East Fork Pasture Canyon

[rockgremlin]

Day 2 in the Roost

Easter Sunday greeted me with raindrops at 4:30am. I was sleeping in the back of my pickup, and was forced grudgingly out of my warm bag, and into the back of my extra cab. Stupid weather! Awakened by the rain on the top of his Xterra, Dan opened his door to laugh at me errrrr......I mean ask if I needed help. I declined, and opted to chase the Sandman around the inside of my extra cab for another 3 hours.

When we both arose at around 8:00, dark clouds were looming west towards the Henrys. Our original plan was Larry canyon, but we decided to settle for something with a much shorter slot in case those clouds decided to head in our direction. East Fork Pasture was the fallback position, and so we packed up and headed north from the Hans Flat ranger station.

After spotting a vehicle at the head of the West Fork of Pasture, we parked at the head of East Fork, and hiked in. The East Fork of Pasture has three little spurs that all lead into the main slot. The easiest way in is the southern most spur, which is much more gradual. There are two small drops (both about 10 feet) as you head down into the southern spur that shouldn't be a very big problem for most. At the second small drop, there is a really ratty bolt set into a shale layer, and I did not like the looks of it at all. Dan ended up rappelling from a short length of rope looped around a large rock set into the wall, and I got down by hand-lining down from the bolt, together with a spot from Dan down below.

Between the drop-in and the end of the technical section there are just enough downclimbs to keep things spicy, yet not too difficult. One or two of the downclimbs are unnecessarily bolted, and might see the Emperor's crowbar at some point. The technical section ends with three rappels all close together. THe 3rd rappel is the most impressive, with a 40 foot drop into a cylindrical sandstone chamber. We knicknamed it the toilet bowl. After the 3rd rap, there are two more downclimbs, and an easy stem over a pool, and then the canyon widens out.

The walk out is a sandy slog, through a wide open canyon. As you approach the confluence of the east and west forks, there is a fairly large undocumented arch on the south side. Just a little past the confluence there is a gradual slope that allows an easy exit. Once we reached the top, we noticed that there is a dirt road that is pretty decent, and could be used to spot a car for a car shuttle. Spotting a car there would save between 60 - 90 minutes of walking.

Overall, I really enjoyed E. Fork Pasture. It is very reminiscent of White Roost, and could definitely be improved with the addition of a car shuttle (see the map at the end of this write-up).

All photos here courtesy of Dan Ransom:

http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/EastForkPasture/images/East%20Fork%20Pasture001.jpg
Getting ready to drop in. Those rainclouds make me nervous.

http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/EastForkPasture/images/East%20Fork%20Pasture009.jpg
Rap #1

http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/EastForkPasture/images/East%20Fork%20Pasture015.jpg
Chillin in the slot just before rap #2

http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/EastForkPasture/images/East%20Fork%20Pasture019.jpg
Rap #2 - My best cheesy grin...

http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/EastForkPasture/images/East%20Fork%20Pasture034.jpg
Rap #3 - down into the toilet bowl.

http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/EastForkPasture/images/East%20Fork%20Pasture045.jpg
Dan coming down into the toilet bowl.

http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/EastForkPasture/images/East%20Fork%20Pasture047.jpg
Large arch on the exit hike.

http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/EastForkPasture/images/East%20Fork%20Pasture054.jpg
View from the top looking southwest in the direction of Chambers/Dirty Devil.

[marc olivares]

nice justin, very nice....

oh, what's that T-shirt of yours say?

[stefan]

sweet photos!!!!!! :2thumbs:

some of these should be submitted to the homepage slideshow

yeah rap 3 was super cool to come down ... until i could see around the corner, i wondered if we were rapping into a keeper.

thanks for the report/photos

[rockgremlin]

oh, what's that T-shirt of yours say?

It says "I Love (heart) Redundancy."

Please don't make me explain the joke. :haha:

[ajroadtrips]

Ah memories... Nice pics. Hesse and I did that a year ago.

An alternative to the exit hike is to upclimb the west fork. A couple of fairly burly upclimbs with decent exposure. The west fork is not very interesting, so upclimbing would be the best way to see it. If any of the upclimbs looked to hard, you could always reverse and take the normal exit.

After the discussion the last couple of days on Chambers:

*Legal Disclaimer Applies*
The canyon was upclimbed when I did it, but may result in serious risk, injury, and/or death to those who choose to attempt it.

User of the above beta assumes all risks, author is in no way suggesting you attempt it. In fact, you are better off just staying home.

:haha:

[rockgremlin]

An alternative to the exit hike is to upclimb the west fork. A couple of fairly burly upclimbs with decent exposure. The west fork is not very interesting, so upclimbing would be the best way to see it. If any of the upclimbs looked to hard, you could always reverse and take the normal exit.

Ya, that's what I kind of assumed. Climbing up west fork sounds exciting, but would make for a pretty long day it would seem.


In fact, you are better off just staying home.


:roflol:

[Wasatch]

Nice pics, looks interesting.

[stefan]

After the discussion the last couple of days on Chambers:

*Legal Disclaimer Applies*
The canyon was upclimbed when I did it, but may result in serious risk, injury, and/or death to those who choose to attempt it.

User of the above beta assumes all risks, author is in no way suggesting you attempt it. In fact, you are better off just staying home.

:haha:

:lol8: :lol8:

[ajroadtrips]

Ya, that's what I kind of assumed. Climbing up west fork sounds exciting, but would make for a pretty long day it would seem.



I think it took use about 6 or 8 hours round trip, but Hesse is a canyon gun.

I'd guess probably about as fast as the other exit. As I recall, there was a rapid succession of about 3 or 4 upclimbs, then mostly just walking. The lower section was quite pretty, but short.

Hey Rock, are you a SLC person? We should do a canyon sometime.

deserthiker

[nosivad_bor]

I really like the look of the toilet bowl ! Great little write up.

-Rob

[Iceaxe]

I have been told (97.3% reliable source) the best exit from East Fork of Pasture is from the confluence you go east up to the White Rooost Road.... you know... the super secret road that leads to Chambers. :haha:

Actually if the east exit works it looks like doing the entire EF Pasture route based from the White Roost Trailhead/campsite might be the hot ticket. Easy to spot a 4x4 down the white roost road and cut off some mileage.

Of course I have never done this route and I am shamelessly spraying unconfirmed beta to the poor hapless general public..... so go at your own risk and don't sue me when you get your ass in a sling. :nod:

:2thumbs:

[rockgremlin]

I have been told (97.3% reliable source) the best exit from East Fork of Pasture is from the confluence you go east up to the White Rooost Road.... you know... the super secret road that leads to Chambers. :haha:

I still think if you spot a car at the canyon rim right there at the confluence of east and west forks of Pasture, then it would be faster. That road is in fairly good condition -- almost any vehicle should make it, and a 4x4 will make it no problem. The White Roost road exit requires a little more walking still, but would be great for exploring. :2thumbs:

[rockgremlin]

Hey Rock, are you a SLC person? We should do a canyon sometime.

deserthiker

I'm actually a former SLC person. I live in Monticello now. Shouldn't stop us from hookin up sometime though -- all of the guys I go canyoneering with live in SLC -- we just meet in the middle. But I agree, we should get together sometime. :five:

[Iceaxe]

I was mostly thinking the east side route for Pasture if you didn't have a shuttle. Looked like it might be a little less slogging. And my source is now up to 97.8% reliable.

:2thumbs:

[rockgremlin]

If you look closely, it appears that there are 2-3 good looking slots between east fork Pasture, and the White Roost road.

I would post coords for those, but I'm afraid I might get a Molotov Cocktail through my living room window. :roflol:

[denaliguide]

very nice photos indeed. looks like a good time was had by all.

[ajroadtrips]

I have been told (97.3% reliable source) the best exit from East Fork of Pasture is from the confluence you go east up to the White Rooost Road.

Ahhh Ice, the monarch of second hand beta. :roflol: You got any first hand beta these days? :roflol:

The first hand beta if anyone wants to know the exit:

Just below the confluence of east and west forks, maybe 100 or 200 feet, look for some cairns on the east side. The route meanders up, and a bit north through a couple of sections of gringo moki steps. Nothing tricky, but a fairly long walk back on the road if you haven't spotted a car. That's the way we did it when I did east pasture the first time several years ago.

deserthiker

[Iceaxe]

You got any first hand beta these days? :roflol:

Nope.... I spend all my free time putting cute little red squiggly lines on satellite photo's. :lol8: :lol8:

.

[Morrie]

I was in the extreme north fork of the west fork of Pasture Canyon, and saw a bunch of these carvings spaced out periodically. What are they?

[SRG]

Speaking of second hand beta and red squiggly lines on a TOPO map... here is a TOPO map with red squiggly lines on it made from second hand BETA.

Please ignore the red "entry" and "exit" points as they may not actually be entry or exit points... who knows.

I just wanted to post it to save everyone time because it sucks to make a map for this particular canyon because it requires stitching 4 different Quads together.
-Sam

Well that didn't work... anyone know how to attach a a full size image? On my comp, the map is 8mb, but when I upload it to Bogley its 19kb and tiny resolution...??

57485

[Scott P]

I have been told (97.3% reliable source) the best exit from East Fork of Pasture is from the confluence you go east up to the White Rooost Road.... you know... the super secret road that leads to Chambers. :haha:

Actually if the east exit works it looks like doing the entire EF Pasture route based from the White Roost Trailhead/campsite might be the hot ticket. Easy to spot a 4x4 down the white roost road and cut off some mileage.

Of course I have never done this route and I am shamelessly spraying unconfirmed beta to the poor hapless general public..... so go at your own risk and don't sue me when you get your ass in a sling. :nod:

:2thumbs:

Old thread, but I just completed exits mentioned and this could be some useful information. If you don't have a shuttle, the west exit and hike back is certainly shorter and faster. The east side exit is more interesting. If you have a shuttle, the best way is to come out the east side. A pretty good road almost reaches the rim right near the exit.