My buddy Kelly and I met up at I70 and UT24 on friday morning with the Roost as the objective, and decided on doing White Roost first to get the juices flowing. Headed up Texas Hill and past the ranch across miles of “featureless desert” as it has been described. I guess towering mountain ranges and buttes in the distance are featureless beautiful country in my opinion. Road is in good shape sparing the washboard, oh well. Had a bite a headed to the head of the canyon. We found the first major downclimb a blast and continued through the assorted narrows to the rap out. Only encountered a few pools of knee to navel deep, otherwise bone dry. The main wash of WR is sublime, desert paradise with two beautiful springs and a solid wild vibe. Exit to the rim and car shuttle (optional). It didnt appear as if the route had been traveled much lately, rarely crossing fresh prints untill the main wash. All anchors were in good shape. A great canyon.
The exit route was well cairned, no issues.
The next morning drove over to Ekker Ranch in route to Larry and came across some super chill guys and gal from CO at the Alcatraz Drop. The had already rigged up a line off their tow hitch. They asked us if we wanted to drop in……Guess we are doing Alcatraz today instead the free rap off the bumper for some 175 feet or so is a nice thrill and awesome way to start the canyon. It gets tight right after the first rap, but not nearly an indicator of the squeezes to come.
. The above photos are pretty “wide” as far as some of the other narrows later on are concerned. Shortly arrived at a semi KPH. This one has about a 25 ft drop off and rap immediately following the hole… Immediately. There was a good anchor upcanyon of the PH which we utilized. Rig the anchor and throw your rap line, then get in the water. I clipped into the anchor before being partner assisted out, got on the edge, threaded the piranna and unclipped the leash. Rapped down. I put some tension on the rope for Kelly to get his 6’4 self easily out and he rapped down. Rope got stuck on the pull cause we had too much fun playing in the water that we didnt pay close attention to tangling issues. Slight frustration ensued and I jumarred back up and freed the rope, pulled clean the second time. Rookie mistakes. The rest of the canyon was tight and gorgeous, and very energetic.
Now, its all kinda a blur. A few raps here and there, some downclimbs etc. Nothing too dificult or scary. All webbing and rapides were pretty new, so that helped us keep moving at a good clip.
At one point a particularly narrow slot section had Kelly stuck three times, and myself once. Just had to think about it, have some hydro, and try again. It was pretty hard to get into a position to go high, and too narrow to go low. Finally with the correct recipe of contortion he was free. This is near the end, and once through these skinnys, daylight is nice.
Again, the exit from the slot to the wash is gorgeous.
The exit is longish, but Kelsey’s description worked good. Just look for the canyon entering on right, hop up on bench to the northwest of entering wash, cross said wash when you see a low pass, and head for the rim.
Did Larry the next day. Since that canyon was recently covered, Ill just say we found it a bit drier, moderate wading the deepest water encountered. Larry was a nice mellower vibe than Alcatraz and made for a fun, but longer, leisurely day.
Then it opens some after some not too tight narrows
Then it narrows again.
Then a super cool towering chamber, kinda like Belfast Blvd in Lep.
Then the sideways slot. Good times.
. Then its a final rap to a perch, then to the wash bottom ( same anchor ).
Headed to the San Rafael Reef to be closer to home for the last day and did Eardley. Super dry in there, you could tell by the water lines on the walls. Even with the low water, there were at least 4 pools to rap into and swim across. I suppose one or two of these could be jump ins, but I dont have that kind of luck. Im sure I would find the boulder lurking and have to be helicoptered out. We rapelled all pothole drops to be safe. The approach was straightforward. Ive heard a lot of whining about this one. True, its hot, its steep, and the techy part of the route is short after a pretty big chossy gully. Oh well, better than anything at work. I liked Eardley a whole lot.
Fantastic trip. Looking forward to the next one.
Andy
Cool towering section, Larry.
Sideways narrows.
Eardley Pool
Andy
Start of Alcatraz after initial rap.
Narrows in Upper Alcatraz
Larry
Andy
I guess I did something wrong. Only two photos are in the TR. all others are attachments. Help??? I dont want to have to upload all the photos again, but I will if need be. Is there any way to get the photos to show up like the first two? Thanks…
Dan Ransom
Sent you an email, looks like the attachments didn’t actually upload, or get saved. After you attach your images, be sure to hit the button to insert as a full image, and you should see them inside your post before you hit the submit button.