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Anyone done this canyon? Or know anything about it. Would it be doable for a few rookies next weekend (5-21/5-22)? It looks very scenic! :2thumbs:
http://www.americansouthwest.net/slo...kanarra_creek/
http://www.americansouthwest.net/slo...0/kanarra4.jpg
A few of us want to hit a small slot on a Mt. Bike trip. http://uutah.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=364
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.
I have not done kanarra creek, but it is in the Zion area, so that means it will very likely have 10 to 20 times the amount of water that is normally flowing in it, due to record runoff. Shane's site describes several miles of knee to waist deep wading in normal (dry) conditions. This likely translates to several miles of waist to neck deep fast flowing snowmelt water this year. As an example, the Subway, similar in flows to Kanarra Creek, normally an easy to moderate canyoneering adventure is currently filled with raging waterfalls and impassable to all but the most expert and crazy canyoneers (some pretty expert guys were forced to spend the night in there and bail/climb out last week). Pine creek and Heaps, among others that are normally not flowing, are reported to have lots of flow right now. The Narrows (N. Fork of the Virgin), typically around 200 cfs this time of year is pushing 2000 cfs right now.
In summary, southwest utah is not the place for the novice canyoneer right now or for the next month or so. Try the Swell or the Roost.
Prudent advice. Kind of a shame, but that's how it is this year. :cry:
Is there any way to find out for sure? Would a Zion's ranger service station have any info on this?
If we can't do it, we can't do it. :sad: Just more time for biking on this trip. :smile:
We can stop by there on the way down, and check it out, too. Thanks for the input.
The only real way to know for sure is to hike to the entrance, and see the flowrates first-hand, and make the judgement call then. If it looks too high, you turn around and hike back out, no big deal. It's kind of a lot of work for nothing though.
Once more, having had no first-hand experience with Kanarra Creek, this is what the case might be.
1) Going downstream is almost always easier than going upstream. It seems the hike starts at the bottom and hikes upstream. This is good in your case, because you will most certainly be able to backtrack any canyon you hike up, whereas this is sometimes impossible with top-down canyoneering.
2) It sounds like its a pretty straight forward walk in the stream with a few interesting obstacles. If y'all don't mind wading, youd very likely be able to at least get to the first obstacle - a 15 foot chockstone to climb over. If this is impassable due to flows, you would still get to see some cool narrows and it would still probably be a worthwhile hike. Water'll probably be really cold though.
3) Zion Ranger's will probably not help you because K Creek is outside the park, and they don't want to be liable for information they give people any more than they need to (its cost them millions in lawsuits in the past).
Before you get to the trailhead or park your vehicle, you will cross the stream with your vehicle, at this point you can check the flow.