PDA

View Full Version : Trip Report Zion Narrows



Bo_Beck
05-19-2008, 05:26 AM
Awaiting the "epic" report--

Did maybe 4 miles of Deep Creek and then the Narrows! It was Awesome. Took a few Photos but not a ton! Water Level was low but certainly kept my attention. I ran up onto a rock and then fell off the side. Got knocked unconscious and swam the rapid. The helmet saved my life. It cut my head open and left a big bump under the helmet. Just a couple miles into Deep Creek, a seam on my right tube split. I sort of was able to repair it with some tear-aid tape I had fortunately brought. Had to do 2 repairs and keep it very deflated. I would lean over onto the left pontoon whenever I would hit a rapid.

Don and Mike were great. We began our journey at 3:30 AM yesterday and I got home at midnight. It was worth the wait for sure. Saw another group of Kayakers that had hiked in from Chamberlain Ranch. Sounded like a brutal hike.? Our hike was maybe 15 minutes?

Anyhow...Off to work I go.

Alex
05-19-2008, 07:16 AM
Wow Bo, I am glad you made it out ok man! I am so jealous! Are you going again?

Bo_Beck
05-19-2008, 07:32 AM
Wow Bo, I am glad you made it out ok man! I am so jealous! Are you going again?

Thanks Alex! The season will be over after wednesday according to noaa river projections? We ran it starting at around 220cfs yesterday morning and ended on 180cfs. It was a bit boney (especially in my crippled kayak), but the amatuer kayaker I am, I would not have wanted more flow :mrgreen: I would want to do it again, but the river beat me up pretty bad. I went down a class 5 section, ran up onto a huge boulder, dropped off the side, slammed my head, got knocked out, came to, caught my boat, lost my paddle, and finally reposed. (this was only 2 miles into Deep Creek). I started paddling and realized that my right tube was flat. Spent an hour trying to tape up the seam. Sort of worked, but I limped the next 10 miles leaning on the left side of the boat :haha: I must have torn a muscle in my left shoulder because I sure cant lift my arm today! I found out that where we accessed Deep Creek is frowned upon by private landowners, but they allowed us to go anyway. It was a short, but steep descent for 15 minutes, but it sure beat the heck out of the 4-6 hour slog from Chamberlain Ranch! :five: There are quite a few class 3, 4 and even 5 rapids (and Don even said 6?) in Deep Creek. I was glad that it wasn't flowing any higher. Not a lot of places to pull over in some sections, which makes for a very interesting time! :rockon:

tanya
05-19-2008, 08:00 AM
:eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2:

Near death experience!

I am glad I sat this one out! :cool2: What a trip. :hail2thechief: I am so glad you are alive. :nod: Sounds like you need to get some rest though! :rockon:

Bo_Beck
05-19-2008, 08:17 PM
:eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2:

Near death experience!

I am glad I sat this one out! :cool2: What a trip. :hail2thechief: I am so glad you are alive. :nod: Sounds like you need to get some rest though! :rockon:

You would have had fun :nod: I'm glad I made it out alive too. Rest is good! :2thumbs:

Seth missed us by 5 minutes. I'm bummed as he is! He was going to video the whole trip. Oh well..another excuse for us to get together next year again.

A couple more pics I took. It's hard to get pictures while trying to drive! :haha:

tanya
05-19-2008, 08:23 PM
Very nice. Who is the man with the beard then?

Bo_Beck
05-20-2008, 03:34 AM
Very nice. Who is the man with the beard then?

He is Don Sharlet. Don has worked for Zion the last year as a road and trails supervisor. He has been employeed by the NPS for 30 years in places like Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Ranier. I really enjoyed his company. He is really laid back and fun loving, but takes his whitewater very seriously. We couldnt have had a better person along. :2thumbs:

Bo_Beck
05-20-2008, 04:16 AM
A Map of our trip Sunday down Deep Creek and the Zion Narrows.

hank moon
05-20-2008, 06:58 AM
A friend did it a few years back at 1400 cfs, a lot of it by headlamp.

said it was "exciting" - esp navigating fallen trees and the waterfalls coming in from the sides. the pictures were amazing...

...so much fun she went back a week later and did it again at a slightly reduced flow rate ("only" 900 cfs if I recall) ...

hank

canyonquest
05-20-2008, 07:23 AM
Bo,

It was me and my buddy Jason that you bumped into there at the North Fork / Deep Creek confluence. Wish we would have had a little more time to chat. I was extremely jealous of your Deep Creek put-in. However you didn't let on that it was such rough paddling. The walk in from Chamberlain's is long but still pretty. I'm glad your patch job got you through. We were unscathed aside from one very ugly dump right at the end of Riverside Walk in front of all the tourists. We flipped in the EXACT same spot two years ago. Note to self - portage around that little boulder field in the future.

http://canyonquest.com/v/zion/narrows/narrows_2008/P5180179.JPG.html

Alex
05-20-2008, 07:37 AM
canyonquest, I looked through your pics, what an awesome looking trip

"Whoever turns the boat first loses..." :roflol: Nice!

Man, I am so jealous of you guys! If you ever need another crazy to join you send me a PM :2thumbs:

Bo_Beck
05-20-2008, 07:44 AM
Bo,

It was me and my buddy Jason that you bumped into there at the North Fork / Deep Creek confluence. Wish we would have had a little more time to chat. I was extremely jealous of your Deep Creek put-in. However you didn't let on that it was such rough paddling. The walk in from Chamberlain's is long but still pretty. I'm glad your patch job got you through. We were unscathed aside from one very ugly dump right at the end of Riverside Walk in front of all the tourists. We flipped in the EXACT same spot two years ago. Note to self - portage around that little boulder field in the future.

http://canyonquest.com/v/zion/narrows/narrows_2008/P5180179.JPG.html

I'm glad you guys had a good trip. Man I was glad I didn't try to hike in from Chamberlain Ranch after talking to you two! 6 Hours! I don't know if my back would have liked me after that hike?!

The paddling really wasn't bad at all in Deep Creek. It was just a lot narrower and kept you on your toes! It would have been much better for me had I gotten a better signal to portage the waterfall instead of going over it. The waterfall is where I got knocked unconscious, tore my left deltoid, and probably damaged the right tube (I was under water, so I didn't see what happened to the boat?). I actually got my wits again pretty shortly afterwards, but then the tube went flat with very limited success repairing the 2 inck split right on the seam. Thanks for the offer of using your repair kit!

How did your Tandem Trip go! It must have been a bit frustrating having to drag the boat over the shoals?

A friend of mine went through the Narrows a week back and crashed at the same location at the end of Riverside Walk. They had a hard time getting the boat off the rocks. I dragged my boat over the logs on river right and dropped into the eddy on the backside of that same spot. Then I was able to merrily paddle downstream to the shuttle stop.

Did you get any pictures? Would love to see some! It was a difficult time for me to stop and get a lot of pictures. Next time it would be fun to do a Helmet Cam and document the whole trip! :2thumbs:

Bo_Beck
05-20-2008, 07:50 AM
canyonquest, I looked through your pics, what an awesome looking trip

"Whoever turns the boat first loses..." :roflol: Nice!

Man, I am so jealous of you guys! If you ever need another crazy to join you send me a PM :2thumbs:

Yeah, yeah, yeah! :lol8:
Actually Michal turned over first, but got right back in. I did learn a lot after my incident. We spent 10 minutes afterwards discussing scouting and shoreside signalling. Michal had given me the signal to go ahead, but what he really was trying to say is that there is a BIG ASS WATERFALL just below me...look where I'm pointing....don't do it man! Get over to the side. I interpreted his signal as "Go right where I'm pointing!".... :haha:

Bo_Beck
05-20-2008, 08:06 AM
A friend did it a few years back at 1400 cfs, a lot of it by headlamp.

said it was "exciting" - esp navigating fallen trees and the waterfalls coming in from the sides. the pictures were amazing...

...so much fun she went back a week later and did it again at a slightly reduced flow rate ("only" 900 cfs if I recall) ...

hank

You are talking one "hard core kayaker" Hank! This was my first experience with such an endeavour. I am soooooooooo glad that I did it and that the water was only 220cfs!

Logan Hebener who gave me the beta for Deep Creek has done the trip numerous times and at various levels was most gracious. His friend Don is a very experienced river runner and was impressed with the run and I'm quite certain he could have done the run with much more flow, but was quite impressed with what little water we had.

Logan has offered to teach me to roll a hardshell in his swimming pool and I have found a hardshell kayak, so next time I hope to see it from a different angle. :2thumbs:

Alex
05-20-2008, 08:10 AM
canyonquest, I looked through your pics, what an awesome looking trip

"Whoever turns the boat first loses..." :roflol: Nice!

Man, I am so jealous of you guys! If you ever need another crazy to join you send me a PM :2thumbs:

Yeah, yeah, yeah! :lol8:
Actually Michal turned over first, but got right back in. I did learn a lot after my incident. We spent 10 minutes afterwards discussing scouting and shoreside signalling. Michal had given me the signal to go ahead, but what he really was trying to say is that there is a BIG ASS WATERFALL just below me...look where I'm pointing....don't do it man! Get over to the side. I interpreted his signal as "Go right where I'm pointing!".... :haha:

Sorry Bo didn't mean to poke fun of you, I was referring to canyonquest's video in his gallery. They were running tandem and were coming up to a gnarly section and one of them says: "Let's play chicken, whoever turns the boat first, loses..." :lol8:

tanya
05-20-2008, 08:29 AM
Great stuff everyone.

It sounds like you have a couple of days Alex. Grab your boat and go for it!

Bo_Beck
05-20-2008, 08:37 AM
Bo,

It was me and my buddy Jason that you bumped into there at the North Fork / Deep Creek confluence. Wish we would have had a little more time to chat. I was extremely jealous of your Deep Creek put-in. However you didn't let on that it was such rough paddling. The walk in from Chamberlain's is long but still pretty. I'm glad your patch job got you through. We were unscathed aside from one very ugly dump right at the end of Riverside Walk in front of all the tourists. We flipped in the EXACT same spot two years ago. Note to self - portage around that little boulder field in the future.

http://canyonquest.com/v/zion/narrows/narrows_2008/P5180179.JPG.html

I finally got the link to work! Awesome stuff! That video stuff is sooooo cool! Glad you guys had a good trip!

Bo_Beck
05-20-2008, 08:40 AM
canyonquest, I looked through your pics, what an awesome looking trip

"Whoever turns the boat first loses..." :roflol: Nice!

Man, I am so jealous of you guys! If you ever need another crazy to join you send me a PM :2thumbs:

Yeah, yeah, yeah! :lol8:
Actually Michal turned over first, but got right back in. I did learn a lot after my incident. We spent 10 minutes afterwards discussing scouting and shoreside signalling. Michal had given me the signal to go ahead, but what he really was trying to say is that there is a BIG ASS WATERFALL just below me...look where I'm pointing....don't do it man! Get over to the side. I interpreted his signal as "Go right where I'm pointing!".... :haha:

Sorry Bo didn't mean to poke fun of you, I was referring to canyonquest's video in his gallery. They were running tandem and were coming up to a gnarly section and one of them says: "Let's play chicken, whoever turns the boat first, loses..." :lol8:

Oops! I hadn't seen his pics and TR with Video! That is soooo cool!
I'll certainly PM you if I get another opportunity Alex. It looks like the river is drying up for this season though? If my shoulder didn't hurt, I'd say lets get on the river tomorrow! :2thumbs:

Alex
05-20-2008, 08:45 AM
It's alright man, I am glad you got to go, sorry I couldn't attend. Another river called my name, I had to settle an old grudge with her. We are all good now, she took me back in her arms once again! :2thumbs:

Will look forward to next year, Bo!

Bo_Beck
05-20-2008, 11:24 AM
It's alright man, I am glad you got to go, sorry I couldn't attend. Another river called my name, I had to settle an old grudge with her. We are all good now, she took me back in her arms once again! :2thumbs:

Will look forward to next year, Bo!

An ex-employee of mine (Sherwood) and his girlfriend and another couple were on the Dolores maybe 2 weekends ago as well. I haven't talked to them, but I heard from friends that they had a GREAT time!? The only river I have done sort of in that neck of the woods is the Animas. I used to live in Durango and in the summer I would haul an innertube up past Hermosa and float down to Durango, I also did a commercial trip from Durango toward Aztec. What a beautiful river. I'm still hoping and keeping nmy fingers crossed that I'll be driving a baggage boat down the entire Grand Canyon in september!!!!!!! :five:

Bo_Beck
05-21-2008, 07:29 AM
Re: Kayak: Zion Narrows Trip!


Actually Tanya, the trip was as dangerous as you would want to make
it. I went into the day with a HUGE amount of apprehension, but
quickly found that the apprehension gave way to total focus. The only
reason I was injured is because we didn't take the time to discuss
proper river procedures before starting. We did discuss that we'd pull
over and scout any and all questionable spots, but soon we got lax and
one person would stop and either flag the others over or flag the
others to run it. Thats where we needed to spend some time....the
proper signals for "Stop" or "Go". I saw Michal posed and pointing
below. I "assumed" (ass out of you and me)he meant for me to go. Big
mistake. We discussed it after my incident however. There were
numerous portages after that and none of which were close calls. There
was generally ample time to get to one side or the other before any
hazards. The Deep Creek section was narrower and faster moving than
the actual Zion Narrows, and also had several waterfalls that could
have been really dangerous (one was for me because of lack of
communication). Once we arrived at The Narrows the water level was
pretty low and the trip was much more "laid back", but not to say it
couldn't have been dangerous?! I was paddling a Tomcat with a
partially inflated right chamber, and yet really didn't have problems
maneuvering to avoid obstacles, or arriving ashore to portage
dangerous spots. I certainly felt more comfortable in the Narrows than
I did in Deep Creek though. My plan is to learn how to paddle a
Hardshell this summer and next year repeat a similar trip on a
different boat. I would suggest the paddling trip through the Narrows
(accessed via Chamberlain Ranch to anyone interested, but am an
advocate of some good training beforehand. I think an ideal water
level for a first time-novice would be 200-250 cfs though. We went
through the Zion Narrows and it was somewhere around 170? and I had to
drag the duckie a few times. A bit more water would have made it less
physical.

--- In Zion_National_Park_Hiking@yahoogroups.com, "~tanya" <gotta>
wrote:
>
>
> So the whole thing is dangerous! [:D]
>
>
> --- In Zion_National_Park_Hiking@yahoogroups.com, "Bo" <bbeck>
> wrote:
> >
> > It wasn't really any more dangerous, you just had to do a lot more
> > paddling to get around the rocks and trees.
>