Blue John Logistics

We plan to take one car and a bike to do Little BlueJohn (or main) / Horseshoe on Saturday. I've never been to the Roost and had a few logistics questions that I couldn't find solid answers to after some searching:

Any pumpable water in BlueJohn or Horsehoe (right now) or should we take all we need?

What are the chances of finding someone to coordinate a shuttle with in the area this time of year? Alternatively is the horshoe trailhead a safe place to leave a chained bike, or should we just leave it at BlueJohn? Though I suppose the roost may not be so safe after all the recent theft in the area...:haha:

Finally, I see plenty of references to the Main / Horshoe combo being a 'pretty long day' but none really stating how long of a day or if the benefits of main vs little outweigh the risk of a bivy???

Blue John is very remote. It is something like 45 miles to the nearest paved road. I would think that you would have a very very hard time hitch hiking. If you get there the day before you might be able to coordinate with some other canyoneers. Blue John has gotten pretty popular in the last couple of years. If you decide to exit via Horseshoe Canyon it is a very long walk out. Much Much longer then Blue John. As I remember it is 6 miles or so just in Horseshoe. There MAY BE a small pool of water at the bottom of Blue John (main), but i would NOT COUNT ON IT. However that would be the only place that I can remember. Bring lists of water several in our group brought on 2L and many of them wished they had brought 3 or more. The hike through Horseshoe Canyon is very exposed.

Burley-

We were in there last weekend, and there is no water in Bluejohn itself right now. There may be some below the rap into Horseshoe because there is a spring there.

There will most likely be others camping in the area, at the TH for West BJ or at Motel 6. If you get there the night before and ask nicely, you probably could talk someone into helping you out with a shuttle. If not, leaving your bike chained to a tree should not be a problem. The "theft" in the area was just an unfortunate misunderstanding between two parties, and I will admit that I should have gone about the accusations in a different manner.

As for how long of a day, I have never done the whole route so I cant say. But I would certainly try to get the shuttle or bike ride done the day before because it is a very long route.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by canyondevil

The "theft" in the area was just an unfortunate misunderstanding between two parties, and I will admit that I should have gone about the accusations in a different manner.

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Yeah, didn't mean to drag that (what is it now, 5 pages?) post on over here. Post edited with emoticon to reflect the attempt at humor...

Thanks for the info so far.

I've never done the entire hike myself but from other reports, I think the hike down Main BJ and on to the takeout from Horseshoe is 14 miles? (Takes close to an hour just to make the drive from the Horseshoe TH to Granary Springs/Motel 6.) That's a lot of sand slogging for one day. After the main slot section in the upper BLue's, the only other slot section is just before the drop into Horseshoe and I've heard that it's rather short - 15 or 20 minutes of narrows and then the rap. If you're interested in the petroglyphs in Horseshoe, then the full hike may be worth it to you. As CanyonDevil said, there's no pumpable water in any of the upper forks right now. 3 liters would be the minimum if going all the way in 1 day.

The Blue John/ Horseshoe combo is a full day. Obviously it depends on the group/individual and the fitness level. Seems like when I took a group of Dad's and their 16-18 year old daughters on that long slog, the faster group made it in something like just over 10 hours and those bringing up the rear made it in 12???? My memory is a bit fuzzy as I was the only one with the headlamp and a gps guiding the "nearly dead" stragglers up out of Horseshoe on a moon-less night. Also, we goofed around a lot, it was just after Aron Raulston wacked his arm off and there was still blood on the wall. So we stopped, talked, stopped some more, had a very long rappel into Horseshoe due to rookies that were freaked out, stopped at the very nice pictos....etc. I would imagine that a fit and competent canyoneer could bust that loop out in well under 10 hours -- like 6-7 hours. The softness of the sand in Horseshoe will slow you down too. If you catch it after a rain storm it helps a lot!

You might be able to shorten the trip by getting a helicopter ride out of Horseshoe. I think that's what Ralston did. One of you might have to chop off your arm, though :eek2:

As far as a forced bivi, I wouldn't worry about it that much. Once you are through the slot, hiking out Horseshoe shouldn't be a big problem in the dark.

Thanks all for the input. Scott, you or anyone else have suggestions on the main vs little question? Seems it is about the same in time and the main is a funner canyon?

I know a couple of people that have missed the turn to hike out of Horseshoe in the dark. If you have a GPS and a reliable waypoint it should not be an issue, or if someone in your group has been before.

The Bluejohn/Horseshoe combo meal is a very long day for most groups. Adding the bike ride would be brutal.

Carry all of your water for this route, water at the big drop can taste like ass. Your bikes should be safe if locked to a tree or sign post.

As for Main vs Little I'd do Main for the simple reason its the "Ralston Route". It will give you a real appreciation for what he did, and also gives you some bragging rights when talking with friends that are not into canyoneering.

YMMV :cool2:

Little Bluejohn has a couple of scenic rappels that I really enjoyed. It's shorter and it's easier(for me at least) than the Main Fork.

The Main Fork has some down climbing that can be challenging for some and very fun for others. It's also got some tall spectacular narrows.