TR: 20070316 - UT, Canyoneering Roost

[AJ]

Pics: http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailsh...61/t_=38054161


Thursday 3/15:

Jonas and I were heading out for another weekend of canyoneering. We were planning on heading to the Roost, and it would be interesting to see if the roads have been re-graded, since our Thanksgiving 2006 trip to the Roost had some roads still being quite rough and washed out from the October 2006 floods. The weather was forecasted to be unusually warm for mid-March. Perfect! We knew of at least two other groups of friends; Dave Pitney had one, and Ram and Tom in another, that would be in the near vicinity. Hopefully we would run into them and catch up a little too.

We headed out after work, did the usual gas and Subway in Glenwood, and water fill up in Green River. Made it to the Roost around midnight, so just tossed our sleeping bags on the ground and got some sleep. The night was unusually warm too; upper 50's. Very nice, didn't even have to zip up the sleeping bag.


Friday 3/16:

Woke up early, ate leftover Subway for breakfast, and headed over to the Blue John canyon system. (http://www.climb-utah.com/Roost/bluejohn1.htm) This is the system made famous by Aron Ralston, who cut his arm off in the Lower Main Blue John canyon. We were planning on doing the Squeeze variation of East Blue, and then upclimbing Main Blue. Neither Jonas nor I had done the Squeeze variation on East before, and Jonas hadn't upclimbed Main Blue either; so it should be a blast!

We got to the drop in for the Squeeze variation of Main Blue around 7:45am. The squeeze variation was awesome! Lots of fun downclimbs, tight squeezes, beautiful sculpted walls, and dark sections. It's my new favorite of the Blue John system. At the confluence with main East, we checked the time and talked about the day. We had the opportunity to do the whole Blue John system if we wanted. Probably very few have ever done that, and it would add some new sections for each of us. We decided to go for it and upclimbed main East.

From there, we went back down the main East Fork to the confluence of Main, East and West forks. We arrived here around Noon, and headed down the Lower Main Blue John canyon to the big drop. This section was previously my favorite part of the Blue John system, as there is some fun downclimbs, wonderfully sculpted walls, and the big drop into Horseshoe canyon is pretty cool. This is also the section where Ralston cut off his arm. We downclimbed to the big drop, and then upclimbed back up to the confluence.

We then upclimbed West Blue John, which was a repeat for both of us, but it was actually better than I remembered it being previously. We got to the top around 3:30pm, and had a decision to make. We hadn't originally planned to make the day this big (doing the full Blue John system) so we didn't take that much water (only one liter each) and that was almost gone. We didn't run into any water so far, which means we probably wouldn't run into any for the rest of the day since East Blue is usually the wettest of the three forks. We could either walk overland, and get back to camp; or go for it and go down Little Blue and upclimb Main Blue. Both are normal canyon days for most people in themselves. We knew if we went for the canyons, we'd likely be a bit dehydrated when we got back to camp; as there is quite a long hike even after upclimbing Main Blue.

Since both Jonas and I come from an adventure racing background, we knew what we were getting into. We knew that we would be fine (though not super-fun), and able to make that distance with the level of dehydration we would face. However, if we ran into an issue (sprained ankle, etc) there could be trouble as we then didn't have as much of a buffer/comfort zone. We decided to finish the canyon system (who wants to walk overland? Boring.) and hiked over to Little Blue John. It was a HOT hike over to Little Blue. It was probably mid to upper 80's in temperature, but the sun out in Utah is direct and sometimes brutal. Our water was completely gone, and we were still thirsty even before we dropped into Little Blue.

Again we discussed our options of going overland or continuing. Neither of us wanted to hike overland, and it would actually be cooler in the canyons (however, there would be much more exertion upclimbing Main Blue rather than going overland.) We dropped into Little Blue around 4:30pm. Little Blue was a neat little canyon with a few fun downclimbs and two twisty 70 foot rappels.

We intersected Main Blue John, and walked back down to the confluence, so we didn't miss any of the canyon system. We then upclimbed Main Blue John, starting around 5:45pm. Main Blue is a great canyon too, with some sections of very steep canyon walls. The upclimbs were fun too but we were quite thirsty, as expected. On the upclimbs, we heard voices. We hung out for a few to see if they were coming our way; since it was pretty late already. Wanted to make sure they knew where they were and were okay. Sure enough, they were headed our way, and were also climbing up Main Blue to exit. (They climbed down Main East Blue John, and were planning on upclimbing Main Blue.) We asked to make sure they were okay, and had all the info and gear they needed; as they were likely going to be climbing out in the dark; (since it took them most of the day just to do East and then Main.) They said they were okay,
so Jonas and I continued on. We got to the top of Main Blue around 7:45pm, just as the sun was setting. We then hiked back to camp, arriving after dark, around 8:30pm. Almost a 13 hour day, with quite a bit of ground covered. Very fun.

Ram, Tom and Dave; with each of their respective groups were all at the camp, gathered around a campfire. It was great to see them, however Jonas and I first needed to rehydrate. We went and started sipping on water, gathered our dinner, and then came to join the group. It was great to see them; great people. We all talked about our day's adventures, and the plans for tomorrow.

Jonas and I were initially planning on doing a cleanup run down South Fork of Robbers Roost. Someone had dumped trash from the rim between the 4th and 5th raps. We were going to take big packs, and haul the trash all the way out. However, it was a similar distance to today's adventures; but most of it would be walking a wider canyon in the full sun. Since we were both already dehydrated, maybe doing that big of a committed day wasn't such a good idea. Once we dropped in, we were in for the long haul. Jonas and I discussed it, and we decided to change plans to do the South Fork trip another time when it was cooler out, and when we didn't abuse ourselves so bad the day before.

We stayed up a bit and enjoyed the company around the fire. Tom and Ram gave us some beta for a new canyon they just explored a day ago; off the No Mans canyon system. Neither Jonas nor I had done No Mans before, so we could head there and make the day short if we needed to, or add a second or third canyon if we wanted a big day. That became the new plan. After a bit, we headed off to sleep. Again, it was pretty warm at night, probably around 60. Definitely nice for sleeping.


Saturday 3/17:

We woke up with the sun, around 7:30am. Had a quick granola bar breakfast, and just before leaving; four people showed up to camp. Turns out it was the four we met in Main Blue the day before. They had missed the camp in the dark, and walked about a mile farther upstream. They then bedded down for the night, using a fire for warmth. They were just getting back now. Ouch; not a very fun night. They were all fine though, so a good learning experience for them.

Jonas and I made the drive out to the No Man canyon area. Started hiking around 9:30am, and dropped into the North Fork of No Mans Canyon around 9:45am. The North Fork was a cool canyon. Some really fun downclimbs, and good sculpting. Both Jonas and I enjoyed it. The big drop was cool too, reminded me of the Mindbender rappel; mostly overhanging. Surprisingly on the hike downcanyon after the big drop, there was some shady cool sections of canyon. A few spots even had ice! Wild since it had been in the upper 80's for the past several days.

We hiked up an exit between the North Fork and the Little North Fork. Along the way, we came across some really cool fins where the sandstone around them had eroded away. Hadn't seen this many in one place before. Very cool. The exit hike intersects the Little North Fork for a bit, so Jonas and I decided to head down Little North Fork and check it out. The lower section of Little North Fork was really cool. There was some cool sculpting, and a few fun downclimbs. We got to the big drop around 3:15pm, so we decided to have a bite to eat there with the great views. The canyon opened up after the drop, so we decided to upclimb back up and out of the canyon, and then do the top section of the Little North Fork.

We climbed back up the Lower Little North Fork of No Mans, and continued out the exit. We then looped around and hit the headwall of the Little North Fork of No Mans around 4:15pm. Plenty of time. We dropped in, and found Little No Mans to be a fun canyon. There was several tight spots, some very tight ones where Jonas squeezed through and I stayed high, and some insanely tight spots where even Jonas didn't fit. I stayed WAY high on those. There was a slanted slot section, and the grand finale was a downclimb through a natural bridge. Very cool.

At that point, it hits the canyon near the exit hike, so we did the exit hike again and got back to the car around 6:15pm. A great day, and still time to enjoy some daylight. We headed back to camp, and made dinner, unpacked and repacked for the next day. We chatted a bit, and then headed to sleep. It was a gorgeous clear night out. I love the stars in the Utah sky. Since you are well away from civilization and any ambient light sources, the view of the stars is amazing. Wonderful detail on the Milky Way as well as millions of stars in sight. Makes you realize how small of a speck we are in the universe.


Sunday 3/18:

Woke up with the sun again, and ate another quick breakfast. Uncooked chili out of the can. Yum! Today we were heading over to one of my favorite canyons, Alcatraz. (http://www.climb-utah.com/Roost/alcatraz.htm) Alcatraz is a great slot canyon with a lot of variety. It's full on fun, right from the start. The start is a 165 foot rappel that you use a car as the anchor point; and it just gets better from there. There are tons of great downclimbs, some upclimbs, dark sections, wonderful sculpting and more. We dropped into Alcatraz around 9:15am. There is only one other rappel in the canyon of around 30 feet (assuming you are good at downclimbing), so you leave the long entry rope tied to the vehicle, and take another shorter rope with you through the canyon.

The canyon was surprisingly dry this time; much like the rest of the Roost system we had seen on this trip. It was the lowest water I had ever seen there. There was only one puddle, which you could stem over; but that was only ankle deep as well. We got some great lighting in the canyon as well.
The canyon seemed to be over too quickly this time, and both Jonas and I agreed that the exit hike seemed longer this time as well. The views on the exit hike are spectacular though. I love the view of Alcatraz canyon when you are getting near the headwall as well. There is a picture of it. We were back at the cars around 1:45pm. Someone else had come by, and instead of tying a second rope, had rappelled on ours; and left two beers in our rope bag as a gift. A nice gesture, but a little funny because neither Jonas nor I drink beer. We pulled up the rope, packed up, and made the long drive back home. Another awesome weekend in the canyons, Thanks Jonas!

Hope you enjoy the pics!


Pics: http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailsh...61/t_=38054161