There is no official count, so rangers rely on observation to tally the usage in the surrounding canyons. Nobody had ever heard of it before, and then they see it on television.” “Since Aron Ralston? There are way more people,” the ranger said. No matter their opinions of the person, the place draws attention. Most who are familiar with the saga have reached their own conclusions about Ralston’s actions. According to a BLM ranger stationed at nearby Hans Flats – who requested anonymity – the remote slot canyons of the surrounding Colorado Plateau have become an attraction for many since the Ralston episode drew the likes of NBC’s Tom Brokaw into the modern Western outdoor drama.

He described the trio as young and fit, adding that they seemed to have all the necessary equipment for a long day in canyon country.īut not everyone is as educated. “After rethinking it, I probably should have told them not to even try it. “I told them it sounded pretty ambitious,” the ranger said. This group’s plan, he said, was to complete the route – including the 65-foot rappel down to view the fabled petroglyphs of Horseshoe Canyon – then climb back out and return through the technical slots of Blue John. The young ranger had crossed paths with the vehicle’s three passengers the day before, as they practiced ascending a nearby cliff and discussed their plan to do what these days might loosely qualify as the “Ralston Route” through the Main Fork of Blue John Canyon in the harsh Utah desert.Īs the ranger understood it, the trio had planned to descend the slot canyon made famous three years ago when Aron Ralston of Aspen was trapped there for five days beneath a fallen boulder before cutting off his right hand with a pocketknife and hiking out. Up to that point, the car – tagged with Colorado plates, loaded with all the accoutrements of desert adventure and parked smack dab in the middle of our campsite – had been little more than a minor annoyance. and asked about the green Subaru Outback that had mysteriously materialized in our absence. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menuīlue John Canyon, Utah – We had been back in camp for about half an hour when the Bureau of Land Management ranger pulled up just before 7 p.m.

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