Grand Junction, Colorado: Lemon Squeezer in Rough Canyon (Nov. 1, 2015)

This is an interesting slot canyon in western Colorado (there are more such in the state, but I have not visited others). There are four (!) features called Lemon Squeezer in the Grand Junction area. There is a mountain bike trail of that name, a rock climb of that name near the Devil’s Kitchen, and a feature of some sort near Mt. Garfield. This report concerns a very narrow slot canyon above Rough Canyon (in the Bangs Canyon Recreation Area). There is not a lot of information available about this slot and it took me a couple trips to locate the start. In March 2015, Bill Briggs and I failed to find the start and ended up climbing a very difficult slot near the end of the true Squeezer, as well as an elegant bonus slot to get to the mesa top. In late October 2015, I returned and hiked the loop from the Mica Mine up to Notch-O-Pass (hard bushwhacking) and then down around Tabeguache Tower to locate the Squeezer’s start. A week later (Nov. 1, 2015), I returned with Jonathan Kriegel and we did the fun and and unusual route, and more. We left Silverthorne at 6 am (helped by the time change!), had a smooth and fast 200-mile drive (each way), and were back home by 5 pm.

We took harnesses, short rope, and headlamps, but used none of it. Indeed, the more one carries, the harder the narrowest spots are; Jonathan suggests going naked. We left a pack with water at the start, did the route, continued with the climb to the top of the mesa via the Bonus Slot (highly recommended), and then went through Notch-O-Pass and down and around Tabeguache Tower (which has been free-climbed at the 5.12 level) back to the start. I carried my large camera, but had to have Jonathan pass it up or down to me five or six times, as parts of the route are exceedingly tight.

The approach: Park in the Rough Canyon/Mica Mines Trail parking area off the Little Park Road (officially, the Bangs Canyon Trailhead). Head down the Mica Mines Trail a short distance to the T-junction in Rough Canyon: the right trail goes up Rough Canyon to the interesting old mica mine, while the left goes down Rough Canyon. Go down canyon for less than a mile. After a drop near a pouroff, one crosses to the right side where the trail goes along an exposed, but wide, ledge. Soon after this ledge, leave the trail: leave the trail basically as soon as you can climb up right past the cliffs. The climb up to the Squeezer start is quite short. The start is marked by a “WELCOME” and arrow scratched into the rock; coordinates for the start are (38° 58′ 49.9″, 108° 37′ 20.9″). These are different than some coordinates I have seen online (which I now understand were the coordinates for the finish, and which caused us problems in March).

The first section is quite fun. Enter and use a wall with beautiful chickenhead-like protrusions to surmount the first chockstone. Soon thereafter the straight-ahead walk shuts down, but there a cute move up and left through a hole. From there one comes back right and then turns sharp left into a dark area with a sliver of light at the end. From here on, it just mostly a sequence of chockstones and jams, all fairly easy, and with no route choice. About halfway is a spectacular balcony on the left. Near the end is the crux: a chockstone requiring good jamming technique to overcome. The grade of this move is hard to estimate. It felt like 5.7. But I am getting old; maybe it is only 5.5 or less. Our shoes, running shoes with lugs on the sole, did not help; a flatter sole would have been better. There is very little for the feet as one nears the top, but the jamming pressure is more than adequate. Basically one has to be reasonably competent on rock to get up this with no aid from a partner. Beyond this, there is a final open-air downclimb on fourth-class rock that is very exposed; a good picture of this final move ishere. I think I turned the wrong way when I did it (I faced left, Jonathan faced right). Jonathan went first and helped guide my foot down the last two feet.

Now one is done with the traditional Squeezer, having exited the dark areas into a big open area. There are THREE choices for what come next. Most people end the day by descending the large third class gully to the base of the cliff and walking back to the start. Or one can turn roughly 90° right into a narrow, high, and very deeply cut slot. This is what Bill Briggs and I did in March; getting through and up and out of this is spectacular—but much more difficult (5.8) than any part of the Squeezer. Bill led and I needed some rope pull. Parts are very, very tight and one has to concentrate on breathing: we suggest The Iron Lung for this one; as far as we know, we were the first to climb this slot. The third option is what we did this day: cut back up and hard right on third-class terrain (we went under the first chockstone) to the easy ground above (that area is also where Bill and I ended up after the hard route). From there one follows the base of the blocking cliff left to a very elegant, long, and narrow slot that leads to the top and is similar in difficulty (Jonathan found this pitch to be the most interesting of all!) to parts of the Lemon Squeezer. This slot has a ledge well off the ground that makes the first 50 feet or so easy. Without that ledge, one would walk along the bottom; not clear how that would work out. I suggest the name Bonus Slot for this one. Then one is on top of the hill and can wander along the edge to find an easy way down into Notch-O-Pass. From there one descends steeply on some loose rock back and around the base of Tabeguache Tower to the start.

I first heard of this route some years ago, but it took a while to finally do it. Although the route is not terribly hard or long, the quality of the Squeezer and the fact that it goes through the rock at all to an open end are remarkable.

Alternatives: If one has left nothing at the start, it seems clear that one can walk directly down from the top of the mesa to the area near the Mica Mine Trail T-intersection. That would be very efficient. As for the traditional Squeezer, it is possible to do it in reverse, and that has been done; the crux would be in the same place as in the normal direction, dropping down over the chockstone shown in the lead photo above.

More on the crux grade. It has been called 5.5 and 5.7R. Probably 5.6 is reasonable. The final move at the end is Class 4, but very exposed and there was a fatal fall there in February 2024.

Pictures: I used my Canon EOS/T5i, with a zoom lens and maximizing ISO at 12800 for several of the shots (ISO 6400 for the best shot, above); I used the flash a couple times.

Other resources: More photos and details can be found http://www.summitpost.org/rough-canyon-lemon-squeezer/684672. I posted an entry on this route at Mountain Project: http://www.mountainproject.com/v/lemon-squeezer/111282815

The Lemon Squeezer starts in the slot at left below.
Welcome to the Dark Side.
Jonathan ready to go. We had rope, harness, and headlamps; we needed none of it.
The initial moves are very elegant. The wall on the right is covered with chickenhead-like holds (unlike the smooth walls later on). And one does not really know what one is getting into, so there is some excitement and mystery as one climbs over this boulder, then turns right, then back left and up through a very small hole.
The view after the first boulder is passed. One goes right after the next small boulder to get positioned under the climb through a small hole.
After the climb through the hole, one reaches this room, which is much darker than this ultra-high ISO photo indicates. One heads for the sliver of light visible at the end.
Beautiful skylight.
About halfway through the Squeezer is this great balcony.
Leaving the balcony.
A typical spot in the heart of it.
Jonathan is here just about finished with the crux, a classic jam against a wall that is very smooth.
Past the difficulties. It’s a little hard to rate this, but it seems 5.6 is reasonable given the smoothness of the wall.
After gaining some elevation on easy ground following completion of the Squeezer, we entered the elegant Bonus Slot, which provides escape through the last bit of cliff and access to the top of the mesa. Here Jonathan is at the crux of it (low fifth class). It is a lovely narrow slot with a large ledge about 10 feet up that one can walk along until about this spot, where the ledge dies and one uses jamming technique for the last couple of steps.
The final descent out of the Squeezer. I cannot remember where in this image the move is: maybe the center top. It is easy but exposed.
And this flash shot shows JK just about to make the last step in Bonus Slot. Photography is difficult in the Squeezer. Flash can wash out the color. Using ultra high “film” speed works, but does cause some noise.
Jonathan exiting the Bonus Slot.
Looking back down the Bonus Slot. From here, one is a short distance below the top of the hill. One could probably also get to this spot very easily using the rock spur on looker’s right (the left border of the slot), which is not very steep; more fun to use the dark way.
The top, with Rough Canyon and Grand Mesa in back. (Photo by Jonathan Kriegel)