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View Full Version : Trip Report Kolob Canyon



Slot Machine
08-12-2013, 09:51 AM
On August 10th, 2013, Steph, my brother-in-law Tyler and I ventured through Kolob Canyon. This was Tyler's first canyon since his accident in Sandthrax, ten weeks ago.

Kolob is a spectacular canyoneering adventure, with stunning views around every corner. There was almost no flow going through the canyon, perhaps one gallon per second (or about 0.1 CFS). For our first time through, the sparse amount of water was fine with us.

Please turn your sound ON and maximize your viewing area before playing this video. You'll have a little more fun that way. :mrgreen:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaUKtgTXXP8

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The real challenge came after the last big rappel. We came across 2 rattlesnakes and another unexpected obstacle...

Tyler and I were hiking downstream from the majestic 400 ft spring-fed waterfall when Tyler began swatting at something. I was on the shore of the creek and Tyler was in the main watercourse. Suddenly he started screaming and flailing, sprinting upstream trying to remove his pack and his helmet. As his pack came off his back, 10 bees flew out from underneath. As his helmet came off, 4 more came flying out. Perhaps a dozen more bees were literally chasing him as he retreated up the creek. Quite scary. Unfortunately, Tyler had his wetsuit peeled down to his waist, so he was stung at least a dozen times. Luckily, the bees were not that interested in me or Steph.

Once we retreated upcanyon a bit, we looked around, trying to find the home of the bees. It was difficult to spot, inside of a log that had fallen across the creek. Tyler had stepped on this log, much to the bees annoyance.

Then we realized: While sprinting away Tyler had dropped one of the ropebags directly underneath the doorway of the nest, no more than a foot away. There were about 30 very angry bees attacking it.

It was then I remembered that bees are not too fond of mud. So we proceeded to cover ourselves, like Schwarzenegger in Predator.

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Ever since seeing the move back in 1987, I always hoped that the need to copy that method would arrive. Covering yourself with mud for protection is fun. It was even more fun when we realized how well it works. With our wetsuits zipped back up, we covered our faces, necks and hands with mud and proceeded downstream.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFHxhuXObTo

The rest of Kolob Creek was continuously beautiful, but also taxing because we underestimated the distance between Kolob and the MIA exit. It was like having 5 helpings of dessert. Even fat kids get annoyed at some point.

And the MIA... oh man. It lives up to the hype. The MIA exit has two halves: The easy half, then the hard half.

The hard half seems as if it were designed by Satan himself. A 5.3 upclimb, 600 feet tall, with dead trees for handholds, covered with a foot of unstable sand. It's pure hell. I've never vomited on a hike before, or from any form of exercise. However, I vomited several times at the top of the MIA.

Amazingly, Tyler carried 400 feet of rope, plus his harness and wetsuit up the MIA, all the way back to the car. :ahnuld: Thank God he did, because we wouldn't have made it up before dark without his Herculean effort. Is Tyler recovered from Sandthrax? You betcha.

Tyler doin' his thing:

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Free advice:

We recommend wearing a 2-piece wetsuit for this adventure. Remove your neoprene top and harness after the second big rappel, then put on a quick-dry shirt. A 7mm top with a 5mm bottom would have been perfect for me. The hike from the last big rap to the final 15 foot rap was quite long, but still in the chilly watercourse. It would have been much more fun if I wasn't fighting my wetsuit the entire way.

Fill up with water at the huge waterfall spring on the LDC wall, just after the last big rappel.

If the longest rappel is 170 feet, then bring two ropes of that length. The rap pulls are very straightforward, as long as you don't twist your ropes. Carefully separate your ropes before your last person commits to each rappel, even if it means floating in the water while you hold them apart.

Be sure to have a good meal and drink plenty of water before the MIA exit. Cramping and vomiting could have been easily avoidable if we had taken a little extra time in this department.

Enjoy,

Bob

Kuya
08-12-2013, 10:11 AM
SO JEALOUS!!! I can't wait to do this canyon. Glad to see you had fun and got safely through it. :2thumbs:

That deal with the bees is CRAZY!

All of this talk about the awfulness of the MIA exit makes me really think that I am gonna just hike out of the narrows when I do this canyon. Might as well enjoy the adventure and not taint it with a exit like that :lol8:

Kuya
08-12-2013, 10:23 AM
*Duplicate*

TommyBoy
08-12-2013, 10:56 AM
The problem with hiking out the narrows is..... you have to hike out the narrows.:haha: Also it takes a second day to do it that way. Sounds like you had a great trip. Similar conditions to when I went through last summer, super hot and the dam said 5 CFS release that day but by the time it got to the canyon only a trickle was going through. I will never do that canyon again because of the exit unless someone guarantees that it will be flowing hard and thus more interesting. Not that I hated the canyon, it was beautiful, but without the flow its just a wet canyon and there are others with easier access.

Absolute Gravity
08-12-2013, 11:07 AM
Man, the canyons have not been kind to Tyler this summer.

Iceaxe
08-12-2013, 11:24 AM
:popcorn:

Hiking out The Narrows is really nice... so long as you begin with the mind set of "I'm going to enjoy the hike out The Narrows".

Mountaineer
08-12-2013, 12:23 PM
Ya, the MIA has some soft, steep sand without much to grab a hold of. Tricky. Glad you survived those bees! Anti-histamine with you?

Did you get water at the spring after the last rap?

Slot Machine
08-12-2013, 12:45 PM
Not that I hated the canyon, it was beautiful, but without the flow its just a wet canyon and there are others with easier access.

We felt the same way. At the end of the hike, we could hardly remember the good parts. Hiking down The Narrows would be a brutal option as well. It's just too much of a good thing.


Anti-histamine with you? Did you get water at the spring after the last rap?

Yes we did have some Benadryl, luckily we did not need it. We did not get water at the giant waterfall spring, but should have. That is a good suggestion that I'll add to the free advice above.

Brian in SLC
08-12-2013, 01:45 PM
Great TR!!

burley
08-12-2013, 03:43 PM
We also ran into bees (we thought they were wasps but didn't pay great attention) about a month ago in Kolob. The wife got stung 6 times, had several get stuck in her hair and maybe kinda freaked out a bit--it was her first time ever being stung! Sounds like it was about the same location you guys found 'em.

We took the Narrows exit and found that the hike to campsite 11 was an especially long day. Campsite 6 would still have been longer than we anticipated, but not bad. The Narrows is the Narrows.


I will never do that canyon again because of the exit unless someone guarantees that it will be flowing hard and thus more interesting. Not that I hated the canyon, it was beautiful, but without the flow its just a wet canyon and there are others with easier access.

I think I agree. It was flowing alright at the bridge but almost dry in the canyon, more flow would have made it a much better experience methinks.

mcweyen
08-12-2013, 04:21 PM
Spectacular shots man! Sooo wanna go through that one!

Byron
08-12-2013, 04:34 PM
Nice dude...I wish I would've gotten the message and gone with you. That bee thing sucks. I paint houses for a living and every summer I get tagged quite a bit...sometimes in the face. It hurts, like getting poked with a red hot wire coat hanger.

I love Kolob...the last time I did it, there was no flow whatsoever and the potholes where very low. It didn't matter, that canyon is awesome. Funny, I never thought the MIA was that bad, but then again...I do a lot of off trail backpacking, especially in the Grand Canyon, so that hill is not such a big deal. Notice how no one ever has pictures of it? :mrgreen: Too busy gruntin' it, I suppose.

Aj84737
08-12-2013, 06:36 PM
Best trip report I've read all summer. Can't wait for the videos. Sounds epic. I got stung on my ankle in Zion the other day too. Didn't do much that day but it swole up a couple days later and was super itchy. What kind of camera did u use the pics looked really good.

ratagonia
08-12-2013, 06:43 PM
Great Pics!!!

:moses:

Slot Machine
08-12-2013, 08:12 PM
Thanks for the kind words!

Video added above. It's best seen in 'full screen' mode, in 1080p. And best heard with the volume way up. :mrgreen:

Bob

pikan
08-12-2013, 08:19 PM
"Best trip report I've read all summer."
I'll second that one! :hail2thechief:

Taylor
08-12-2013, 08:30 PM
Well done. Sorry we couldn't join you but we had a good week at Powell...listening to Filter on the boat. Weird.

hikster11
08-12-2013, 08:56 PM
Awesome TR and video. Definitely want to see to Bee video. We are doing this Canyon next month. I cant wait. Maybe a little less talk about MIA. I want to enjoy the trip through instead of thinking about how bad the exit is going to suck:nod:

Doomedty
08-12-2013, 10:44 PM
The canyon is beautiful. Just expect a long day/trek and you will be fine.

Doomedty
08-12-2013, 10:57 PM
Man, the canyons have not been kind to Tyler this summer.
The canyons love me. They just know I like it rough. :naughty:

ljrocklv
08-13-2013, 11:11 AM
Great TR and video, thanks for sharing Bob! Perfect timing too, doing Kolob this weekend (weather and flow permitting of course). I took the MIA exit out of Boundary Canyon about a month ago, so uh, yeh, still kinda sucks I guess :lol8: Hand lines still up at the top?

cdraper
08-13-2013, 12:21 PM
Your welcome, we must have made the bees angry just before u came, and just to bring down the hype on the MIA, it's really not that bad.

Slot Machine
08-13-2013, 12:56 PM
Great TR and video, thanks for sharing Bob! Perfect timing too, doing Kolob this weekend (weather and flow permitting of course). I took the MIA exit out of Boundary Canyon about a month ago, so uh, yeh, still kinda sucks I guess :lol8: Hand lines still up at the top?

Lisa, thanks for the kind words! I'm stoked for you.

Please don't make the same mistake we made; underestimating the distance beween the last big rappel and the MIA exit. It is a loooong way to fight a 7mm suit. Figure out a way to stay warm, and not fight your wetsuit the entire way.

Steph has a sore hip from Checkerboard, so we were moving slow. We had been wearing our 7mm suits for 9 hours by the time we arrived at the MIA, and were very tired and somewhat dehydrated, mostly from fighting the resitance of the wetsuits.

If I had it to do over today, no question, I'd get a separate wetsuit top/bottom and take the top off after the last big rap. I might even consider wearing 3mm on the legs, but I run warm.


Your welcome, we must have made the bees angry just before u came, and just to bring down the hype on the MIA, it's really not that bad.

HA! I'm pretty sure it was Tyler stepping on the door of the nest that pissed them off.

5 guys in your group, based on the footprints? With a 6 AM start?

If the MIA is "not that bad", I'd hate to see what else you do in your free time. :lol8:

And welcome to Bogley!

ratagonia
08-13-2013, 01:11 PM
Lisa, thanks for the kind words! I'm stoked for you.

Please don't make the same mistake we made; underestimating the distance beween the last big rappel and the MIA exit. It is a loooong way to fight a 7mm suit. Figure out a way to stay warm, and not fight your wetsuit the entire way.

Steph has a sore hip from Checkerboard, so we were moving slow. We had been wearing our 7mm suits for 9 hours by the time we arrived at the MIA, and were very tired and somewhat dehydrated, mostly from fighting the resitance of the wetsuits.

If I had it to do over today, no question, I'd get a separate wetsuit top/bottom and take the top off after the last big rap. I might even consider wearing 3mm on the legs, but I run warm.

...

And welcome to Bogley!

Always a quandary. Usually at least "top down" for the Kolob walk-out, but sometimes better to just take it off, and not worry too much about the couple of splashers between the last big rap and Boundary. From Boundary (big flat rock) to the MIA exit, there are usually two places deeper than the belly button, so usually just go without there, but a good idea to drybag the pack 'cause that second one is sometimes a swimmer.

Although - if I was a-gonna step on a beez nest, I would want as much neoprene in place as possible...

Tom

ilipichicuma
08-13-2013, 05:55 PM
When we did Kolob we just took the wetsuits off a little ways after the last rap. There were a couple swims after that, but we just gritted our teeth and went with them. I definitely didn't regret it. I hate hiking in a wetsuit.

Byron
08-13-2013, 08:23 PM
I ditched the drysuit after the last rap. I remember one more small rap into a swimmer, and the rest were just waders. But my last time through there had zero flow.

Although I have no body fat whatsoever, I seem to tolerate the cold well. The trick is to go into the water either naked or with just quick drying shorts on...that way the air dries you out quickly and you warm up as you get moving again. All those I've gone through pools with that wear a shirt of some type, and keep it on, get chilled.

Iceaxe
08-13-2013, 09:33 PM
Drysuits are so much nicer to hike in :-)

After the last big rap I just tie the upper part of the drysuit around my waist and stroll down canyon.

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

Bootboy
08-15-2013, 02:18 PM
We did Kolob yesterday. For anyone who is interested, the yellow jacket nest is about 1/3 mile below the waterfall. It's in a box elder log about 8" around and devoid of bark. There is a low spot in the middle of the log that is tempting to step over. Don't. Exit the watercourse to the left and just walk around it.

We had a full 3cfs and it was a blast. The water is a little murky though. A few of the anchors could use some love. Rap 2 especially.

ljrocklv
08-18-2013, 06:09 PM
Wow, really wish I had paid closer attention to the location of the yellow jackets (bees?) nest...4 of us were stung repeatedly by those vicious f###ers and it hurts!!! I'd rather go up and down the MIA trail 3 times than experience that again. Flow was probably about 2cfs, enough to make it fun and exciting and a great day in a beautiful canyon!

pikan
08-18-2013, 09:38 PM
Wow, those bees are becoming infamous! :lol8: Maybe someone should take a can of wasp spray?

Slot Machine
08-19-2013, 10:04 AM
Wow, really wish I had paid closer attention to the location of the yellow jackets (bees?) nest...4 of us were stung repeatedly by those vicious f###ers and it hurts!!!

That sucks!! We thought they were bees, could be wrong. :ne_nau:

Video of the rope bag rescue posted at the beginning of the thread. :popcorn:

hank moon
08-19-2013, 12:34 PM
Wow, those bees are becoming infamous! :lol8: Maybe someone should take a can of wasp spray?

yeah, maybe a can of spray paint while you're at it, to mark the log

Slot Machine
08-19-2013, 01:43 PM
... Maybe someone should take a can of wasp spray?


...maybe a can of spray paint ...

Really?? Insecticide and spray paint in the watercourse? Or in any backcountry environment? :facepalm: :facepalm1:

Kidding, X2, I hope.

Bootboy
08-19-2013, 03:29 PM
That sucks!! We thought they were bees, could be wrong. :ne_nau:

Video of the rope bag rescue posted at the beginning of the thread. :popcorn:

Video is listed as private

Slot Machine
08-19-2013, 04:16 PM
Video is listed as private

Fixed.

Doomedty
08-19-2013, 09:31 PM
lol run forest run!!!!! at least im not alone in my bee horror story.

Eric Holden
08-20-2013, 06:17 AM
Ok so the getting the rope bag from the bees was way to close to this...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gU35Tgtlmg

Slot Machine
08-20-2013, 08:45 AM
Ok so the getting the rope bag from the bees was way to close to this...

HA! :lol8::haha::lol8::haha: Something like that.

My crappy video doesn't convey how scary those little bastards were. I'll just say... Tyler doesn't run like that very often. :mrgreen:

Doomedty
08-21-2013, 12:22 PM
http://youtu.be/x-VCn_w6DBw