Canyons!
After our inaugural canyoneering trip to Moab in November we decided we needed more. Detailed scouring of the Interwebs showed the desert surrounding Hanksville, Utah to have a plethora of great canyons, and, most importantly for us, readily available GPS coordinates to walk us straight to the first rap, ensuring our novice abilities weren’t tested in some inescapable drainage we thought was correct.
Again, limited vacation days led to a shortish weekend, making the 7 hour drive on Thursday after half a day of work for some, and some cold morning riding on a new Ducati for me. After a 6 course meal of fine dining at Village Inn in Grand Junction we made it to the area and found a decent place to camp (the road) near the first trail head. Much of the desert portion of our drive had been completed after dark and its always fun when waking to finally see your surroundings. We were in the middle of nowhere.
Friday:
With the light we also found a better camp half a mile down the road and claimed it with the car, leaving on foot from here for the hike to the first canyon. The North Fork [ grade: 3A ] of White Roost is a reasonable approach from the road and within about a hour we were at the first rappel. Given a background in climbing where large forces can be easily generated I’m used to expecting bomb proof anchors. Canyoneers on the other hand take what they can get. This first anchor, while sufficient probably to hold all 4 of us rappelling at once, did not look quite bomb proof. (Don’t worry mom, rappelling generates a small fraction of the forces on the anchors as climbing can, it’ll hold.) Lucky we all felt comfortable with it and decided to continue on with the short 30 foot drop into the canyon.
What followed was a pleasant trip down with a smattering of raps and down climbs thrown in between short slot sections with the walls close enough to touch with both hands. Unfortunately about ¾ of the way down the canyon during a break for lunch we realized we weren’t alone. OTHER PEOPLE! In the middle of NOWHERE and on a WEEKDAY no less! Luckily they broke for lunch as we quickly started down the last rap to get back some separation.
The exit to the North Fork is a 5.7 climb out and for simplicity sake we opted to leave the rope on the last rap with the intent of climbing or ascending back up in order to take a shortcut exit partway back up the canyon which avoids the technical climb and shaves off an hour or so of hiking. After meeting the intruders again (who were opting for the long exit) and exchanging group photography services, we started back up towards our rope and the shortcut exit. As it was not a free hanging rap and the climbing was easy we all quickly climbed up and were back at the exit shortly afterward. A break in the canyon wall and some slickrock hiking soon landed us back in the sand for the meandering trudge back to camp. And it was a trudge. The sand is very fine in this area and makes hiking much more difficult and between the minimal visitors who come here and the few cows who graze (on what I’m not sure) there wasn’t really a trail that we found so it was path of least resistance back to the 4×4 road and camp. Dinner = mac & cheese + brats.
Saturday:
Today we tackle the East Fork of White Roost [ grade: 3A ] with another traditional alpine start (10am). Before leaving on this trip I had read a few reports of this canyon and all of them were positive, mentioning the term ‘slots up’ a few times. I thought I knew what a slot canyon would be like… I didn’t. After the 45 minute hike and a bit of time in the canyon we were looking down a section so narrow that at the bottom your shoes won’t fit, and 6′ up it was almost wide enough for my shoulders to pass through. We all quickly realize that canyons shred gear, shoes, clothes, and skin. The intruders we saw on Friday looked like desert veterans based on the condition of their packs, but now i guess it’s possible they had just done the East Fork the day before as their first trip ever!
The slot eased a bit after a few hundred yards and we broke for lunch in a sunny open area. At this point we hadn’t had to rappel, but the second half came quickly, the canyon slotting up again and us finding the first rappel almost immediately upon entering. What followed was quite the adventure for us.
The next 2 to 3 hours were spent traveling over what was probably about three or four hundred yards of horizontal distance, yet involved 4 rappels up to about 75′ and much pack scraping and wiggling. Dan led the way down the first two drops where the light was quickly falling away as we went deeper into the canyon. For much of this section there was no clear path to the sky with the canyon walls totally enveloping us. After the first two raps we came upon a bit wider opening and this little room which was incredible. The light filtering in here seemed to make everything glow and since we were actually pretty close to the mouth at the end, the wind had picked up and was coming through fairly strong. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in that canyon when it was windy out on the plains, it would have been whipping!
I headed down first on the 3rd and 4th raps and was pleased to find more room for maneuvering and skin preserving. The fourth and final rap drops into a waist deep pool which we were forewarned of. Because of this I had planned to attempt to keep the rope dry by paying it out as I went instead of the typical throw, and once close to the water I would stop, remove my shoes, neatly coil the remaining rope, and wade across the 15′ to rock on the other side. None of this worked. I did take my shoes off but clipped to my harness they quickly got wet in the chest deep water, and the shock of the water temperature generated some amusing noises for the three above who couldn’t see me but could hear the thrashing and breaths of shock. I did make it across keeping the rope somewhat dry at the expense of my shoes and pack, only to realize there was no way to pull it without it dropping into the pool and getting soaked anyway. Ultimately we all made it down and through and were relieved to find the slot open immediately to warm sun and wide canyon where we spent 30 minutes drying our clothes and gear on the sand.
The exit was a short ½ hour further on and wound up being an excellent and very scenic slickrock hike up and out from the 500′ walls. Once back to the car and then camp we had a fun night of shooting with tortilla soup for dinner. The wind had picked up a bit and hampered our fire some but we all still had a great night out in the desert.
Sunday:
Another modified alpine start to get camp broken down and hit the road for the trip back to Denver. We did stop for a bit near Grand Junction with the intent to do some more shooting in an area I had camped in once before when headed out for the White Rim Trail. The area, Rabbit Valley, wound up being a very popular OHV area so we passed on the guns, but made a note to get some dirt bikes and come back out sometime in the future, it looked sweet! After stopping for lunch in Junction, we made the rest of the drive, making it home before 7. Overall an excellent trip!