Skyrocket Creek – right fork

 

 

Tormentor (Alan Cook), Faith, and Cruise Director (Jason Nelson) attempted to ascend the right fork of the skyrocket creek drainage.  Cruise Director had previously ascended the left fork of the canyon, which turned out to be a good (read successful) San Juan adventure.  Today our progress was stopped by overhanging wet rock (read waterfall) and we attempted a traverse to bypass the waterfall.  The detour looked tame enough, but quickly became a game of house of cards loose rock with dire consequences.  This wasn’t just any loose rock either, it was right up there with the best (read most hideous) of what the San Juan’s have to offer.  Out came some pitons and a rope but they only led to more choss and potential dead(ly) ends.  

That’s how first ascents go.  In other words, sometimes they don’t.  Perhaps we’ll try again another day. Faith got to experience some special CrossFit training.  We’ll have to come up for a name for it still but it goes something like this… find a steep very loose hill and ascend.  Fifteen steps and five feet later Faith summited!  You do the math on that one.  How big were those steps?  Just like the riddle about the snail in the well.