When I go to the desert in November, it is usually only in good weather. I get my fill of the cold at FreezeFest. The group of people were attractive, surrounding Tom’s birthday fest and the forecast was reasonable. I committed to going. Almost immediately, the forecast got worse….and worse….and worse. ;-0
People canceled. People postponed. The first bit of weather facing us was WIND. Said to be 28 MPH out of the SW. The Roost is a bad place for wind. I knew a spot by the Flattops that had protection from the SW and we camped there, dealing with only the swirling winds. Deeps, Doc and Alane were on board. The original plan had been Chambers at midday, but we had the whole day. I switched us to Alcatraz.
The canyon was wonderful and enchanted my partners, none who had been in the canyon before. We would stop and hear the roar of the wind well above us, as we enjoyed comfortable conditions within the canyon. We were out to the cars a bit after 1 PM
It was then off to Sandthrax. Deeps was easy to convince and we were dropped off by Doc a bit after 3 PM and descended Shamrock. We met Felicia and John who had come up from the bottom at the junction of east and main forks and hiked out in fading daylight. Tom’s Birthday fest was under way. Pictures? https://picasaweb.google.com/aramv14/AlcatrazAndShamrock11912
TomJones
I’m not sure there is ANY place in the Roost that works when windy.
The top of Alcatraz is very good, when it is not windy. Just be careful driving in there at night. Don’t drive too far.
It is slickrock, with no cows. Right on the road so not exactly secluded, but it is not like there is a whole lot of traffic out there.
T
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, Anton Solovyev wrote:
Speaking of which: what are some good camp sites in the Roost? I don’t like > Granary Spring. Mindbenders mesa top is awesome, but windy. Does the top of > Alcatraz work? Good being: slickrock, no cows, not too windy, secluded. >
Anton Solovyev
Speaking of which: what are some good camp sites in the Roost? I don’t like Granary Spring. Mindbenders mesa top is awesome, but windy. Does the top of Alcatraz work? Good being: slickrock, no cows, not too windy, secluded.
***
We were out that same weekend hiking between Moab and Needles. Crazy wind from all directions on Thursday, tarp setup was hopeless, slept under an overhang. Same on Friday with a short downpour at 9pm, soaked us briefly under another ledge. Saturday was great weather: sun and then SNOW, so beautiful, nothing better than desert in snow. Sunday was cold and sunny, we were done and visited Arches: Elephant Butte and Delicate Arch sunset.
RAM wrote:
> When I go to the desert in November, it is usually only in good weather. I get my fill of the cold at FreezeFest. The group of people were attractive, surrounding Tom’s birthday fest and the forecast was reasonable. I committed to going. Almost immediately, the forecast got worse….and worse….and worse. ;-0
People canceled. People postponed. The first bit of weather facing us was WIND. Said to be 28 MPH out of the SW. The Roost is a bad place for wind. I knew a spot by the Flattops that had protection from the SW and we camped there, dealing with only the swirling winds. Deeps, Doc and Alane were on board. The original plan had been Chambers at midday, but we had the whole day. I switched us to Alcatraz.
The canyon was wonderful and enchanted my partners, none who had been in the canyon before. We would stop and hear the roar of the wind well above us, as we enjoyed comfortable conditions within the canyon. We were out to the cars a bit after 1 PM
It was then off to Sandthrax. Deeps was easy to convince and we were dropped off by Doc a bit after 3 PM and descended Shamrock. We met Felicia and John who had come up from the bottom at the junction of east and main forks and hiked out in fading daylight. Tom’s Birthday fest was under way. > Pictures? > https://picasaweb.google.com/aramv14/AlcatrazAndShamrock11912
—
Anton Solovyev
RAM
At Sandthrax, Saturday early AM was clear as could be. By mid AM, clouds were building fast. We were pummeled by a blizzard on the hike out of the day’s canyon, in the mid to late afternoon. You should have joined us. tsk, tsk! 😉
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “evergreen_dean” wrote:
Great pics as always Ram. Thanks. Amy and I were on our way to join you on Friday but the wind blew us to Boulder instead. We toasted Tom with his intended birthday beer in warmth and comfort. We were there in spirit!
I am curious though. We woke Saturday morning to a beautiful but cold sunrise on Black Boulder Mesa. We could see a huge cloud layer sitting to the East of the Henry’s and speculated that you guys may have gotten pummeled. Did anything fall from the sky?
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “RAM” wrote:
When I go to the desert in November, it is usually only in good weather. I get my fill of the cold at FreezeFest. The group of people were attractive, surrounding Tom’s birthday fest and the forecast was reasonable. I committed to going. Almost immediately, the forecast got worse….and worse….and worse. ;-0
People canceled. People postponed. The first bit of weather facing us was WIND. Said to be 28 MPH out of the SW. The Roost is a bad place for wind. I knew a spot by the Flattops that had protection from the SW and we camped there, dealing with only the swirling winds. Deeps, Doc and Alane were on board. The original plan had been Chambers at midday, but we had the whole day. I switched us to Alcatraz.
The canyon was wonderful and enchanted my partners, none who had been in the canyon before. We would stop and hear the roar of the wind well above us, as we enjoyed comfortable conditions within the canyon. We were out to the cars a bit after 1 PM
It was then off to Sandthrax. Deeps was easy to convince and we were dropped off by Doc a bit after 3 PM and descended Shamrock. We met Felicia and John who had come up from the bottom at the junction of east and main forks and hiked out in fading daylight. Tom’s Birthday fest was under way.
Pictures?
https://picasaweb.google.com/aramv14/AlcatrazAndShamrock11912
evergreen_dean
Great pics as always Ram. Thanks. Amy and I were on our way to join you on Friday but the wind blew us to Boulder instead. We toasted Tom with his intended birthday beer in warmth and comfort. We were there in spirit!
I am curious though. We woke Saturday morning to a beautiful but cold sunrise on Black Boulder Mesa. We could see a huge cloud layer sitting to the East of the Henry’s and speculated that you guys may have gotten pummeled. Did anything fall from the sky?
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “RAM” wrote:
When I go to the desert in November, it is usually only in good weather. I get my fill of the cold at FreezeFest. The group of people were attractive, surrounding Tom’s birthday fest and the forecast was reasonable. I committed to going. Almost immediately, the forecast got worse….and worse….and worse. ;-0
People canceled. People postponed. The first bit of weather facing us was WIND. Said to be 28 MPH out of the SW. The Roost is a bad place for wind. I knew a spot by the Flattops that had protection from the SW and we camped there, dealing with only the swirling winds. Deeps, Doc and Alane were on board. The original plan had been Chambers at midday, but we had the whole day. I switched us to Alcatraz.
The canyon was wonderful and enchanted my partners, none who had been in the canyon before. We would stop and hear the roar of the wind well above us, as we enjoyed comfortable conditions within the canyon. We were out to the cars a bit after 1 PM
It was then off to Sandthrax. Deeps was easy to convince and we were dropped off by Doc a bit after 3 PM and descended Shamrock. We met Felicia and John who had come up from the bottom at the junction of east and main forks and hiked out in fading daylight. Tom’s Birthday fest was under way. > Pictures? > https://picasaweb.google.com/aramv14/AlcatrazAndShamrock11912