Rock Garden
  Hotauta Canyon — Upriver from the Bass beach area, and a fast and easy walk on level trail. As you are passing this way, be sure to visit the site of the Bass northside tram anchor where the cable was threaded through the rock near a wooden tripod, and the construction of the landing platform for the tram is still clearly evident.

Routes — part of the Tuna/Shinumo Loop in GCLH-I. Downriver to Shinumo Canyon; upriver to Monadnock Canyon. The break here up onto the Tonto level is a dramatic climb of considerable elevation and the more popularized direction of travel is to make this a descent, but my experience is going the other way. The rock formations are complex and distorted in the sidecanyon directly below this route (upriver from Hotauta). A direct line connecting the bed of Hotauta to the top may be the simplest approach. From the beach camp area of this final sidecanyon it is more problematic although it may be possible to go more or less up the bed of this drainage. I went up the slope on the west side and then onto the back of the downwarp that forms a sort of headwall, and then along this ridge into the ravine directly below the break. The slope is really steep and the boulder jumble at the top of this break requires some effort to climb up through the rocks with a heavy pack. Viewed from a distance, this fault-break seems a somewhat doubtful access, but is not an obstacle.

2004 October - Camp 1 at the shoreline upriver from Hotauta, preparing for the next day push into the Monadnock area. Gene, Bob, Doug.

 

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