked (tDublDuce).  This is where you would park for the Double Duce route down into the Seven Mile drainage.

If you are going to the upper Warm Springs slots like Potty Mouth or Sinusitis, drive another 1.2 miles and pull over in a wide obvious spot to park on the left (north east) side of the road (pkWarmSpring1).   Park here to begin the route for Pottymouth or Sinusitis canyons.

If you go too far the road tops out on a hill about 0.53 miles past the parking spot.  That top out is the parking spot for Glaucoma and Tinitus.  If you get to the top out spot then you have driven a little too far.

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.

Map Link Icon
Click the links for maps of the route.
Map of the drive into the route.
Map of the entire route.

Details

The Approach:
The parking spot is about 550 feet north of where the Pottymouth drainage crosses the road but the drainage is almost non existent this The parking spot is about 550 feet north of where the Pottymouth drainage crosses the road but the drainage is almost non existent this far up. 

From the parking spot (pkWarmSpring1), walk southeast on the dirt road for about 600 feet then turn right (southwest) and start walking away from the road across the open desert.  About 0.2 miles from the road you will begin to see the Pottymouth drainage forming more deeply on your right (north).  Don't drop down into the Pottymouth drainage.  Instead continue parallel with Pottymouth and continue southwest out onto a ridge running parallel with Pottymouth on the south side of Pottymouth.

Note:
If you find your self going out on the ridge on the north side of Pottymouth instead you can also get down into Pottymouth by crossing over near the head of Pottymouth and make your way to the ridge on the south side.  This will require a little route finding but is easily done.

About 0.6 miles from the road the point has a drop (wPottyRP-01) where you will need to scramble down to continue southwest.  From here there will be a large drainage on each side of the ridge.  On the right (north) is Pottymouth Canyon and on the left (south) is Sinusitis Canyon.

Scramble down the drop in the ridge then continue about 400 feet to a white slickrock saddle (wPottyRP-02) on the ridge just before reaching a hoodoo like feature.  From the saddle turn right (north) and route find your way down off the ridge into the Pottymouth drainage.  as you drop down into Pottymouth you will need to traverse northeast up canyon to the top (yPottymouthTp) of the sandstone slot dropping down away from the dirt layer.

The Canyoneering / Technical Section:
From the top of Potthmouth Canyon (yPottymouthTp) go southwest down canyon.  A little over 100 feet down canyon is an easy downclimb / slither of about 12 feet (wPottyRP-03).

About 0.5 miles down canyon is a confluence where a shallow side drainage joins in from the RDC (north) side.  the 0.5 miles of travel down to that confluence is easy with a mix of short open sections and shallow V shaped slots where a little galumphing is needed to travel down canyon.  There is also one elevator style down climb of about 15 feet (wPottyRP-04). not notice it since it drops in within one of the open sections and is shallow at that point.

Shortly after passing the confluence the canyons starts to slot again just before reaching an elevator downclimb (wPottyRP-05) of about 10 feet.  In this section of slot the walls are narrow enough where you will likely want to take off your pack to make travel easier but the walls are wide enough to allow walking on the canyon floor.

Shortly after this point the canyon slots up deeper and becomes more narrow.  Travel down canyon of here involves walking between narrow walls, easy downclimbs, galumphing in short sections and scrambling over some rock debris.

About 0.2 miles down canyon of the confluence is the start of a skinny section (wPottyRP-06).  Most people will want to stem / galumph about 15 feet off the deck to go over this. Thin people can try their luck staying on the canyon floor if they are inclined to take on the challenge.  The real skinny section continues for about 125 feet before reaching a silo (wPottyRP-07).

When you reach the silo (wPottyRP-07) drop down into it with an elevator like downclimb of about 12 feet.  Down canyon of the silo the walls are close together where you will have to turn sideways to walk.  You will pass through a couple other silo like features before getting to the start of (wPottyRP-08) a wide open area.

In this wide open area the Pinworm drainage joins in (yPinwormBt) from the RDC (north) side.  This drainage is hard to miss as it is more obvious than the previous one up canyon of here.

Note:
Pinworm does not offer a technical challenge but is a fun excursion if you are looking to add a little time to your day.  Pinworm extends up to the north about 650 feet and can be upclimbed all the way up to the bottom of a 25 foot drop right at the head of the canyon.  Another option is to walk up the slickrock on the RUC (east) side of Pinworm for about 250 feet to where you can scramble down into the mid point of Pinworm (wPinwormRP-01).  From the mid point scramble up to the head then all the way back down through Pinworm Canyon to the bottom where it dumps down into Pottymouth.  In the canyon are a few easy downclimbs, some sculpted walls and a couple easy potholes to scramble over.

Just after passing the bottom end of Pinworm Canyon is the start of another slot which gives easy travel for about 250 feet down to the end of Pottymouth Canyon (yPottymouthBt) drainage where it dumps into Warm Springs Canyon.

The Exit:

Note:
There are two options for exiting from Pottymouth.  The fastest route would be to exit out of Pottymouth and Warmsprings Canyon and go directly back to the car park area.  Another option would be to exit up Warm Springs Canyon and scramble out near the head then route find your way back to the cars across open desert.  Exiting up Warm Springs Canyon will involve a few difficult upclimbs that will likely require partner assist to get up.  Skilled upclimbers may be able to do the route solo but a partner is recommended.

To exit directly back to the cars:
From the bottom of Pottymouth (yPottymouthBt) scramble up the slick rock slope to the east and just down canyon of the bottom of Pottymouth.  The slope levels off a little after about 750 feet (wPottyRP-09). 

To exit directly back to the cars route find your way northeast on a bearing of about 40 degrees roughly parallel to the Pottymouth drainage for about 0.6 miles to a slick rock ridge / point.  The ridge / point is the same one used for the approach down to the top of Pottymouth. 

Scramble northeast up the ridge about 500 feet to a slick rock saddle (wPottyRP-02).  While getting over to the saddle you may need to traverse around a bit to make travel easier.

From the slickrock saddle continue northeast up the ridge for about 450 to a steep section to scramble up (wPottyRP-01).  Once at the top of the steep scramble continue northeast along the desert for about 0.6 miles back to the road where the parking area is (pkWarmSpring1).

To exit up Warm Springs Canyon:
From the bottom of Pottymouth Canyon (yPottymouthBt) travel northeast up Warm Springs Canyon.  A little over 200 feet up canyon are two upclimbs (wWrmSpCynRP-04).  The first upclimb is about 15 feet and is moderate to difficult upclimbing. The second is about 8 feet and not as difficult but is awkward as you climb up over a large choke stone.

About 200 feet up canyon of the upclimbs starts an open area of about 900 feet long.

At the upper end of the open area (wWrmSpCynRP-05).  Travel up canyon from here is in a more narrow portion of the canyon with twisted sculpted walls and very scenic.  There are multiple easy upclimbs of 4 to 6 feet over the next 0.2 miles before reaching an upclimb of about 8 feet.  The 8 foot upclimb (wWrmSpCynRP-06) is difficult and almost everyone will want / need a partner assist to get up this drop.  If you are really tall..... like 6 foot 7, you can stem up it making it easier.) 

After the upclimb the canyon widens out a little for about 475 feet before reaching the bottom end of a narrow section (wWrmSpCynRP-07).   The narrow section up canyon of here is a little over 200 feet long and has about 4 short but moderately difficult upclimbs.  Continuing up canyon from the top end of the narrow section the drainage widens out a little and is more of a wash with a lot of boulder debris in it. 

Almost 400 feet up canyon from the top of the narrow section look for a weakness in the RDC (east) side of the canyon walls.  The weakness (jWarmSprUprExt) is formed from a rock fall pile which allows one to climb up out of the canyon.  As you scramble up out of the canyon there will be an upclimb of about 5 feet as you get up on top of the carmel layer. 

Note:
The weakness used to climb out of the upper end of Warm Springs Canyon is about 600 feet before the top end of the slot you are traveling in.  If you go too far and come to a dead end on your way up just turn back down canyon about 600 feet looking for the weakness you passed.

As you hit the dirt portion of the climb up continue east up the steep dirt slope for about 80 feet to where the slope levels off (wWrmSpCynRP-08) to wide open desert.

After you are up on the wide open desert you can head directly for the parking spot (pkWarmSpring1) for the start of the Pottymouth route which is 1.1 miles northeast at a bearing of 66 degrees.  There is no preferred route through this section of desert, route find what looks best to you at the time.

GPS Waypoint Information

Downloadable GPX files available at BG-Gear Store (easier than manual entry and a great way to support Bluugnome).
Waypoint naming convention and map symbol information can be found on the Glossary page.  Elevations are approximate.
BEFORE
manually entering coordinates set your system to WGS84 datum and Lat/Lon hddd.ddddd° coordinate format
Inconsistent datum's and coordinate formats will result in location errors.

Click to show / expand the list of waypoints below........
Pottymouth (1) - Drive in to Trailhead
  1. extTicaboo1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.69720   W -110.67138        Elev: 4,520 Feet
    Exit off of highway 276 to get to the Ticaboo Mesa area. Turn east and leave the highway on a dirt road. Near Mile post 25.
  2. TicabooDP-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.68607   W -110.65188        Elev: NaN Feet
    Continue straight for the main area of Ticaboo Mesa. Or Turn right (south) here for an alternate route over toward the Smith Fork Canyons.
  3. TicabooDP-02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.67981   W -110.62886        Elev: NaN Feet
    Road junction with faint road running to the south. Continue straight (east).
  4. TicabooDP-03          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.68038   W -110.62628        Elev: 4,565 Feet
    Exit to a spot to camp if the roads ahead are too rough.
  5. TicabooDP-04          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.67963   W -110.60429        Elev: NaN Feet
    Junction for a road going south. Continue straiaght (north east) to continue toward Ticaboo Measa. This road junction is near Wild Horse Springs.
  6. TicabooDP-05          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.68389   W -110.60153        Elev: NaN Feet
    Junction for a side road on the left going north. Continue north east toward Ticaboo Mesa.
  7. TicabooDP-06          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.68667   W -110.59547        Elev: NaN Feet
    Junction for a side road going north.
  8. TicabooDP-07          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.69529   W -110.58385        Elev: NaN Feet
    Turn off for a side road on the right. Turn right onto the side road and drive southwest.
  9. extWarmSpring          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.69362   W -110.58484        Elev: NaN Feet
    Stay right to go toward the main drainage of Seven Mile Creek and Warm Springs Canyon. Or Stay left to go toward the East Branch of Seven Mile Creek and Ticaboo Mesa.
  10. WarmSpngDP-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.65055   W -110.60412        Elev: NaN Feet
    Alternate drive in route and standard drive in route for the Warm Springs area join here.
  11. t2Deuce          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.64746   W -110.60106        Elev: 4,560 Feet
    Trailhead for Double Deuce canyon. This is a large clering for a few vehicles to park where the road makes a sharp bend.
  12. pkWarmSpring1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.63272   W -110.59759        Elev: 4,525 Feet
    Park here for the route over to Upper Warm Springs canyons like Potty Mouth and Sinusitus.
Pottymouth (2) - Approach
  1. pkWarmSpring1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.63272   W -110.59759        Elev: 4,525 Feet
    Park here for the route over to Upper Warm Springs canyons like Potty Mouth and Sinusitus.
  2. wPottyRP-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.62547   W -110.60442        Elev: 4,360 Feet
    A drop in the ridge to scramble down on the approach to Pottyouth or Sinusitis Canyons.
  3. wPottyRP-02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.62484   W -110.60563        Elev: 4,280 Feet
    A white sandsone saddle on the ridge just before reaching a hoodoo like feature.
  4. yPottymouthTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.62681   W -110.60468        Elev: 4,305 Feet
    Top of Pottymouth Canyon where a slickrock slot drops down away from the dirt layer.
Pottymouth (3) - The Canyon
  1. yPottymouthTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.62681   W -110.60468        Elev: 4,305 Feet
    Top of Pottymouth Canyon where a slickrock slot drops down away from the dirt layer.
  2. wPottyRP-03          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.62648   W -110.60491        Elev: NaN Feet
    Easy downclimb / slither of about 12 feet.
  3. wPottyRP-04          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.62331   W -110.60962        Elev: NaN Feet
    Elevator style downclimb of about 15 feet.
  4. jPottyDrain1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.62205   W -110.61135        Elev: NaN Feet
    Where a short side drainage comes in from the RDC (north) side.
  5. wPottyRP-05          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.62188   W -110.61146        Elev: NaN Feet
    Elevator downclimb of about 10 feet.
  6. wPottyRP-06          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.62033   W -110.61443        Elev: NaN Feet
    Start of a very skinny section. Most people will want to stem / galumph about 15 feet off the deck to go over this. Thin people can try their luck staying on the canyon floor if they are inclined to take on the challenge.
  7. wPottyRP-07          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.62012   W -110.61485        Elev: NaN Feet
    Silo to drop down into with an elevator downclimb of about 10 or 12 feet.
  8. wPottyRP-08          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.61973   W -110.61534        Elev: NaN Feet
    Start of a wide open area.
  9. yPinwormBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.61959   W -110.61559        Elev: NaN Feet
    Bottm of Pinworm Canyon where it drops into Pottymouth. Pinworm is about 650 feet long and can be upclimbed to the bottom of a 25 foot drop at the head of Pinworm. There area few easy downclimbs, some sculpted walls and a coupe easy potholes to scramble over. You can alos drop into the mid point of Pinworm by scrambling up the RUC (east) side about 250 feet to where you can easily scramble down into the mid point of Pinworm.
  10. yPottymouthBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.61878   W -110.61604        Elev: 4,030 Feet
    Bottom of Pottymouth where it joins into Warm Springs Canyon.
Pottymouth (4) - Sidetrip up Pinworm
  1. yPinwormBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.61959   W -110.61559        Elev: NaN Feet
    Bottm of Pinworm Canyon where it drops into Pottymouth. Pinworm is about 650 feet long and can be upclimbed to the bottom of a 25 foot drop at the head of Pinworm. There area few easy downclimbs, some sculpted walls and a coupe easy potholes to scramble over. You can alos drop into the mid point of Pinworm by scrambling up the RUC (east) side about 250 feet to where you can easily scramble down into the mid point of Pinworm.
  2. wPinwormRP-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.62023   W -110.61555        Elev: NaN Feet
    Midpoint of Pinworm Canyon. You can scramble down into or out of Pinworm here on teh LDC (east) side. After getting in you can upclimb the entire canyon to the bottom of the drop at the head or downclinb the lower end of the canyon back to Pottymouth.
  3. yPinwormTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.62122   W -110.61585        Elev: 4,125 Feet
    Top of Pinworm Canyon. Pinworm is a side slot of lower Pottymouth and is about 650 feet long. Ther is a drop of about 25 feet at the head but you do not need to rappel the drop to see the canyon. You can upclimb the whole canyon of drop in at the mid point on the LDC (east) side and upclimb to the top. In the canyon are a few easy downclimbs, some sculpted walls and a couple easy potholes to scramble over.
Pottymouth (5) - Exit
  1. yPottymouthBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.61878   W -110.61604        Elev: 4,030 Feet
    Bottom of Pottymouth where it joins into Warm Springs Canyon.
  2. wPottyRP-09          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.61888   W -110.61361        Elev: NaN Feet
    When scrambling up out of Pottymouth the slope levels off a little here. If exiting and heading for the cars, route find your way roughly parallel to the Pottymouth drainage northeast about 0.6 miles to a slick rock ridge / point that can be scrambled up to get back to the road. The ridge is the same one used to approach Pottymouth. If dropping into Warm Springs Canyon down to the bottom of Pottymouth, drop down the steep sloped slick rock for about 750 feet to the southwest to get down into Warm Springs Canyon. If exiting Warm Springs Canyon and traveling over to the top of Sinusitis, continue northeast about 0.2 miles to where you cross over what feels like the next drainage.
  3. wPottyRP-02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.62484   W -110.60563        Elev: 4,280 Feet
    A white sandsone saddle on the ridge just before reaching a hoodoo like feature.
  4. wPottyRP-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.62547   W -110.60442        Elev: 4,360 Feet
    A drop in the ridge to scramble down on the approach to Pottyouth or Sinusitis Canyons.
  5. pkWarmSpring1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.63272   W -110.59759        Elev: 4,525 Feet
    Park here for the route over to Upper Warm Springs canyons like Potty Mouth and Sinusitus.