James Canyon is accessed from the Kelly Canyon exit just south of Flagstaff off I17. Paul and I hiked this on Halloween, 2015. This trip will definitely remain in our memories for a long time to come! The approach to the canyon is easy to find and after a short walk following the power lines South to the canyon. Right away we had to put on our wet suits and drop into a pool followed by many more pools. My hands got quite cold on some of the longer swims. The rappels range from 12' to 35' and were not difficult. The anchors were in good shape and easy to find. The boulder scrambling really slowed us down so by the time we reached the confluence with Kelly Canyon it was 3 PM and 6 1/2 hours had passed. We did not have time to return to our car before dark so we opted to continue through Pump House Wash to 89A. This required 4 1/2 more hours of boulder scrambling including 2 hours in the dark with only one headlamp! We then had to hitchhike from the winding 89A to Flagstaff (on Halloween at 8PM) and catch a cab back to our car on I17. Thankfully a very nice young man picked us up and fed us bagels then dropped us off at the Flagstaff airport and from there we called a cab. This was not what we had planned but we made the best of it and have a great story to tell. This canyon was nice and would be very refreshing in the summer time. There is too much boulder scrambling to make it an enjoyable day in my opinion.
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