Lost Park Canyon

Lost Park was a... UNIQUE day in a canyon.

First of all, check out this view on the way to the Roost:

They had to do some work on the road... these are the same dunes that overtook the road last year around my birthday; we had to come up with an alternate plan. 

We had a different group than usual- me, Brian, Amy and Chase. There are two sections of the canyon; the first is supposed to be dry, but the second has a few pools. Amy and I chose this canyon, and we figured we could bail after the first section if we were too cold to swim. However, we encountered water almost immediately. Chase suggested we turn around. I laughed, thinking he was joking, but he was 100% serious. “Who thought it was safe to do a wet canyon in November? This is a terrible idea!” he said. Obviously, we hadn’t planned on there being that much water in the canyon, which is a bad sign for winter canyoneering prospects. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Yes, we’d get wet, but we were all wearing technical gear that would dry quickly, and this just meant we definitely wouldn’t do the second half of the canyon. But Chase’s statement made me uneasy. (I have anxiety, so as soon as someone else gets nervous, I am twice as anxious. 

There was some discussion about whether we should continue. Everyone was too polite to say what they actually wanted to do. But I think we made a good choice. We finished the first half of the canyon and then bailed. We were all cold, and actually, the route gets very convoluted after you enter the second half of the canyon. It’s hard to explain, but it would have added a ton of hiking to our day. On the exit hike, we laughed as we realized we hadn’t even put on our harnesses; there were no rappels in the first half of the canyon! There were some really fun downclimbs and some easy stemming, and the canyon was really pretty. But I don’t think I’d go back to finish it (unless I felt like hiking 9 miles just for fun- the part of the canyon we did was over 6 miles). 

Look at the stripes in that rock! 😍

Trusting these guys to catch me on this downclimb. I pulled out my camera because I had an “Aww” moment looking down at my friends’ faces, but then my mom commented on the picture and said it looked like I’d just given birth to triplets. Thanks, Mom. 

Gorgeous narrows!

I was “tip of the spear” in a lot of this canyon, just like Billy in Predator! 

The best kind of stemming- easy and scenic!

I really liked the dynamic we had as a group. We laughed a lot and sang along to Jay-Z while stemming and everyone just got along really well. No one grumbled about carrying gear that we didn’t even use. We were all just happy to be outside and exploring a new place. This is why I do canyons; not to be a badass with something to prove, but just to see beautiful places. There are definitely a lot of people out there who won’t do canyons if they’re not technical, and whose to-do lists consist of the most technically difficult canyons. I’m not judging those people; I’m sure it’s an athlete mentality that I just don’t understand since I’ve never been one. Anyway, the point is, it was nice to be out with people who felt the same way as me. 

Random little rock formation on the exit hike. 

You know what I love about the Roost? You’re hiking to/from the canyon, and this is your view:

And then, all of a sudden, this:

And there are slot canyons hiding in there, waiting to be found. ❤️