flatiron
10-06-2012, 11:09 PM
Went to the Roost for the 1st time 9/23-27. Did Larry, Not M, Alcatraz, No Mans and White.
A and Not were excellent, Larry and NoMans very good, White aver. But we had an experience in Not Mind I have never had b4. There was deep deep mud all the way thru it. Even b4 we got into the tight slot we were in mud up to calf. Then as we started going thru the tight sections at the bottom of every downclimb it came up to calf or knee. Water was sitting on top of the mud up to waist deep. It was a big struggle to get thru those tight sections and really hard to pull yourself out of any hole. On our 1st rap into an open alcove (you kinds stand in a birds nest looking down), it was difficult just getting harnesses and gear right because our hands were so slick from mud. Right after that rap there is a hallway/slot shoulder wide about 75-100' long. I was 1st and 1/2 way over was into mud waist deep and water up to armpits. A debris chockstone at the 1/2 mark rested 12" above water line. I thought way too dangerous to go under ( no way to pull up over with legs stuck in deep mud, walls slick with wet mud, and hands slick) as I was still getting into deeper stuff, so retreated. I was exhausted just getting back to the start. Almost like quicksand. We were able to stem over to the debris, but the walls were so vertical and slick at that point we could no longer hold stem and 1 by 1 all 4 of us dropped into mud. It was waist deep easily and water up above chest but we were past the low point and able very very slowly to finally escape. Short people or newbies would be extremely challenged in that section, really no way to assist or belay thru the slot. Finally at the Great Falls we found about 3-4 foot of mud/debris covering the anchor and webbing. Obviously a huge flash had gone thru in recent past. Later confirmed as we hiked past Great Falls and saw all the damage. Rapping the falls was pretty challenging with all of our clothes and gear completely mudded up. Just amazing!! Did not have this problem in other canyons except White tho not as bad. Had to run into Hanksville just to clean up our gear as it would have been useless once mud dried. Seems like Not cuts thru a mud layer rather than rock. Any geologists out there? Anyway, quite a challenge, and a blast doing it but not running back anytime soon. Anyone else run into this? Below are pics of me getting ready to rap Great Falls, looking down at falls and group pic after we got out.
59829
59830
59831
A and Not were excellent, Larry and NoMans very good, White aver. But we had an experience in Not Mind I have never had b4. There was deep deep mud all the way thru it. Even b4 we got into the tight slot we were in mud up to calf. Then as we started going thru the tight sections at the bottom of every downclimb it came up to calf or knee. Water was sitting on top of the mud up to waist deep. It was a big struggle to get thru those tight sections and really hard to pull yourself out of any hole. On our 1st rap into an open alcove (you kinds stand in a birds nest looking down), it was difficult just getting harnesses and gear right because our hands were so slick from mud. Right after that rap there is a hallway/slot shoulder wide about 75-100' long. I was 1st and 1/2 way over was into mud waist deep and water up to armpits. A debris chockstone at the 1/2 mark rested 12" above water line. I thought way too dangerous to go under ( no way to pull up over with legs stuck in deep mud, walls slick with wet mud, and hands slick) as I was still getting into deeper stuff, so retreated. I was exhausted just getting back to the start. Almost like quicksand. We were able to stem over to the debris, but the walls were so vertical and slick at that point we could no longer hold stem and 1 by 1 all 4 of us dropped into mud. It was waist deep easily and water up above chest but we were past the low point and able very very slowly to finally escape. Short people or newbies would be extremely challenged in that section, really no way to assist or belay thru the slot. Finally at the Great Falls we found about 3-4 foot of mud/debris covering the anchor and webbing. Obviously a huge flash had gone thru in recent past. Later confirmed as we hiked past Great Falls and saw all the damage. Rapping the falls was pretty challenging with all of our clothes and gear completely mudded up. Just amazing!! Did not have this problem in other canyons except White tho not as bad. Had to run into Hanksville just to clean up our gear as it would have been useless once mud dried. Seems like Not cuts thru a mud layer rather than rock. Any geologists out there? Anyway, quite a challenge, and a blast doing it but not running back anytime soon. Anyone else run into this? Below are pics of me getting ready to rap Great Falls, looking down at falls and group pic after we got out.
59829
59830
59831