EvergreenDean
03-11-2010, 10:10 AM
We left Colorado on Thursday March 4th. Plan was to run a canyon or to around Zion with my buddy Steve from Zion Adventure Company then head to Escalante to try Egypt. We were the only fools in a tent in Springdale with temps dropping below freezing at night. Friday morning we geared up at ZAC and decided to try the huge rap at Frog Hollow since Zion Canyons were still mostly full of snow and ice, then give Keyhole a shot. Being relative noobies, Frog Hollow took longer than anticipated. The 240 ft rap to start our descent was awesome, but slightly nerve wracking. I learned an important lesson...do NOT mark your ropes mid-point with tape. Our auto blocks got jammed up on the tape as it rolled into a ring and had to struggle 100+ feet above the bottom to maneuver around it. The pot holes were mostly dry or just muddy, so we never pulled out the dry suits. Too bad the cows have wreaked havoc in this canyon but still a lot of fun. Challenging maneuvering around a pot hole 1/2 way down after zip lining our packs past it. Again, Steve did not instruct and let us figure out how to do it. Chris did a great spider man impression on the vertical wall, only to fall in at the very end. Hysterical laughter from Steve and I, and yes we got it on video!
ZAC was nice enough to let us keep the gear we didn't use til Saturday mid-day, so we got our chance to run Keyhole the next morning. The permit office said they had only issued one permit this season for Keyhole and did not get a report from the participants, so we didn't know what to expect. Plodded through snow to get down to the entrance, huge icicles hanging in the canyon and plenty of water. This was our first experience in dry suits and I was very impressed at how comfortable we were in the super cold water. Full swims in the narrow halls, short fun raps with flowing water. This canyon was a lot more fun than I expected. We had hoped for Pine Creek but just too much water. Steve was awesome and let us figure everything out for ourselves rather than giving instruction.
We returned the gear to ZAC and headed for Escalante at mid-day. Again, I can't say enough good things about this company and its staff. Weather report said possible light snow Saturday evening, but we were going slightly below the snow line so we decided to decline an offer on a free room in Escalante and headed down Hole In The Rock to camp instead. We camped about 1 mile past the entrance to East Egypt and listened to coyotes howling at dusk as we made dinner. Big surprise Sunday morning as we awoke to 4 inches of heavy wet snow. Egypt was definitely a no-go. We made the most of our morning and enjoyed the spectacular view of the Kaipirowits Plateau with fresh snow, but we knew we had an adventure ahead to make it out on the trail which had become pure bentonite sludge. After over two hours in low 4wd, 1st gear, we amazingly made it out. Goodyear Dura-tracks are the bomb!
With continued precipitation predicted, we decided at the last minute to head to the North Wash and see what conditions were like. We planned to just camp and play around as we did not bring North Wash maps, nor could we find any recent trip reports. Thankfully, we ran into DaveWyo, Penny and Lisa at the Sandthrax camp, who advised us they had been through West Lep the previous day. Unfortunately it rained all night Sunday and Dave smartly advised us that it would be bad for us and the canyon to attempt the Leprechauns that morning. Instead, we ran up Lucky Charms through the North entrance and saw exactly what Dave was talking about. The rock was wet and brittle, and even Five Ten Canyoneers did not stick well. We made it to the top but again we were mapless and decided trying to find the South route down with no description or map would be foolish. Great pictograph panel at the beginning of the hike. Too bad it has been vandalized with gringo art, but still really cool. Water in Lucky Charms was only ankle deep and mostly easy to avoid. Pour offs were dry, or at least not flowing.
Hellish drive home with the Glenwood Canyon rock slide shutting down I-70 but a great adventure none the less. Can't wait to get back in May!
Oops, looks like our pics are too big to post! Oh well, another lesson learned by the rookies.
ZAC was nice enough to let us keep the gear we didn't use til Saturday mid-day, so we got our chance to run Keyhole the next morning. The permit office said they had only issued one permit this season for Keyhole and did not get a report from the participants, so we didn't know what to expect. Plodded through snow to get down to the entrance, huge icicles hanging in the canyon and plenty of water. This was our first experience in dry suits and I was very impressed at how comfortable we were in the super cold water. Full swims in the narrow halls, short fun raps with flowing water. This canyon was a lot more fun than I expected. We had hoped for Pine Creek but just too much water. Steve was awesome and let us figure everything out for ourselves rather than giving instruction.
We returned the gear to ZAC and headed for Escalante at mid-day. Again, I can't say enough good things about this company and its staff. Weather report said possible light snow Saturday evening, but we were going slightly below the snow line so we decided to decline an offer on a free room in Escalante and headed down Hole In The Rock to camp instead. We camped about 1 mile past the entrance to East Egypt and listened to coyotes howling at dusk as we made dinner. Big surprise Sunday morning as we awoke to 4 inches of heavy wet snow. Egypt was definitely a no-go. We made the most of our morning and enjoyed the spectacular view of the Kaipirowits Plateau with fresh snow, but we knew we had an adventure ahead to make it out on the trail which had become pure bentonite sludge. After over two hours in low 4wd, 1st gear, we amazingly made it out. Goodyear Dura-tracks are the bomb!
With continued precipitation predicted, we decided at the last minute to head to the North Wash and see what conditions were like. We planned to just camp and play around as we did not bring North Wash maps, nor could we find any recent trip reports. Thankfully, we ran into DaveWyo, Penny and Lisa at the Sandthrax camp, who advised us they had been through West Lep the previous day. Unfortunately it rained all night Sunday and Dave smartly advised us that it would be bad for us and the canyon to attempt the Leprechauns that morning. Instead, we ran up Lucky Charms through the North entrance and saw exactly what Dave was talking about. The rock was wet and brittle, and even Five Ten Canyoneers did not stick well. We made it to the top but again we were mapless and decided trying to find the South route down with no description or map would be foolish. Great pictograph panel at the beginning of the hike. Too bad it has been vandalized with gringo art, but still really cool. Water in Lucky Charms was only ankle deep and mostly easy to avoid. Pour offs were dry, or at least not flowing.
Hellish drive home with the Glenwood Canyon rock slide shutting down I-70 but a great adventure none the less. Can't wait to get back in May!
Oops, looks like our pics are too big to post! Oh well, another lesson learned by the rookies.