No Mans Canyon - Robbers Roost

RATING: 3A

LENGTH: 4-5 hours (8-10 if doing both at once)

GEAR: Standard Technical Gear, Ascending gear for the south fork. Moderate Route Finding

RAPPELS: Up to 60 m ( 197 ft. ), bring a 60 m ( 197 ft. ) and 10 m ( 33 ft. ) if fixing the South Fork. Bring a 60 m ( 197 ft. ) and pullcord if doing just the North Fork. Bring a 60 m ( 197 ft. ) rope, pullcord, and 10 m ( 33 ft. ) rope if doing both.

WATER: Generally little or none unless right after rains. Possibly wading, but likely little swimming.

FLASHFLOOD: Moderate, but you can see the whole drainage and skies on the approach.

SEASON: Any, although summers can be hot. Roads can be difficult to pass in the winter.

Hype

No Mans canyon, next to Larry, seems often overlooked by canyoneers. Both forks, however, are good and very beginner friendly. The north fork has one of the most scenic sections of canyon around, and is highly recommended. The South Fork is recommended for those with ascending skills, and can be done along with the North Fork in one long day.

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Comments

A couple comments on this canyon. I don't think this is a canyon for beginners. It's not for beginning canyon leaders, and it's a little difficult even if you have a couple newbies thrown in with an otherwise experienced group. Three of the four rappels have very awkward starts - you have to downclimb below the anchor before you rappel. Not easy for beginners, and it's very easy to get tangled up in webbing/rope/etc when trying to step below the anchors to rappel. The last rap requires some careful rigging. As of 3/20/10, the anchor(s) for the last rap consist of 2 chockstones and a very loose deadman anchor. We backed up this anchor with a climber's hexcentric for all but the last rappeller. Regardless of the anchor situation, make sure you use a biner block for the last rap, and separate the ropes before the last person rappels. The rap strand can easily get caught in a groove, and if the retrieval strand gets tangled into said groove, it will be very difficult to pull your rope. The exit described above is a little difficult to spot below. I'm not sure if my party found the "right" trail, but we hiked out on a barely visible cattle trail up to a cowboy wall (stacked rocks) and moki steps (steps cut into the sandstone). If you've gone about 5 minutes downcanyon from the last rap, and you see two live juniper trees (one about 8" in diameter at its base, the second about 20" diameter at its base) to the right side of the watercourse, you've gone too far. Once you've hiked to the rim, you need to use very careful routefinding to get back to your vehicle. You might end up dropping into the bottom of a side fork of the north fork. If you don't have 7.5" topographic maps (and the knowledge to use them), exiting via this route will be very difficult.

by: JohnBraun [Mar 25, 2010]

Really enjoyed this canyon. We just finished doing this canyon a week ago. Quite a bit of water in there, with a possible swimmer if you don't stem on lower (underwater) ledges. The last drop (2 stages) can be done with a single 200' rope (50'/100'). The climb out is a long one, lots of ups and downs with some very good route finding. Thanks Ryan for the beta!

by: Wasatch [Jun 05, 2011]