4th Annual Utah Manyoneering Trip

Every year around this time I try my hardest to circle up a couple of friends and fly down to the desert for some fun and games. Typically the Spring trip is the co-ed (bring the ladies) trip and fall is reserved for the MAN TRIP (manyoneering)….though it doesnt always shake out that way. Anyways, It’s big #4 this year…hard to believe that we’ve been doing this for almost half a decade now…and the crew is getting bigger and bigger.

We had some travel timing issues this year and people were coming and going at different times. As per the usual, I didnt even bother putting together a formal itinerary because it always gets shot to hell with dodging weather. Interestingly, we pushed the trip back to October this year (usually in September) with the hopes of have more stable weather. WRONG!!!

We were fortunate to start things off with 3 FANTASTIC days in Robbers Roost. This is one area that I had just scratched the surface on and was ecstatic to get out there again. We set up camp at granary springs, had the whole place to ourselves, and didnt experience a lick of wind. For a PacificNorthwesterner, its a little slice of heaven to camp out without a rainfly under the Milky Way in Southern Utah.

Day 1: Both Forks of Red Spur: Before this trip Hans Flat marked the edge of the map in my brain. One simply fell off the Earth if you passed Hans Flat RS. I hadnt considered taking a vehicle beyond and had previously ignored canyons beyond the ranger station….but sure enough here we were talking about High or Red Spur this year. What the rental car companies dont know doesnt hurt them, right? It was a little disconcerting when the Ranger at Hans Flat stuck her head out the window and said “Thaaaaat is your vehicle…???” (Chevy Traverse…which for the record is a glorified minivan and the worst AWD rental I’ve had in years). On the return trip we took a bit of a hit with a simealtenous illumination of the low oil light. First though: S*^t!!! Fortunately no damage…just coincidence, however, still not a good place to be low on oil.

Robbers Roost is a difficult area to wrap your head around.

Day 2: Mindbender & No Mans Canyon: Both fantastic places! Years ago I had descended Not-Mindbender and the similarities were striking. Unfortunately we neglected to note that the evening light in October is VERY VERY limited. We watched a BEAUTIFUL sunset ascending from No Mans. For future reference, this seems like the canyon that it would be nice to do the deproach in daylight. There were numerous ledge systems that are difficult to interpret with map or GPS…especially in the dark. Although likely, unless we completed the hike out incorrectly, I’d consider it quite strenous with a few challenging moves.

Day 3: White Roost & Zero G: White Roost: A delightful little place. Ding….Elevator going down…. We only completed one rappel throughout the whole canyon, electing to elevator down everything else. Unfortunately we caught up with a team of 6-7 plodding through the tightest and technical sections. Zero G: We did a quick lap through Zero G to round out the day. It was the driest I’ve ever seen it! During the final downclimb/rappel I stood on top of the big chockstone at the end of the canyon in case my semi-claustrophobic (but very skinny) friend needed assistance. Partly due to some bad decision making but also in part due to my bad advice he squeezed his way out too far and hung 10+ feet above the belled out section with his feet unable to touch anything. He exclaimed: “I’m going to fall”. I replied “Ryan, dont fall” to which I received “I’m going to fall”. Then he fell… The geometry of the canyon there redirected his fall quickly in a slide like fashion but I feel fortunate that there was not injury and also that he did not fall the full distance to the pool. Anyways…a bit dicey and decidedly a near miss. Ugh! Dont let your guard down! P.S. The keeper had only 3″ of water in it at that time…though its likely rained since.

Day 4: Euphrates (Ticaboo Mesa). Euphrates is the real deal! Our rented Chevy was a bit of a joke but it made it out to Euphrates with a little coaxing. Euphrates was in moderate water and contained several keepers, the first of which was particularly challenging. The lip was relatively low angle, however, was encapsulated in thick thick slippery mud. Out came the pot-shots which were thrown from a vulnerable spot stemmed up 50 feet in the slot. The geometry of the canyon made this throw a bit tricky as it turned a to the right but after getting a couple guys in the pothole to assist we finally got someone out! No pictures of this one because I was working like a dog on this escape. Thank to Matt H. and Ryan S. for the assist! The potholes seemed to have far less sand than described in previous years, particularly the final rappel which is traditionally a sandtrap anchor, however, We elected to build a deadman as the canyon geometry & only anchor placement spot (up canyon of the standard one due to water conditions) jeopardized the pull in a big way on a sandtrap.

Day 5: Rained out… Frustrating but not unexpected. Awoke at Sandtrax cut off from the highway on both sides by flash floods! We hiked around the Leps to get a first hand experience with flash flooding. Interesting… We had planned to head out to the Kingdom and give Poe a run again, however, the forecast shot that down pretty quick. We had the equipment, a 5.11 climber, 140lb LAMAR for the sandtrap, the experience of people that had descended it before, and a big bag of tricks, big dudes, little dudes, medium dudes, but the weather just didnt play ball with us. Part of me is happy not to subject myself to that ugly hike again…

Day 6: Rained out…. VERY FRUSTRATING….GETTING CANGRY!!!! (Translation: Canyon Angry…only known cure is more canyon STAT). We hiked ALL the way to the head of Woody Canyon (Trachyte Creek) in pretty good weather to watch it deteriorate. After we himmed and hawed for an hour we turned tail once the weather look as the photo below. An hour later the thunder started overhead… Nothing against Stan’s but I really hate submitting myself to a second straight day of phone surfing and shakes in hub of modern entertainment known as Hanksville. But it was the right call…

Things were getting VERY VERY desperate! Turns out you can eat at every restaurant in Hanksville in a day. Tour du Hankville!

Day 7: Cottonwood Wash. Finally!!! A canyon! Some spicey driving through washes engineering solutions over big boulders… Cottonwood Canyon was pleasant but certainly not spicey. Its obstacles are canyon elementary school at worst but after 48 hours of Stan’s Burgerhouse… a canyon is a canyon! Lots of Shenanigans in Cottonwood for 5 guys that had been cooped up for 2 days!

Day 8: Nighthawk Fork of Shinob Canyon: We read about Keeper Potholes, Santraps, big rappels, etc and were hoping for something spicey. We found a difficult approach (routefinding), extremely high water/sand levels, a short short canyon, and no mandatory anchor building solutions. Worth doing perhaps in different conditions The final rap is definitely interesting and walking up into the Timpie Fork offers VERY VERY dramatic views. Again…worth a descent but I’d wait for bone dry conditions.