Follow the Hike to Aron Ralston’s rock in ‘127 Hours’.
The Scene: Aron Ralston (James Franco) slips into an isolated slot canyon and becomes trapped when a boulder flattens his right hand and wrist against the wall.
The Place: Bluejohn Canyon, Utah.
Director Danny Boyle filmed 127 Hours in the very spot where Ralston endured his five-day ordeal: the Bluejohn Canyon of Utah's Robbers Roost region. This unpatrolled and unmarked area — just southwest of the Horseshoe Canyon Unit of Canyonlands National Park — offers a number of spectacular canyoneering routes for people with technical canyoneering skills. These range from moderate half-day adventures, such as the West Fork route, to more challenging full-day routes, like Bluejohn to Horseshoe Canyon (aka the "Ralston Route"). To complete the Ralston Route you'll have one mandatory 70-foot rappel, but you can also reach the boulder that entombed him without rappelling (it's about eight hours round trip with lots of scrambling). Keep in mind that Bluejohn Canyon is in a very remote part of Utah more than 30 miles from a paved highway and two hours from the closest town. Don't pull a Ralston; be sure to bring a partner.
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