FreezeFest III: Ho Hum Fork, Robbers Roost Canyons, UT
Day 2 Always been a tad nervous driving into remote areas with bad forecasts. The idea of being stuck for a few days isn't so bad. It is the loss of options, that bothers me. I had driven in 12 miles on the Roost Road to the Flattops. Snugly positioned behind the south one, on its eastern side, the substantial wind could sometimes be heard, but never felt and the dash to pavement, not too long, if the skies let loose. Heck, its early on December 28th and I am worried about rain? Snow, OK! But rain? Ryan comes. In the AM, he goes for a walk to confirm that wind is still out there. It sleets a little. It hails a little. What's next? Thunderstorms? Tom pulls on up. The options are tossed. Tom is great. He is willing to roll the weather dice a bit more than I. He has a project in the North Fork of Robbers Roost (NF of RR). His undiscovered fork, as it were. So deeper into Roost we travel. Spot cars down roads that are barely roads. We consider that if weather turns bad, all 3 cars will be stranded, in different places and that we would have healthy hikes to our respective gear and solo car camping experiences, for who knew how long. Added some spice.
Another gloomy morning in the desert. Photo: Ryan Cornia
Hey! There's a canyon over here. Not much of one...
The canyon had a couple of raps and some nice narrows, but like many a Roost canyon, the fun was over almost as soon as it began. We discussed various names for this mild canyon. Though Canyon 20,001 was high on the list, Tom went with "The Ho-Hum Fork of the North Fork of Robbers Roost Canyon".
Really nice narrows in upper Ho Hum.
An arch in upper Ho Hum. Bonus!!
Tom dropping from a slot. Photo: Ryan Cornia
Ryan dropping into a slot.
One of those down-elevator slots.
Da man who smiles in da canyons..
Last rappel in Ho Hum Fork. Nice. About it.
Nice walking in upper Robbers Roost. Photo: Ryan Cornia
Side slot in the North Fork. The narrow crack shown in Kelsey's guide, this is the fork Michael calls the Main Fork of the North Fork, RR.
Last rappel in Michael's Main Fork.
Nice light there in the Main Fork
Ram and Ryan through the black slot
The NF of RR is a challenging system to exit. Tom had worked some routes out and researched some others and they came into play during the week. We ended going up a side canyon and out to the top bench land. Ryan obeyed his elders and became our designated climbing gun on anything the old-timers felt like passing on (re: scared). With a little support for a foothold and some cheerleading, he climbed up a dryfall and offered a sling to the tentative old folks, who gratefully took it. What followed was a series of small and physical chockstone problems to climb, most solved by stemming up early and over the top of the barriers. Then the expansive views and the trudge up to one of the cars. The weather did more than hold. We were greeted by periodic sun and temps in the 40's.
Ryan leading the crux of the Crack route out.
The canyon we came out of.
Looks like blue sky, sunshine and big smiles all around.
A few other things to do out there, don't ya think? Looking out over the North Fork of Robbers Roost.
Tom, feeling lucky still, persuaded us to drive deeper into the Roost and so we camped around Bluejohns. The skies cleared, we made dinner, caught an awesome, orange moonrise and settled around the fire for 3+ hours of conversation and levity.
