{"id":511,"date":"2017-10-08T22:25:01","date_gmt":"2017-10-08T22:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calmcollectedbutdangerous.com\/?p=511"},"modified":"2023-09-27T04:38:08","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T04:38:08","slug":"september-2017-the-squeeze-north-fork-blue-john","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calmcollectedbutdangerous.com\/?p=511","title":{"rendered":"The Squeeze | North Fork | Blue John | September 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Day 1 | September 3 | The Squeeze (aka Segers Hole)<\/h4>\n
This year we added two LaFames to the crew: the unstoppable Emma, and Juan Diego, who managed to complete all three days with barely a scrape to prove he was there. Brad was back minus pregnant Emily, who for some reason didn\u2019t feel like joining us. Brent, Andy and Cristina made it for the second trip of the year (and we\u2019re old! yay, us!) and conquered the hell out of this canyon that nearly drowned a hypothermic Andy in 2013.<\/p>\n
We were up by 4:30 for the earliest start ever but it made for a pleasant (certainly not easy) hike in via the Little Muddy and straight up the canyon face before dropping in at about 10:00. We knew we had a long list of potholes to get through so we made quick work of it and managed to hand-line a fair number of the rappels. Having Emma was a huge help as she was able to set up anchors (why the rest of us haven\u2019t figured it out in 12 years is a great question) to keep us moving rather than having to wait for the group of six to get through each problem. Emma took a full dunk in some gross water (meaning the rest of us knew not to go under. Thanks, Emma) and we spent a lot of the day in and out of pools and keepers.<\/p>\n
The technical section was a lot of fun without any major setbacks, and then we got to Redemsh\u2019n Pothole\u2013where Andy almost died and Brent and I would\u2019ve had to eat him to survive until search and rescue found us the next day. With a couple of homemade pot-shots and a whole lotta hustle, Andy totally redeemed himself and had us wondering how on earth we made it so difficult the first time. Take that, Segers.<\/p>\n
Emma tried to kill and then save a tiny, helpless snake in one of the potholes and Brad carried it to safety. It was the second sleepy snake of the day but the first one was a rattler so we left it the eff alone.<\/p>\n
The rest of the canyon was easy enough, especially since we knew \u201cthe end\u201d wasn\u2019t actually the end and the technical section just kept going and going until our final rappel and exit to The Muddy. The water was really low, which made crossings easy. Emma took a mud bath on purpose, Juan Diego took one on accident, and we were just in time to do the entire two-hour hike without the sun beating down on us and still make it to the car with a bit of dusk to spare.<\/p>\n
Jan and Jorge had dinner waiting since Andy was able to send them a message with the handy Garmin GPS thingys, which makes Happy Jan even happier.<\/p>\n
Total time ~13.5 hours; Total distance ~10 miles (Cristina\u2019s phone said 14 miles and she\u2019s sticking to it)<\/p>\n
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Approach down the Muddy before the ascent to The Squeeze<\/p><\/div>\n
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Petroglyphs on the ascent hike of the Squeeze<\/p><\/div>\n
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View down the Muddy<\/p><\/div>\n
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Little rattle friend Emma nearly stepped on<\/p><\/div>\n
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Pothole bypass in The Squeeze<\/p><\/div>\n
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Sewage swimmer bypass<\/p><\/div>\n
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Two-stage rappel in The Squeeze<\/p><\/div>\n
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Preparing for pothole redemption in The Squeeze<\/p><\/div>\n
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Trying to unhook a hook anchor in The Squeeze<\/p><\/div>\n
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Teamwork<\/p><\/div>\n
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Big rappel in the Squeeze<\/p><\/div>\n
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Mining remnants<\/p><\/div>\n
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Choke log obstacle<\/p><\/div>\n
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Crack slot by-pass<\/p><\/div>\n
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The Squeeze exit up the Muddy<\/p><\/div>\n
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Emma playing in mud<\/p><\/div>\n
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Muddy spa treatment in the Muddy<\/p><\/div>\n
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Day 2 | September 4 | North Fork of Robber\u2019s Roost<\/h4>\n
We decided to do the \u201ceasy\u201d canyon day two so we wouldn\u2019t have to wake up so early, which meant we didn\u2019t start the hike in until nearly 11:00. We left Brent\u2019s car closer to the exit and cut about 1.5 miles by parking Andy\u2019s car closer to the entrance. It was a flat, hot hike through the wash to the first rappel. There was a lot more spanning and chimneying on this one compared to The Squeeze but we were able to partner assist and down climb most of the rappels (we think).<\/p>\n
We stopped for a speed climbing break toward the end at a cliff that had lots of great nooks for hand and foot holds. Andy beat Emma by 15 seconds, but only because Emma is a miniature person with T-Rex arms. Brad took his sweet time getting to the top, but he made it all the way to the top. Emily, you would\u2019ve been so proud.<\/p>\n
Turned out the hardest part was yet to come as the exit was a fairly vertical scramble\/up-chimney that lead to a cloudless sky and a crazy hot afternoon hike\u2013uphill, in sand\u2013back to the car. I kept thinking about how easy it would be to just sit down and die but managed to make it to the cars behind Brent and Emma who beat us to turn on the AC. I think it\u2019s safe to say it was the worst and hottest out hike of all time, but I\u2019ve probably said that before.<\/p>\n
We were back at camp by 5:00 which gave us all time to shower in the fancy new shower tent, enjoy another fantastic camp dinner and get to bed pretty early. And then Emma woke up in the middle of the night with fiery fingers because the jalape\u00f1os she\u2019d help Andy chop had seeped into her skin. Ouch.<\/p>\n
Total time ~6 hours; Total distance ~5.5 miles; Approximate temp 127\u00b0<\/p>\n
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North Fork Start<\/p><\/div>\n
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North Fork views<\/p><\/div>\n
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North Fork descent<\/p><\/div>\n
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Setting a North Fork rappel<\/p><\/div>\n
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North Fork<\/p><\/div>\n
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North Fork rappel<\/p><\/div>\n
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North Fork lunch break<\/p><\/div>\n
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North Fork rappel<\/p><\/div>\n
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Climbing break<\/p><\/div>\n
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Heat stroke<\/p><\/div>\n
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North Fork exit death march<\/p><\/div>\n
Day 3 | September 5 | Down East Fork & Up Main Fork of Blue John<\/h4>\n
At the suggestion of Climb Utah, we decided to go down East Fork and up Main Fork and then we were all mad at Climb Utah for suggesting it. No one was angrier than Emma. Not that the East Fork wasn\u2019t beautiful and a fun canyon to navigate, but it wasn\u2019t nearly beautiful or fun enough to make up for the interminable shadeless hike between the exit of that canyon through the wash to the beginning of the next one.<\/p>\n
It felt endless but we were finally rewarded with the deepest slots yet and incredible red rock chambers followed by a long but shaded hike through the narrows. Going up was a new challenge that required every bit of strength I had left (speaking only for myself because the children made it look easy). A lot of skin was left behind as we wedged ourselves between the walls for 200 meters of off-width climbing\/chimneying. Once up and out, the hike back was all wash which should have made it an easy walk back to the car, but Emma overshot the final bit and wound up passing the cars with Brad wandering behind her. They blamed each other, bickered over walkie-talkies and then made up with fruit snacks. It was cute.<\/p>\n
Total time ~8 hours; Total distance ~10 miles<\/p>\n
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Climbing UP Bluejohn<\/p><\/div>\n
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Chimney break up Bluejohn<\/p><\/div>\n
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Bluejohn slot<\/p><\/div>\n
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Climbing up Bluejohn<\/p><\/div>\n
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Sexy vibes in Bluejohn<\/p><\/div>\n
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Camp vibes<\/p><\/div>\n
New this year:<\/h4>\n
Brent winning best injury after losing most of his forearm skin in a tragic ladder accident day 1<\/p>\n
Brad not winning best injury (but coming in a solid second, chafing included)<\/p>\n
Someone RUNNING in 100\u00b0+ heat on the out hike (Emma, you\u2019re crazy)<\/p>\n
The entire group making it all three days without a break<\/p>\n
Going UP a canyon (!!!)<\/p>\n
Finishing a canyon under the suggested time on Climb Utah (instead of the usual 2 \u2013 5 hours over)<\/p>\n
Brad\u2019s wax skin diagnosis<\/p>\n
Nail in Brent\u2019s tire on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere<\/p>\n
J & J not getting a flat tire on the trailer<\/p>\n
Maybe not new for all time, but it\u2019s been awhile since we\u2019ve done three canyons without seeing another living soul or even a car parked at any of the trail heads. Being the only ones out there is part of what makes this so magical, but it was also so damn hot it probably kept Utah-based canyoneers away.<\/p>\n
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Great trip overall and we were happy to have the newbies join us\u2013you two killed it! Next year we\u2019re shooting for Zion and thinking we\u2019ll wait until late September to avoid heatstroke and the crowds.<\/p>\n
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Day 1 | September 3 | The Squeeze (aka Segers Hole) This year we added two LaFames to the crew: the unstoppable Emma, and Juan Diego, who managed to complete all three days with barely a scrape to prove he was there. Brad was back…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90,91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-robbers-roost","category-san-rafael-swell"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/calmcollectedbutdangerous.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/IMG_3075.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calmcollectedbutdangerous.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calmcollectedbutdangerous.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calmcollectedbutdangerous.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calmcollectedbutdangerous.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calmcollectedbutdangerous.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=511"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/calmcollectedbutdangerous.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1143,"href":"https:\/\/calmcollectedbutdangerous.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511\/revisions\/1143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calmcollectedbutdangerous.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calmcollectedbutdangerous.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calmcollectedbutdangerous.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calmcollectedbutdangerous.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}