North Fork Robber's Roost

[Iceaxe]

And just for fun.... here is the actual track I downloaded out of my GPS after our March 2006 trip.

The False Exit is easy to see on the map, it comes in at the "e" in Robbers.

[ratagonia]

And just for fun.... here is the actual track I downloaded out of my GPS after our March 2006 trip.

The False Exit is easy to see on the map, it comes in at the "e" in Robbers.

Nothing "False" about the exit, other than the picture of the two guys - which is at That Exit, the Partner Assist Exit.

Otherwise, YES and YES.

[CarpeyBiggs]

I'm not sure you understand. You are only half-right. Your map is correct. You are incorrect on your placement of the photo with the two people sitting on the ground. The partner assist exit is where the "e" in robber's hit's the main canyon. That is also where the picture of the two people sitting with the narrow slot at ground level behind them is taken.

The next canyon down is the "crack" exit. That little climbing move pictured in this thread is from THAT canyon (which you have correctly identified). That move is also very early on in the "exit." I remember being able to see that move from the ground of the main canyon. The "crack" exit was not obvious at ground level like the other is. You have to do a little scrambling to get into, and then you have to make that one climbing move, which is what that photo of the people climbing shows. Granted, I haven't been there in 4 years, but I'm confident that move is less than 1 minute from the confluence with the main canyon.

[DWayne27]

I think you are absolutely right Dan. I am completely positve that the photo of the exit with 2 people sitting on the ground is NOT the same exit as the picture of the climbing move, and would very appropriately be called a "partner assist exit"

[CarpeyBiggs]

I checked my photos, and unfortunately, I don't have one that shows what the crack exit should look like from the floor of the canyon. I was also surprised to see that I last did this canyon in April 2005. Holy shit! Time flies. I thought it was in '07.

Here's a photo from on top of the "climbing" move. You can see the trees down below, that is where the main canyon is. That move is not far up into the exit slot.

[Iceaxe]

I'm not sure you understand.

That wouldn't be the first time....

IYou are only half-right. Your map is correct. You are incorrect on your placement of the photo with the two people sitting on the ground. The partner assist exit is where the "e" in robber's hit's the main canyon. That is also where the picture of the two people sitting with the narrow slot at ground level behind them is taken.

I have no clue where the picture of the two guys sitting on the ground was taken at, it's not my picture. I snagged it from the web because it looked about right... I'm not defending that as a picture of the correct exit....

I can probably agree with everything else, except I don't remember having to do any scrambling to reach the crux of The Crack Exit, if there is scrambling involved before the crux it is very minimal as I didn't mention it in my notes, which were from a March 2006 trip. I did a bunch of Roost canyons in 2005 and 2006, now they all kinda run together into one big canyon memory. I have to read my notes to remember detail.

Here's my notes which were written during the trip....

Below the fourth rappel the North Fork begins to widen and is joined by a major drainage from the east (Ho Hum Canyon). In this section of the canyon you will find a typical Roost type trickle stream. 200-yards below Ho Hum what looks like an easy exit joins from the west. This is the False Exit, do not attempt to escape here, its an inferior exit requiring some dicey climbing on poor quality rock (as per goofball).

250-yards below the False Exit you will encounter the Crack Exit entering from the west. At first this does not look like a very promising exit. When standing in the North Fork of Robbers Roost this looks like a narrow slot canyon joining the main drainage. Even as you begin to hike up the Crack Exit it doesn't look encouraging. 1/4 mile after leaving the main drainage you will come to what at first appears to be a dead end. But a careful look will reveal good handholds that will allow you to climb the 10-foot crux of the route. The route is no harder then 5.4 with a partner assist to get things going. Once over the crux you will encounter anther dozen minor scrambling obstacles until you reach the sandstone rim.

[Iceaxe]

And I disagree the trees you are seeing in your picture are North Fork... those trees are in the spur fork after you begin hiking up. If that was North Fork you would see an opposing wall, as the spur tee's into North Fork...

[CarpeyBiggs]

I have no clue where the picture of the two guys sitting on the ground was taken at, it's not my picture. I snagged it from the web because it looked about right... I'm not defending that as a picture of the correct exit....

that's quite an about face.

you were the one who said this...

FWIW: Here is a picture of the Exit Crack. This is the exit you are looking for. It doesn't like like much and it really doesn't look like an exit that will go when you first see it.

but nevertheless, the notes you have posted most recently seem to be much more accurate. The photo i posted from above the climb is simply to represent the best visual we have of where the "crux" is relative to the canyon floor. The point being, that it's not in an obvious slot canyon like the picture we've been disputing. It is less obvious, requires a little scrambling (probably hands aren't necessary) to find. The picture YOU posted and called the "crack" is not accurate, hence why we are trying to clarify it.

your notes seem to do just that.

[nat]

I checked my photos, and unfortunately, I don't have one that shows what the crack exit should look like from the floor of the canyon. I was also surprised to see that I last did this canyon in April 2005. Holy shit! Time flies. I thought it was in '07.

Here's a photo from on top of the "climbing" move. You can see the trees down below, that is where the main canyon is. That move is not far up into the exit slot.

I have to agree with Shane on this. Those trees are definitely not in the main canyon. The climbing move in the "crack exit" is several minutes up the side canyon from the main canyon. I also don't remember any scrambling moves to get in to it. I've done it several times, the last being in Fall '07.

Nat

[ratagonia]

I have to agree with Shane on this. Those trees are definitely not in the main canyon. The climbing move in the "crack exit" is several minutes up the side canyon from the main canyon. I also don't remember any scrambling moves to get in to it. I've done it several times, the last being in Fall '07.
Nat

I think in this case, we are talking 2nd class scrambling, which some might refer to as hiking. But I remember climbing up the dirt into an unlikely looking place, then a bit of 2nd class scrambling (or EZ 3rd) and a short walk to the short wall that is the crux, Beckey 3rd class.

[Scopulus]

Pics...as requested.
These were taken a few weeks ago -- March 20, 2010.

Looking at the exit spur as seen from the main canyon -- NFRR. Enter to the left of the bushes on the left.



Through exit spur.



Through exit spur.



Crux in exit spur.



Looking down the exit from the top. The varnished wall marked in the photo is in the main canyon (NFRR) opposing the exit spur -- that's about from where I took the first picture above.


A Google Earth Image showing main canyon NFRR, HoHum, partner assist exit, and crack exit (easier exit) in question. You can see from the scale on Google Earth (bottom left hand corner of image) that the partner assist exit is about 1000 feet from the HoHum confluence and the crack exit is about another 1100 feet past the partner assist exit (distance all as crow flies). Crux is indeed about 1/4 mile up the exit spur. The two guys in the other photo are sitting right about where the arrow marks "Partner Assist."


Enjoyable canyon, but the exit is definitely one of the fun parts.

-Steve L.

[ratagonia]

Pics...as requested.
These were taken a few weeks ago -- March 20, 2010.

...

-Steve L.

Slaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam Dunk!

[jman]

haha nice!

we need more of the likes of Steve L, around here!

[DWayne27]

Very well done indeed. Dont think there is much room for arguement there. That all seems consistent with what I saw, experienced, read, and expected.

Thanks

[CarpeyBiggs]

well done steve. thanks for posting those!

[Iceaxe]

Thanks Steve

[agostinone]

Steve,

How were the anchors when you were there? I haven't done NFRR yet but I have read the beta and am heading out that way in couple of weeks to play. Some of the beta suggests that although some anchors are bolted they may be in bad shape or my get pulled. What was your experience?

Thanks,

Kenny

[Scopulus]

How were the anchors when you were there?

Kenny,

All anchors were pretty straight forward.

Rap 1 was an easy boulder sling (possible downclimb on right LDC).

Rap 2 was an easy deadman behind a huge chock stone. Plenty of big rocks in this section of the canyon. We tried setting this one up by just slinging the rope around this huge chock stone and backing it up just to see how it would hold but the contour of the boulder is such that the rope tends to slide up over the boulder when the climber shifts below on rope -- not good. No bolts here, but seems like I saw some old holes or studs on the wall. Setting up a deadman here was straight forward.

Rap 3 was two bolts (may have been pitons now that I think about it). These were very solid.

Rap 4 was 3 bolts. These seemed rather sketchy. The hangers are loose (not the bolts) -- no worries about that part -- but the whole slab they're set into sounds like it could flake off. If you knock on it, it sounds like a big hollow flake. There's a lot of this type of stuff in the Roost -- flakes that are four inches thick that just fall off the canyon wall when you climb on it or stem across it. We backed this one up with meat then sent skinny down last. There are a lot of features at the top of this rap, but it would take some creativity to set up a wedged rock or some other natural anchor if these bolts are gone. Weren't any big rocks around this day, but maybe some to mine further up canyon. There is an exit between rap 3 and rap 4 if needed but I wouldn't think there would be any problem negotiating this rap.

Enjoy the canyon,

Steve.

[canyondevil]

Anybody been down NFRR lately? Just curious about the condition of the anchors?

Thanks for any input.