TR- The New Frosted Flakes

Grrrrrrreat TR ram sounds like a lot of fun!!

— On Wed, 11/5/08, adkramoo adkramoo@aol.com> wrote: From: adkramoo adkramoo@aol.com> Subject: [from Canyons Group] TR- The New Frosted Flakes To: Yahoo Canyons Group Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 8:43 AM

I had visited the canyon several times. A good one. An X section that

could be descended or bypassed, so many of my friends, who lack the

taste for such things as highball stemming, could visit many of the

canyons memorable features. Sculpted stone, swirling up in wondrous

shapes and delicate curves, yet still requiring some R level stemming.

It has a warm up section that sets the tone. Go the hard way, or jog

around it and back in? A straight, big walled section, complete with a

small cave and a high downclimb. Then the long dark corridor. So dark

that there are places in there, at certain times of the day, where

there is no light of any kind filtering down to you. Pitch black! I

have gone through without a headlamp and far ahead of my partners. Nat

said that I could and I did, that very first time. Now hearing Doc

Rosen’s story about snakes!!! SHUDDER!!. Beyond this remarkable

feature, is the difficult and physical climb up, over and out of the

section. Some very nice canyon follows and then the final rap, a 65

foot one, down into Sleepy Hollow. The canyon’s name is Big Tony,

named after a deceased friend of the Steve Allen crew. Rumor had Tony

to be larger than life, size and personality wise. In the days before

Kelsey published it (Under Sleepy Hollow Fork), it made one of Tom’s

picture Rave’s. With a clever bit of misdirection, he called the

canyon Frosted Flakes, for the cereal hyped by another Big Tony, Tony

the Tiger.

Ahhhh, but at that last rap, a beautiful spot where the walls rise to

100’s of vertical feet above you, streaked with water stains and

varnish, standing sentinel above the cave like passages, which radiate

splendid bright orange light……. ..My eyes drifted up and

saw…..what looked like a pouroff way above. Seems a canyon comes out

there and drops down, from way above. I wonder. I wonder. How high is

the drop? 150 feet? 200? Over 200? Can one land on top of the the

final rap of Tony, from the other canyon, thus shortening the drop and

splitting into two? Where water falls on sandstone, evidence is

present….and it looks like it is close. Swing over? Maybe. Best not

count on that. On approach, the next trip through, I spot 3 shortish

slots that enter the main Big Tony slot from the side I saw this

canyon enter. But which one is the canyon I saw? I search the rim for

a view. I am pretty sure I know. Someday….someday.

Fast forward to last month and I am up in the area for a week. I have

new friends doing moderate canyons early week. Well, mostly moderate

for the area. Not really moderate at all. Tough neighborhood. Many a

spot still has the potential to bite. Late in the week, some talented

and driven canyoneers come in and the plan is escalate the challenges.

But it doesn’t quite line up. The early week folks are staying a day

too long….or is it the burly vets are coming a day too early? What

to do? Nothing fits…..then it hits me like an inspiration. …TIME TO

EXPLORE THAT MYSTERY CANYON!! Numbers nice for explorations. Might be

easy, might be hard. Should provide flexibility on making a commitment

to it….well in theory anyway. Fun for the whole family. Some sales

on the plan and everyone signs on. Something new here, where almost

everything nearby is an X? Well, this is smaller and might, could,

should, maybe……. … I hope it to be reasonable.

Explorations have a painful side effects. You are compelled to bring

everything, including the kitchen sink. Lots of rope, webbing,

potshots, you name it. Never know what you will need. The packs are

large. But no bolt kit will come. It is decided that if it can’t be

done by means we, as a group consider fair, then we won’t do it at

all. We will measure carefully the boundary between gung ho curiosity

and the subtle slip into commitment. The hike in takes us up and over

slickrock country. The views are wonderful. The area is a wilderness.

Longbranch Canyon blocks easy access for our planned approach, but I

remember from a past trip into the area, there is a 75 yard gap

between two difficult high stemming areas. Only here can someone cross

the canyon without completely circling it. We are lucky today. We hit

that 75 gap right on.

Now the country becomes more complex. Or are we now just going against

the grain? I think the latter. Soon we come to a canyon. Our canyon,

we think. Vee shaped and nice. We head it and head into it and soon we

head a drop into a pothole with water. Do we really want to head in

there? We put our heads to together and decide that is where we will

head…..the head of a new and unknown canyon. Heady stuff….OK, I’ll

stop.

It appears we have a 200 foot section of potholes ahead. Steep at this

entry, it also appears we can access the canyon a bit down below.

Stevee B. joins us today and suggests that we can drape the 200 foot

rope over the whole narrows here and with anchoring off of people up

top and from a pack down below, have the materials in place to fix the

whole section, as needed. Seems a bit stilted, but it is safe and

using this method, also going in 2 separate groups of 3, we can leave

this section of canyon totally clean.

Wet suits and harnesses come out and on. Stevee raps in. A guided rap

allows Mark, Landon and Eric to follow and stay dry. Tom and I remain

behind, providing meat for the anchor and rim manpower for any

assistance requests. No help is needed, as they partner assist and

climb their way past a few somewhat challenging obstacles. Then rim

support is provided for Tom and I to take our turn. Ropes bagged, we

stroll several hundred feet to another section of potholes, this one

looking a bit more challenging.

Tom and I get to go first this time. Stevee and Eric stay rim. A

bridge is at the entry. Tom raps off. He becomes the anchor and I rap

off the other side….and WOW! its a double bridge as we peek–a-boo

each other through the 2nd and lower hole. We arrive at a tricky rap.

The keeper below wants to suck you into it. I rap to the end, get just

low enough aaaaaaaannnnndddd reach out with that toe aaaaaaannnnndddd

just tippy toe balance, over the lip. I get to guide my following

partners, in between pictures. Later, the rap will be done off of meat

from the rim. Easier that way. Cheating? Well, that’s for you to

decide. The 2nd pothole section relents and we stroll in the desert.

Soon it narrows. Then a short drop. The group sequences it. Some stay

in and follow to a larger drop. It will be a 25 foot rap. Others,

including me, edge out of the canyon and stroll a high prominent rim,

toward the confluence of this canyon and Big Tony Canyon. As we walk

the rim, we note that the canyon gets deep. The canyon gets narrow.

You never know whether this means that the canyon will become a

stemming one. There is just no way to tell. The only way to find out

is to go down there.

Who volunteers to rap down? The ever ready Stevee B..There is a mound

near the drop in and I become an effective anchor, sitting over the

top, using the mound as friction. Stevee enters where we think there

is about 100 yards below, to the final drop off, once in the canyon.

We call over to those back at the initial drop of this final section

of canyon. They are 400 yards away. Not too short section of canyon,

especially if it goes difficult. Soon we hear from Stevee below. He

raps into a stem. He continues to stem. He uses the rope, still

anchored at the rim, as a hand line for a slide down ramp….and then

someone turns out the lights. It is dark. He needs headlamps. He

requests two of them. He says that we aren’t likely going to be able

to do the canyon today. I deflate. Why? He can’t hear my question. Or

he chooses not to answer? We on the rim have become irritable. We were

in our wetsuits, having been in a pothole playground. Now the sun is

baking us. Off with the monkey suits. Tom wants out of the sun. He

wants down! We argue, the tension of the day getting to us. I want him

to wait for the 2nd headlamp, he wants down NOW! I yell to our

partners to GET OVER HERE! Tom is off, with two lights. And what is

Stevee doing? With us rushing to get gear to him? He is taking a nap

in the bowels of the place.

Mark has walked up the rim of Tony, a distance from this drama and has

seen the deep dark narrow section from afar and it is impressive. He

is back. It is my turn to head out for a look. As I stroll, one

hundred yards up Tony and 100 feet above the last drop in our project

canyon, I hear Tom and Stevee talking. I am startled. They sound like

they are right next to me, speaking as they are in normal

conversational tones. Yet the sound is coming off a wall 200 yards

away. I figure to startle them back by interjecting. But I can’t find

the angle on the far wall to get my voice to them. I move a few feet

either direction and I can’t hear them at all. My little audio worm

hole to them is tiny and a one way street, it seems. I continue my rim

walk. I see the awesome narrows up Tony…but I also notice another of

the small canyons entering Tony that I have seen on approach to Tony

before. I have the time and I go scout. My efforts are rewarded. I see

down into the canyon and natural anchors are available. This pleases

me. If we can’t do our days objective, we can go down this canyon and

create a loop hike home rather than returning the way we came,

rejected and dejected.

Back at the rim team site, I share my find. Word comes from below. I

can only hear them if I edge over the mound, next to the drop.

Problem….. ..Loose rock abounds. In trying to hear them, I could

easily clock them with stones. The news is good. Tom says the final

rap can be done. Estimates it at 170 feet tall. It will take some

work, but…..Stevee is headed up the canyon to scout. At the least,

all but one of us can rap in here, do the 100 yards and rap down into

Sleepy Hollow. Stevee’s scout will determine if the canyon should be

descended from the upper rappel down. Have you ever tried to go up a

high stemming canyon. Let me tell ya…its a chore. That 3-5% downward

angle in most canyons, done the other way, matters a LOT!! It is kinda

fun watching him. We get angles on him as we watch what to me is his

now familiar climbing style. Hunched up, in a wrestlers position,

galumphing or alternately striding, one leg out, then the other

beyond. He keeps asking….”almost there?” We encourage, but this type

of travel takes time. He tells us that it is unrelenting stemming and

that it is an X, with 2-3 tough climbs and silos. I sigh and feel my

stomach clinch.

As he nears the top rap, the going gets a bit easier and he suddenly

is at the bottom of the rap. He has upclimbed the entire X section!!

That boy can “play!” He begs for food. He begs for water. I take off

to comply. I regroup the five of us….yes, Tom has jugged back up the

100 feet and we discuss options. I ask…”Wanna do an X or rap in at

the low entry?” Tom says he has to work the final rap and he could use

some help. Mark decides to give the help that Tom needs, although you

can see he is torn. Landon and Eric are on the fence. Eric decides to

go with Tom, Landon with me to the top and the stemming. Tom sets up

an anchor on a shallow rooted juniper and I rap in gently and bring

Stevee the water and food he wants and needs. Tom goes back to the

final rappel entry rap. Landon has been the anchor for Mark and Eric.

After Tom takes the ride off Landon, Landon lowers the rope to the

three fellows, only 100 feet from the canyon end. We had already

redistributed gear so that the stemming crew, Landon, Stevee and I are

free from wetsuits and other weight. We carry a rope for insurance.

After Landon has dropped the gear to Tom and crew, he takes the rim

back up to Stevee and I and raps in and joins us. We pull the rope.

While waiting for Landon, 2 things happen. I stretch and

prepare….and I also stop breathing from nerves. Not enough to pass

out, but enough to get lightheaded and a stomach ache. This waiting is

driving me CRAZY!!! I look at Stevee and say……”I HAVE GOT TO GET

GOING!!” He says go!! There is a wide pothole with water right away.

Stevee says it is the only water, so keeping feet dry is important.

Streeeeeetch and past it. Then up I go. I go slowly at first, to allow

my buddies to catch up, but gawd is it good to be moving. My anxiety

melts away. Landon comes up, Stevee behind. Stevee hasn’t canyoned

with Landon. Hasn’t with me in an X for awhile. It turns out he was

being conservative in his warnings of the difficulty. We dispense with

the more challenging spots, with care, but calm

Then we are moving and moving quickly. Stevee, carrying the weight in

the form of the rope, fights to stay with us. It feels great!. Bang,

bang, bang, wall to wall, hip here, locked elbow there and a ledge

rest there. LOVING IT. Surprisingly quickly, we hear Eric’s voice. He

is on the other side of a silo. We join him. Then we are at the

sliding ramp. The climb is made for a long person, so I go last,

others spotting below. We hear Tom ahead. Soon we descend into near

darkness. The canyon has drops, in this darkness, so one must be

careful. A few narrow upclimb out of small potholes and around the

corner is a ramp leading down to Tom. Orange light sparkles. Out

beyond him you feel, but don’t see the void. Beyond him, 200 yards of

air away, is the huge, eastern wall of Big Tony. What a perch!!

I should get Tom to add the details of one of his specialties. ..anchor

building. My understanding is that Mark did the 170 foot rap, off of

Tom and upon landing at the bottom, gathered sticks and logs, of the

specified length, tied them together (What is that called again?;-))

and Tom hauled them but and wedged them in the appropriate places and

voila, anchor. Ummm. 170 feet? Tom sighs and agrees to go last. You

build it, you go off it. The anchor is tested with back ups, as we

each take the big drop. We wait and see Tom edge over the big void, oh

so gently, slide down quietly and we are all down. Right at the same

spot as 24 hours earlier, after our descent of Big Tony!

So a new canyon done, in the heart of Kings Mesa. No sign whatsoever

of passage, recent or old. Two pothole sections and one high stemming

section, into a big drop and out through one of the garden spots in

canyon country. After some review, Landon and I were inclined to

downgrade it to an R, perhaps R+. Still a place to pay attention and

bring your game face. It was thrilling. The result remained uncertain

until late in the day. A fresh place, worked through with a team of

good friends That evening Mark, Eric and Landon left. They were headed

to explore new canyons of different character, with Dave and Penny.

The next day Tom had a return date with the infamous DDI Canyon, a

canyon he had started but exited early from 3-4 years earlier. Stevee

and I will join him.

So to the descenders, goes the spoils of naming the place. What to do?

It seemed that many still called Big Tony, Frosted Flakes. The

latter’s name having outlived its usefulness and intent. So it was

decided. Give Tony the Tiger his own place and his due. Shift the name

Frosted Flakes over to this newly descended fork of Big Tony. Now if

that doesn’t completely confuse things, nothing will. Pictures coming.

Ram