Photos:
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=275718571/a=38054161/t_=38054161
Thursday 3/19:
I was wrapping up a project for work, and was going to be on schedule. I had to work late Wed night and only got two hours of sleep to make sure I was going to be ready though. Unfortunately, I was given another project that I needed to do some preliminary work for on Thursday, so we ended up leaving later than we wanted to. Tom, Synthia and Erin waited around, and we still did a caravan out to Utah. We got to the camp area at the South Fork of Robbers Roost around 1am. Ugh. Marty and Jason were already there, as were some others too. We tried to be as quiet as we could as we set up camp. We would be getting up at 4:30am, so we tried to get setup quickly so we could get some sleep. By the time camp was set up and things were all set, it was already around 2am. Got around 2 hours sleep again.
Friday 3/20:
Four thirty came along much too quickly. I was really tired. Gave a serious second thought to getting a later start. However, we were trying to do two of the Middle Forks of Robbers Roost today; and they are usually 6-8 hours and 5-7 hours long; so we had a big day ahead of us (and we had 8 people in our group) - so decided we should get a move on. I wanted to be driving from camp at 5:30am, but it was close to 6 before a few people were ready. Jason and Marty had checked out the road the day before, so we dropped everyone off at the start of the approach for North Middle Fork of Robbers Roost and then shuttled two cars down to the end of the road. The drivers then all got into Marty's car, and we drove back to the start. We started hiking towards the canyon around 6:30am. It was still dark, so Jason gave us a bearing and we used a high point on the horizon to guide off of.
When we were at the high point, we took a checkpoint. Jason hadn't mapped the entry point, so we were looking at his GPS and the maps. They weren't in sync, so I took out my GPS and put in the drop in point. I went to my waypoint list, and oddly enough, a waypoint for Not Mindbender car was closer than the canyon drop in point. That's when it hit me. The North Middle Fork of Robbers Roost was Not Mindbender. Geez. The second canyon we were planning today, Little Middle Fork of Robbers Roost was Mindbender. Jonas and I had already done these two canyons. This was the first time I had been bitten by the different naming conventions of different canyon factions. I felt silly. I was so busy wrapping up with work, I never did get a chance to check Stefan's canyon database. I wonder if they are cross-referenced in there. (Later, I checked; they are.) Oh well, they are still good canyons. We set a waypoint for the very start of the South Prong of Not Mindbender. Since we are out here, might as well see the whole thing.
We were dropping into the South Prong of Not Mindbender around 7:15am. The South Prong has some fun downclimbs and some nice sections. We explored a few side slots, as well as a few of us upclimbed the North Prong, as I remembered it having things worth seeing; including a nice short subway section. We then headed downcanyon. There were some other side slots that looked like they could be fun to explore. However, we were still going to try to do Mindbender today as well, so we decided to forego a few of them. We got to the final rappel, and my memory was playing tricks on me. The anchor setup looked like what I remembered in Mindbender. That would not be good, as we wouldn't have enough of a single length of rope to get down. We would have to pass a knot on rappel, and would have to do the canyon again with a longer rope to get our ropes back. Thankfully, when we lowered our rope down, it hit the ground fine. I guess I need to get more sleep... We all finished the final rappel around 10am. We made pretty good time, and likely would be good with respect to time for doing Mindbender.
There was still a pretty long hike to the Moki exit, and a decent climb out though. We did pretty good; we were up the Moki exit at 11:30am, and back to the car around noon. We all packed into one of the cars, and drove to the start of the Mindbender approach. Jonas decided to not do Mindbender, and was going to drive back to camp to try to get some sleep. If he was awake, he'd meet us at the end of the road around 5pm, which was likely the best case time of us getting out of Mindbender. The rest of us then started hiking, and started to drop into Mindbender around 12:45pm.
Mindbender was fun. There is a few rappels that can be done as spicy downclimbs; a few chose to downclimb using a handline for safety. We hit the final rappel around 2:30pm. We set a quick backup, and folks started going down. One of the deadman anchor rocks was behind the rock pile, which meant it wasn't doing anything. It was a big rock, so I figured I'd stack it on the other one. When the line was clear, I picked up and moved the big rock. Unfortunately, I didn't move my hand quick enough, and the big rock pinned the tip of my middle finger to the wall. I was able to lift it back up, and get my hand out. Ow. That REALLY hurt. It gave me a large blood blister that opened (from a blunt crush) and was bleeding pretty good. Jason and Marty helped bandage it, and I deemed this my train-wreck trip. I sure hope the items today were related to my lack of sleep, and I was definitely hoping tomorrow would be better as tomorrow was an even bigger day than today. Maybe I should have stayed with Jonas and just went to sleep? Oh well, can't do anything about it now.
We finished the final big rappel, and all of us were on the ground by 3:15pm. We then hiked back to the Moki exit, and climbed up it for the second time that day; now 4:15pm. We finished the exit and was back at the cars before 5pm. Jonas was there too, so we were able to drive back in both cars. We did great with respect to time. We moved quite efficiently with as many folks as we had. I was looking forward to seeing how we would do the next day for the South Fork of Robbers Roost. It's normally done as a backpacking trip of two long days, or even three days. We were going to try to do it in a day. It was nice to have finished early, so we still had light for dinner. We distributed all the group gear, and were all packed up for the South Fork.
Jason decided he wasn't feeling up to the long day we had planned for South Fork the next day. Since we had time, we decided to do the car shuttle, so it could shorten around 4 miles off our day tomorrow; then Jason would be game. Tom, Jonas, Lisa and Jason were nice enough to go do the car shuttle and drop the two cars at Angel Point. We all had dinner first, and then the ones who were doing the shuttle left. The rest of us visited for a little while, but I was exhausted, and went to bed shortly after dark. I fell right asleep. I'm a light sleeper, and I never even heard them come back.
Saturday 3/21:
Since we were camped out at the start of the South Fork, we were able to sleep in until 5:45am. Found out the group that was camped here the first night were likely in the canyons, as the shuttle crew saw their vehicles parked at the Angel Point exit yesterday. We had breakfast, finished last minute pack changes, and then headed to the start of the canyon. Everyone was down the first rappel by 7:15am.
South Fork of Robbers Roost (SFRR) was a pretty canyon. A few of the rappels were pretty easy downclimbs. We were moving pretty efficiently again, and we were at the rappel near the confluence with Lost Springs Canyon around 9am. Since we were moving well, we went up to check out the last rappel of Lost Springs. Lost Springs Canyon was much colder than SFRR, and there was still some ice in the canyon. There is a neat Subway section in the canyon, so it's worth the short side trip. We then continued downcanyon.
Part of the purpose of this trip was to do a community service and clean up trash that was rumored to be around the fourth rappel. We didn't find much in the way of a trash pile, but we definitely found lots of small trash items. Much of it looked pretty new, so it was likely from the group that had been camped up with us the first night. We came across their camp spot shortly; they hadn't doused their fire ring and had left some trash around. A few of us collected the trash, and put out the coals. At one of the rappels, we found a steel locking biner. Geez. That's some pretty tough stuff; and heavy too. Nobody really wanted to carry that for the rest of the day; so I carried it.
We caught up with the group at the last rappel of the technical section of SFRR. Turns out they were a Scout group of 15 people of varying ages. After seeing some of their packs, I was definitely feeling sorry for them. They sure had some heavy loads; one person even had a -10 degree sleeping bag. It was huge, and quite heavy I'm sure. This was their second day, and we caught them in less than three hours. They were going to try to get out that night. Judging by the looks of some of them, that would be a challenge. I offered to carry some gear for a little for them. We also continued to clean up trash we found, and returned some items that they dropped on the hike; including a glove and the steel biner.
Since we were doing good on time, we took an easier pace during the day; stopping a couple of times for food, drinks, emptying sand from shoes, or to relax and chat. We played leapfrog with the scouts for part of the day. We hit the Dirty Devil around 2pm, and headed down towards the Angel Trail. The trail was a little sparse in places; the canyon doesn't get much traffic. On one section where the trail climbed up to go around a drop, I decided to hop up to the next level as it was only another 30 vertical feet. Marty joined me, and we soon came across a trail. We signaled to Jonas and the rest, and it turns out it was the Angel Trail. We all regrouped at a nice overlook; now around 3:30pm. We relaxed there for a bit, and then continued up the Angel Trail.
There are some great views on the Angel Trail. I pointed out Holey Moley canyon, which I had taken a look at last year. We all made it back to the cars before 4:30pm. We did great on time; completing the canyon in around 9.5 hours. We spent some time at Angel Point, taking photos, relaxing, changing, etc. We then headed back to camp, and again, it was nice to still have daylight left. We had dinner, and repacked our gear for the North Fork of Robbers Roost which we would be doing tomorrow. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset, and stayed up for a while chatting.
Sunday 3/22:
We woke up just before the sun came up, and had breakfast. We packed up camp just as it was getting light, and then made the drive over to the start of the North Fork of Robber's Roost (NFRR). We started hiking towards NFRR at 9:30am, hit the start of the wash around 10am, and was on the entry rappel around 10:30am.
We explored several of the side forks, and found an easier way in, that didn't require a rappel. That might come in handy if we were going to do the canyon again on our April trip. The North Fork was a beautiful canyon. A few of the rappels could be downclimbed; some of them were pretty spicy too. There was great variety in the canyon too. A nice sculpted section, a pocketed hueco area, a subway section, a nice deep and dark section, and a fun final rappel that looks like a great little climb. Will have to bring a dynamic rope next time!
After the final rappel, there is an even deeper and darker slot; very cool. We reach the turnoff for the crack exit before 12:30pm, and were climbing the technical section before 12:45pm. The crack exit is a really fun exit. Lots of upclimbing and stemming in a tight slot with fun obstacle after fun obstacle. It's likely a little more than a true beginner would enjoy, but it wasn't too hard. Might be a bit strenuous for some though. We made it to the top of the technical section around 1pm, and took a short break. From there, it was just a hike over a ridge, then crossing the White Roost drainage to get back to the cars. We were back at the cars just after 2pm. The winds had started to pick up, and there was a sandstorm off in the distance. We packed up and headed out; stopping in Glenwood for some great Mexican food.
The winds were still pretty fierce, and we ran into some serious snowstorms coming over the passes. It slowed us down a bit, but everyone made it home safely. All in all, it was a great weekend. Jason got some stats off his GPS for the weekend. I did some comparisons using Topo and the picture timestamps. Here's what we had, Jason's info first, then mine:
NMF/NMB: 7.4mi/6 hrs 8mi/2200ft gain-loss/5.5 hrs
LMF/MB: 4.2mi/4:40 hrs 4.5mi/1700ft gain-loss/4.5 hrs
SFRR: 15.7mi/10 hrs 15mi/3700ft gain-loss/9.5 hrs
NFRR: 7mi/4:45 hrs 7mi/1300ft gain-loss/4:45 hrs
So, that makes a grand total of around 34.5 miles, 8900 ft gain/loss, in under 25 hours for the weekend.
Hope you enjoy the pics!
A.J.
Photos: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=275718571/a=38054161/t_=38054161
Group Room (multiple albums): http://ajoutdoors.snapfish.com/snapfish
Planning Info:
This will be a pretty aggressive trip, with respect to effort. Technically, it shouldn't be too bad (no high stemming, etc.) It will be very challenging physically though. They will be BIG days; likely 12-14 hours, possibly more, of moving. We are going to try to hit the whole Robber's Roost canyon system (2nd biggest system in Utah.) This one is planned for March 19-22. Shouldn't need wetsuits, unless it's really cold out. We will try to go fast and light.
Going:
| # | Name | Drive or Need Ride? | When Leave? from Where? |
| 1 | A.J. | Riding in Jonas' Green Subaru Legacy Wagon | Thurs 3pm; Boulder |
| 2 | Jonas | Driving Green Subaru Legacy Wagon | Thurs 3pm, Boulder |
| 3 | Lisa | Riding in Jonas' Green Subaru Legacy Wagon | Thurs 3pm, Boulder |
| 4 | Marty | Driving Red Subaru | Thurs morning |
| 5 | Jason | Riding with Marty in Red Subaru | Thurs morning |
| 6 | Synthia | Riding with Tom in Black Subaru | Thurs 3pm, Boulder |
| 7 | Tom | Driving Black Subaru | Thurs 3pm, Boulder |
| 8 | Erin | Riding with Tom in Black Subaru | Thurs 3pm, Boulder |
Waitlist:
| # | Name | Drive or Need Ride? | When Leave? from Where? |
| 1 | ? | ? | |
| 2 | ? | ? |
3/6 update:
So here’s the scoop. By far, the most important thing is that you realize just what you are getting yourself into. We will be trying to do some VERY aggressive days. Friday, we are going to try to do two (normally full day) canyons, Saturday goes even bigger with a canyon that is supposed to take two long days or three days, and then Sunday will be a relatively short canyon before heading home. Be prepared to be moving before daylight. We will need to shuttle any vehicles, and do the approach in the dark; I’m shooting at being AT the first rappel at first light. There is a high possibility that we will return to camp after dark.
For canyon beta, check out Kelsey’s book. It’s pg 78-91 in Edition 1, and 86-97 in Edition 2. The anticipated itinerary is:
Thursday: Drive in and meet at a camp spot on the road that feeds all the Middle Forks canyons. The spot I’m hoping will be good is the spot marked 1640, which is 6 miles from Burr Pass, and is at the head of Middle Fork. (The starting point for the North Middle Fork.), or the one just before it, which is the start of South Fork. We’ll figure out which one is better depending on who is getting out there first, etc.) Here’s how to get there:
I-70 to Highway 24 towards Hanksville. Near mile post 136, turn left and head East on the road heading to towards Canyonlands. RESET YOUR ODOMETER HERE!!!! (There is a sign which I believe is on the South side of the road.) The east road will turn south then go back east, and will take you past Jeffrey Well, through the Flat Tops, to the top of Texas Hill (none of which you will know if you haven’t been here before, so use your odometer). You will hit a junction with an information board at 24.4 miles. Turn right and drive the road to the highest point around, this is called Burr Pass, and should be around 31.6 miles from Highway 24. (There should be a sign there too.) At Burr Pass, veer right, then 75m from the sign, turn West onto the road running to the Robbers Roost Spring. This road is supposed to be a good road, but it’s also said to have two sand dunes that may migrate over the road around 1.5 and 1.8 miles in; so bring a shovel and we should try to stick to all wheel drive vehicles with moderate clearance – like Subaru’s, if possible. At 4.6 miles from Burr Pass (36.2 from Hwy 24) should be a sharp left curve where the road goes from North to Southwest. The road will then curve to the right, near Robbers Roost Spring which should be 6 miles from Burr Pass (37.6 miles from Hwy 24). The first car there should check out this campsite. If it’s good, stay there (this is the start for Sat.) If not, continue down the road .8 miles until you are just beyond the crossing of Upper Middle Fork and to a parking place on the right marked 1640m; and check that spot out. (This is the start spot for Friday.) Whomever arrives earliest should drive the rest of the road to the spot to 1579; to check to see the road conditions (should be 9.7 miles from Burr Pass, 41.3 miles from Hwy 24.)
Friday: We will attempt to do North Middle Fork of Robbers Roost. 3AIII – good slot above big raps, deep canyon with possible water after; raps 20m, 15m, span pothole, 22m; 6-8hrs; and then Little Middle Fork 3AIII – good slot above big rap, deep canyon with possible water after; raps 11m from Ibis 3, 6m, 45m; 5-7 hrs.
Saturday: We will attempt to do South Fork of Robbers Roost. 3AV – Normally 2 LONG days or 3 days; 22+ Km distance with significant gain near the middle – so we will need to be MOVING. 5m (but use 50m to chain some steep downclimbs), 13m, 12m, 8m (free), 8m. We will plan on hiking all the way down to the Dirty Devil, up part of North Fork of Robbers Roost, and up the Angel Arch and trail, so we won’t have a shuttle.
Sunday: We will do North Fork of Robbers Roost. 3AII or III. Raps 15m (can bypass), 2m, 7m, 4m (21m tot with low angle slide to pothole), pass exit, 11m. We will take the crack exit, so it will have fourth class to lower fifth class climbing out.
I will have all the ropes and anchor material. You should know what gear to be bringing (or very likely, you shouldn’t be on this trip…) However, check out my April trip on my website if you need a refresher. Also, definitely ask me if you have any questions; I’d much rather everyone be on the same page for this trip. Leave room in your pack for some group gear. Here’s how we will run it to be efficient. There will be one lead, and one sweep. We will all carry group gear (some anchor material but mostly ropes, and pull cords), as well as I’ll have one emergency kit (space blanket, bivvy sack and silk mummy liner) just in case. We’ll carry multiple ropes and pull cords, and set different ropes at different drops, leapfrogging the middle folks to be most efficient. If you haven’t already seen this system, I’ll explain it when we are down there.
I’m going to go as light as I can, so only a minimum amount of warm weather gear, along with my tech gear (I’m using a webbing harness) and emergency kit. BRING A HEADLAMP! Should easily be able to fit in a 2000ci pack or less. I’ll likely carry 2L of water, with tablets.
Now is the time to start arranging rides. So again, let’s try to keep it at Subaru’s or better (clearance/4wd).
Jonas and I are leaving at 3pm from Boulder, and I think Lisa is joining us. If so, we are full.
Jason can likely leave early in the morning; but has a small Honda that we likely shouldn’t use if we can avoid it. Tom and Synthia have a Subaru and can likely fit one more. Marty has a Subaru if he is willing to drive. Let’s start the discussions!
Time: We will have around 13 hours of light:
Begin civil twilight 6:55 a.m.
Sunrise 7:22 a.m.
Sun transit 1:28 p.m.
Sunset 7:34 p.m.
End civil twilight 8:01 p.m.
Again, plan on LEAVING CAMP around 6am on Friday, likely 6:30am on Sat.
Weather is currently looking around 60 day/30 night; but check again before you leave:
Green River:
http://www.weather.com/outlook/driving/interstate/tenday/USUT0094?from=36hr_topnav_driving
Hanksville:
http://www.weather.com/outlook/driving/interstate/tenday/USUT0101?from=36hr_topnav_driving
Details and Questions:
Since we are going light and fast, without wetsuits, we should be able to pack pretty light for this trip, so three should be able to fit in any of the vehicles.
So far, conditions are looking really good. While I didn't get much info specific to the canyons we are doing, just got info that the roads into the Roost are really good, not even much washboarding; with Larry and Alcatraz bone dry (and both of those have a tendancy to hold water in several spots.)
http://www.bogley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16159
(Still bring the small compressor and shovel though; as you never know, since we didn't get info on our specific road...)
Marty asked a couple of questions, so I thought I'd share the answers just in case anyone else is thinking about them.
Do we need bivvy gear? No. We'll have one bivvy bag, one cocoon liner, and an emergency blanket as part of our group gear. This is only for if anyone were to get hurt. (All three will fit into a freezer size ziploc, and weigh less than 5lbs.) We will plan on hiking in the dark if it gets dark; so bring a headlamp as that is a high probability.
There shouldn't be anything technical that would force us to bivvy. Again, I'm only bringing it in case of an injury. So you should have enough dry/warm gear to be able to sit for a couple hours if necessary (while huddled with someone else under the emergency blanket; with a fire.) I'd say you should have no more than 2000ci pack (which is a daypack size)(Make sure you have enough open space for group gear, as we'll have several ropes and pull cords to try to be as efficient as possible. Figure on around 3-4 nalgene's worth of size.) Without water and group gear, your pack should weigh less than 10 lbs.
Does everyone need prussiks? Nope. One or two sets between the group should be fine; I'll have one set, maybe we have someone with a second set at most. You should have a harness, helmet, biner and belay device, and a short sling with biner that you can use as a safety, or to be a meat anchor (if you don't know what that is, you will before the trip is over.) You should also have a sling that you can use to lower your pack, or hang your pack from your harness - I recommend a daisy chain. I'd also recommend a dry bag inside your pack protecting a dry set of clothes, just in case.
(I have a very light down jacket, so in my pack I'll be bringing an extra pair of socks, fleece pants, synthetic shirt, fleece gloves, fleece hat, and down jacket.) I'll then have my tech gear, food/water, and the group gear.
Best case is that the road is really good, and we shuttle two cars to the end of the road on Thursday night. We do one canyon on Friday, come up, reload on food/water as we drive to the start of the second canyon in/on one car. Do the second canyon, and use the second car to get us back to camp.
Saturday, we likely won't be able to do any car shuttle, as we are coming up the Angel Arch trail, taking the "old 4wd" road which will take us pretty much back to camp.
If possible, the early crew should: 1) find the best campspot; in order of preference, would be the start to SFRR, then the start of NMF just a little further down the road. 2) check the road out all the way down to the end. and 3) check out the "old 4wd" road which will be our return from SFRR. If any of the early crew needs clarification on that, give me a call. If you don't get to (or don't want to) do any of those, that's cool too. We'll work with what we have...
Maps:
Hopefully you guys have Kelsey's books, and can read about the canyons we are doing.
Here is a link if folks want to download a full set of maps that I printed out, as well as the beta for NFRR:
https://www.yousendit.com/download/U0d3WGJIcHZUWUR2Wmc9PQ
(The maps that are marked North Middle Fork can also be used for Little Middle Fork and Middle Fork...)
I'll have two copies of these maps printed out, so we should be all set. If you want one of your own, you are welcome to print and carry them. Jason, you are the designated GPS dude for the trip, so have fun!
Cars:
K. Sounds like we have the early crew of Jason and Marty in Marty's Red Subaru Impreza. Then Lisa, I and Jonas in Jonas' Green Subaru Legacy, as well as Tom, Synthia and Erin in his Black Subaru Outback. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Trash:
One other thing I forgot to mention. For folks that would be up for it, I'm going to try to help do a public service cleanup on our longest day. I've heard that someone dumped trash just after either the third or fourth rappels. I'm going to bring several trash bags, and will have a way to fix them to the outside of my pack to at least try to help cleanup some of the items. (I don't know the quantity or type of trash...) If you want, you are very welcome to do the same. I'd recommend using the smaller trash bags (kitchen), and taking at least three per side, so it can sustain some abrasion.
We will look to see if there is any possibility of lowering a rope and pulling the trash from the rim (it's possible that we do that Sunday, or maybe even on the April trip); but likely will end up carrying it down and out as the location looks pretty remote and the walls are supposed to be pretty huge. That would mean carrying it for a LONG distance though; so again, you can make your own decision.
From Ram:
Big Joe from Arizona is going to do South about the same time as you and is gonna look for trash too. I think it is just past the Lost Springs dryfall. I thought after the 4th rap? Anyway, it is on the left in an alcove or so i hear.
Disclaimer:
The people organizing this trip will do everything they can to help keep you safe. However, the outdoors are unpredictable, and anything can happen. Ultimately, YOU are responsible for your own safety. Make your own choices; about what canyons you feel up to, as well as your actions in the canyon. If you see something that you don’t agree with, bring it up. Everyone makes mistakes, and I’m sure nobody will have an issue with discussing why we are doing a certain thing. Better that then the possible alternative if something is truly wrong. You should know enough about the canyons through your own research to know whether it’s something you can handle. Nobody else takes responsibility for you, your actions, or even their (or anyone else’s) actions, decisions or gear. You and you alone have the responsibility for keeping yourself safe. Read this disclaimer, and interpret it in the context of this trip: http://www.nelsonrocks.org/disclaimer.html