Not Mindbender

[MiCamp]

Last Friday, the 4th of October, Bob (slotmachine) and I headed for the Roost to kick off mudfest 2013. It was bitterly cold and driving out to the trailhead the frost on the wind-rippled dunes, like a frozen Saharan desert, was both a beautiful and a chilly reminder of why we chose Not Mindbender over Red Spur for the days adventure, as word has it that Red Spur holds water.
So we set off cross desert for Not Mindbender. After crossing a few gullies and minor drainages we arrived at our drop in point, double checked our GPS coordinates to ensure we were dropping into Not Mindbender and not Mindbender (queue Abbot and Costello routine:drums:) [SIZE=2][FONT=lucida sans unicode]and off we went.
After a bit of ho-hum, the drainage hit the Navajo formation and the shit or mud hit the fan. The canyon narrowed and dropped in tight twisting narrows with wonderfully sculpted walls and sudden drops, ending in pools and hallways of mud and water.
At the first I told Bob,

[hikster11]

Awesome. The one time that I went through there it was mostly dry. We did Larry that same weekend and got into mud like you did. It was difficult just walking. Sound like you guys had fun.

[TommyBoy]

Sounds like it was fun, both times I've done it there were several deep wades so I'm glad it was "drier" for you.

[MiCamp]

Larry was also on our list for that weekend. After the mud though we changed up plans and did some canyons in North Wash and Poison Spring. And still found mud and water! But you know, it's hard not to have a good time when you're in a canyon.

[ratagonia]

Nice.

What did you find for an anchor at the last rap?

Tom

[MiCamp]

A bolt RDC at the drop and a chockstone wedged into a crack twenty feet up canyon LDC.

[Mountaineer]

That Moki climb grabs your attention. Great job.

[ilipichicuma]

Nice work. Gotta love the muddy ones. :2thumbs:

[Slot Machine]

That Moki climb grabs your attention. Great job.

It's a little more difficult that it appears from the bottom, for sure. Micah made quick work of it though (or we would still be there). :haha:

Does anyone have details on the shorter alternate exit?

[ratagonia]

A bolt RDC at the drop and a chockstone wedged into a crack twenty feet up canyon LDC.

:cry1:

[flatiron]

One year and 1 week ago we had same problem - did Not M right after a big flash and it was total mudfest. Very challenging. And a buddy of mine did same as MiCamp at that 15 foot drop. Got to it 1st, thought he could downclimb and ended up sliding way too fast into pool of water (no big rocks) - twisted his knee. Tore his meniscus (altho he was not sure what problem was at the time). I came up, asked him how he got down, he said I might want a belay or assist. :lol8: I took it!
Luckily he was able to gimp out but that ended his trip.
And yes that exit is especially dicey when all mudded up.
Would love to hit it some time when dry - great canyon.