TR and Conidtions- Roobers Roost Area

[RyanGJ]

Headed to the Roost April 30 - May 1st under windy and cool conditions. The preceding week produced over an inch of rain in the area and has left nearly all the canyons in wet conditions. Bring your wetsuits! Due to unpreparedness (aka no wetsuits or dry bags, yea stupid I know!) we aimed for the dryer canyons of Northwest Fork Big Spring and Three Canyons and had a blast. Road from 24 is pretty wash board, but in good shape for passenger cars.

Before the TR of those two canyons here are the word-of-mouth conditions for folks we talked to coming out of the following canyons:

Alcatraz- "nipple deep", lots of water. Every party that went through that did not have wet suits and looked haggard for it. One nearly started a SAR it took them so long.
High Spur- wading to waist then "long" mandatory swim. One party had exited the canyon and dropped back in after the water, said detour took 2-3 hours.
Blue John main fork- "Ankle deep" in places.
Larry- waist deep, lots of water

Our trip:
Northwest Big Spring- 2.5 hrs with two people. Since we were camped and ready for High Spur this one was literally just across the street. We got more than we expected, this is a great canyon! The first rap is anchored by a single nut (see photo) that seemed solid and recently placed by the looks of the webbing. There are places for an Ibis if your into that kinda thing (please don't remove the nut though, not that many are using Ibis hooks). Some partner assist down climbs along the way to the second rap. Water is ankle deep with one unavoidable pot hole that was mid thigh deep. Second rap is off a block with good webbing and is two tiered, but rope pull was easy. This puts you in the best slot section! Gorgeous! The canyon opend up and then sloted back up again before the typical exit. This slot ended in deep looking water, so we back tracked just before this last slot section and found a sporty (5.5/.6 with some exposure) but straight forward exit. It was in the 40's and windy, and we are wimped out! Easy walk back of about 20-30 min.

Three Canyon-
I really enjoyed this out of the way canyon. Anchor is decent shape, the piton looks great and is even pounded into a metal expansion sleeve (see photo) but the bolt is a bit suspect. This anchor is not really needed, plenty of boulders to the right to rap from. We also placed an anchor around a chockstone next on the second tier to minimize rope wear since we were planning to ascend. Rapping and the ascending from the boulders would really make this a better rap/jug. There is some webbing on the second anchor we forgot to remove on our ascent, its manky feeling.

The rest of the canyon is beautiful with flowing water starting 1/4 way down. We saw deer and other wildlife along the way. It was getting late so we did not make it to the river. Its a long way to the rive, probably 2.5 hrs ONE way. We jugged up the line on our return, I would not suggest the rim walk back, the canyon is to beautiful!

[ratagonia]

Headed to the Roost April 30 - May 1st under windy and cool conditions. The preceding week produced over an inch of rain in the area and has left nearly all the canyons in wet conditions. Bring your wetsuits! Due to unpreparedness (aka no wetsuits or dry bags, yea stupid I know!) we aimed for the dryer canyons of Northwest Fork Big Spring and Three Canyons and had a blast. Road from 24 is pretty wash board, but in good shape for passenger cars.

Before the TR of those two canyons here are the word-of-mouth conditions for folks we talked to coming out of the following canyons:

Alcatraz- "nipple deep", lots of water. Every party that went through that did not have wet suits and looked haggard for it. One nearly started a SAR it took them so long.
High Spur- wading to waist then "long" mandatory swim. One party had exited the canyon and dropped back in after the water, said detour took 2-3 hours.
Blue John main fork- "Ankle deep" in places.
Larry- waist deep, lots of water

Our trip:
Northwest Big Spring- 2.5 hrs with two people. Since we were camped and ready for High Spur this one was literally just across the street. We got more than we expected, this is a great canyon! The first rap is anchored by a single nut (see photo) that seemed solid and recently placed by the looks of the webbing. There are places for an Ibis if your into that kinda thing (please don't remove the nut though, not that many are using Ibis hooks). Some partner assist down climbs along the way to the second rap. Water is ankle deep with one unavoidable pot hole that was mid thigh deep. Second rap is off a block with good webbing and is two tiered, but rope pull was easy. This puts you in the best slot section! Gorgeous! The canyon opend up and then sloted back up again before the typical exit. This slot ended in deep looking water, so we back tracked just before this last slot section and found a sporty (5.5/.6 with some exposure) but straight forward exit. It was in the 40's and windy, and we are wimped out! Easy walk back of about 20-30 min.

Three Canyon-
I really enjoyed this out of the way canyon. Anchor is decent shape, the piton looks great and is even pounded into a metal expansion sleeve (see photo) but the bolt is a bit suspect. This anchor is not really needed, plenty of boulders to the right to rap from. We also placed an anchor around a chockstone next on the second tier to minimize rope wear since we were planning to ascend. Rapping and the ascending from the boulders would really make this a better rap/jug. There is some webbing on the second anchor we forgot to remove on our ascent, its manky feeling.

The rest of the canyon is beautiful with flowing water starting 1/4 way down. We saw deer and other wildlife along the way. It was getting late so we did not make it to the river. Its a long way to the rive, probably 2.5 hrs ONE way. We jugged up the line on our return, I would not suggest the rim walk back, the canyon is to beautiful!

Thanks for the TR Ryan. Fun stuff!

The Piton is not placed "with an expansion sleeve". They do not make expansion sleeves for that. It is placed in a hole with some other crap to fill the hole out. A dubious method usually, and very difficult to inspect to determine the strength of. I suggest choosing a different anchor might have been a wiser choice.

Tom

[canyoncaver]

Thanks for the TR. Heading that way in a few days myself. Good to know about the water. When I have done Alcatraz, Larry, and High Spur in the past the water has been negligible. Sounds like the neoprene may be in order this time!

[garrettw]

We did Larry on Saturday, April 30. Cold and windy down there. Lots of water but did OK w/o wetsuits. Fun canyon and enjoyed the beautiful hike out. Wildflowers blooming in the canyon bottom.

[RyanGJ]

The piton seemed very solid to us and I had no issues at all using it, the bolt much less so. The party before us only used the (rusted and spinning) bolt for an anchor, so go figure. At least its not a star bolt, nothing to get your attention more than rapping off a tower on those relics! Luckily this anchor is very easy to bypass and I agree best avoided since a simple slung boulder will make a for a more pleasant rappel/ jug. Really enjoyed this canyon!

[stirfrybob]

Does anyone have any idea how fast the roost canyons drain out? Looking to do E Fork of Bluejohn (done it before and am expecting at least a little water) and High Spur this Friday and Saturday, so I am interested in those canyons specifically. It looks sunny all this week, so I don't feel like any more water will be added. I am cool with a bit of skanky water, but I don't have a wetsuit, so I am concerned about super long hypothermic swimmers.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide!

[RyanGJ]

All the canyons were done by other partys without wetsuits this weekend with temps in the low 50's with a cool wind. The groups who did Alcatraz seemed worse for wear, but made it through. The High Spur swimmer could in place for a while. I would recommend getting a dry bag. That way you can change after the swims and wades if your getting chilled without a bigger investment. If you have fleece long undies they could work as a better than nothing alternative. Good idea to have a dry set of cloths regardless, never know if an injury or unexpected event will keep you in the dark slots longer than you want, best be prepared. We were not prepared and opted to wait to come back until we were. Sorry I don't have info on the E. Fork, but I would guess wading levels. Also, I recommend camping by the Junipers as described in the Kelsey book, there is also camping by the drill hole if the Juniper site is taken. Both of these sites have you do the long walk before the canyon and then you get to end at the camp. Have fun!

[skytang]

We did Alcatraz on Saturday April 30. 9 in our party. 33 degrees in the sun at drop in. Water was cold and deep, but not frozen. Keeper hole water was about 5 feet deep. 1 in dry suit, 2 in wet suits, 2 in farmer johns, the rest in cotton... yup, cotton t's and levis - NewBs. I think the temperature got up in the high 40s once we were out. It was a memorable one for sure. Wind was negligible. Three weeks prior we did Larry and the wind was more than obnoxious... cleaning sand out of our ears for a couple of days after. We've been through Alcatraz without water, and it is much preferred. What a sweet canyon it is. 5.5 hours with a group of 9, we felt satisfied. Would post pictures, but the first hold was chest deep and the camera got a little wet (dunked for the swim), so it went in the dry bag for the remainder of the canyon. --Good thing for rice in sealed baggie afterwards. 48 hours in that treatment and the camera works like new. Can't believe how many people are down in the Roost these days though. The past 5 years have been all but deserted down there, and now 9 vehicles were at the Alcatraz TH at 3pm when we got back to the truck. So much for the solitude down there. Thanks 127 hours