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...Pasture001.jpg
Getting ready to drop in. Those rainclouds make me nervous.
http://www.danransom.com/TripReports...Pasture009.jpg
Rap #1
http://www.danransom.com/TripReports...Pasture015.jpg
Chillin in the slot just before rap #2
http://www.danransom.com/TripReports...Pasture019.jpg
Rap #2 - My best cheesy grin...
http://www.danransom.com/TripReports...Pasture034.jpg
Rap #3 - down into the toilet bowl.
http://www.danransom.com/TripReports...Pasture045.jpg
Dan coming down into the toilet bowl.
http://www.danransom.com/TripReports...Pasture047.jpg
Large arch on the exit hike.
http://www.danransom.com/TripReports...Pasture054.jpg
View from the top looking southwest in the direction of Chambers/Dirty Devil.