On day two, we awoke to the third member of our party arriving at Granary Spring's Motel 6. Mike Fox was onboard for the weekend, and following our moderately interesting day in Lost Park, it was time for a semi-classic, that surprisingly none of us had done before; the Bluejohn complex. Our route was down the East fork, up into the squeeze variation as far as was interesting, and then down to the confluence with the Main, and back up the Cathedral Narrows to camp.

Bluejohn did not disappoint. Perhaps we hit it in ideal conditions, with 75 degree weather, not a cloud in the sky, low water, and great lighting in the Cathedrals. Or maybe it really is that good? All I can say is it is worth doing again. Perhaps with a nicer camera.

East fork starts out mellow enough. Couple of possible rappels that are easily bypassed, and then some pretty easy, but somewhat shallow walk-through slot for a ways. Without being there before, we were nervous about the water levels. Lost Park was holding water the day before, so we assumed likewise for East. It's not uncommon for there to be a long swim right at the confluence of the squeeze variation and the East fork, so being the wusses that we are, we carried 2mm wetsuits through.

Didn't take long to get into some water, so we changed into suits, and it ended up being waist deep. No big deal though, the wetties were nice armor for the super squeezy upclimb into the squeeze. More water up there too, but never more than waist deep. We upclimbed to the 15 foot rockfall, before retreating.

Downcanyon, lots more water. We came to the big swim, and discovered that if it is full, it could be 100 yards or longer. Fortunately, it was 30 inches deep or so. We found it a bit surprising that there was a significant logjam about halfway through. In our conditions, it was no problem to go slide right under it, but we all agreed it could be a pretty nasty encounter if it was a full swim. Perhaps others have seen this log? It is wedged vertically into the slot, overhanging to the upcanyon side, and blocks the width of the canyon, except at about 40 inches high. We went through on our knees. But add two to three more feet of water, and it looks ugly.

The canyon quickly relents, and gives way to a pretty walk through slot that lit up just nicely in the mid-morning sun. We rested quickly for lunch, popped off the wetsuits, and then started the rather boring walk down the sandy wash to the confluence with main. Hate to say it, but it is a bit of a slog.

Arrived at the Cathedral narrows perhaps 2 hours after lunch, and timed it just right again. The light was surreal, and presented the canyon well. Very definitely one of the prettiest stretches of canyon I've seen in the Roost. I imagine the time of year (late October) lends itself well to this loop, as you get the canyons oriented to the sun just right in both forks. Highly enjoyable.

But the best was still yet to come. Shortly up from the cathedral narrows, begins a series of upclimbs, one after another, after another. Net gain of maybe 200 feet in total. None of the moves are particularly difficult, but the unrelenting nature of the problems does begin to wear you down. But once your up, your up, and it's a quick walk back to camp.

I found Bluejohn to be a fantastic day. Lots of everything, from super tight slot, to moderate climbing, to just plain beautiful narrows. What more could you ask for?

Lost Park - Bluejohn - E. Water - Low Spur - Smallcatraz - Li'l Bull - Chambers

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