ZION: Echo, Lower Refrigerator, Pinecrees 05/21-05/22/16.
Had the opportunity to make it down to Zion last weekend. Originally the trip was planned around running Englestead down the narrows. After the park closed the Narrows & would not issue us our permit we were able to book Echo, Lower Refrigerator, & Pinecreek.
4 people: Myself (Dakota), Walker, Daniel, Jaxson.
Saturday 05/21/2016 - We woke up @ 6:00 am, made breakfast, & headed out for the Zion lodge. We grabbed our packs, caught the Shuttle, & headed up to the Weeping rock trailhead. The weather was perfect. 0% chance of rain in the forecast including the surrounding days. The sky was cloudy & kept the temperatures in the 60's which were perfect for hiking. We decided that if we are going to hike all the way up to echo then we were going to due it from the top down. We dropped in to the canyon and found water immediately at the first rappel. We suited up (5mm wetsuits, gloves, & socks) & headed down the canyon. This was our 1st trip down Echo canyon & I was pleasantly surprised how awesome the upper canyon was. All the Beta I read said the upper canyon usually isn't that great. For us the upper section was full of water, short swims, small rappels & some good down climbs. When we reached middle echo we had already had a great time & could not believe why anyone would want to skip the upper section. With that being said if the water levels were low then the upper section could be less exciting, but in my opinion definitely worth the extra 15 minutes of hiking. Water levels were completely full & a lot of the short rappels were rather down climbs. The 1st person down would check water depth, & usually everyone to follow would jump the short rappels (5-10 feet jumps). There was 1 keeper pothole in the canyon that I don't remember reading in the beta. With full water we were able to slide up & out but we were not able to touch at the exit point. If the water was 1 ft lower I can definitely see how this could be a potential problem for inexperienced groups. Pack toss would work or possibly (I didn't try) a underwater partner assist. We exited the canyon with big grins on our face amongst a crowd of hikers that awed at the cool, or possibly crazy guys, wearing wetsuits who just popped out of the canyon. We were okay with our 5mm wetsuits, but we did get a little cold. A 7mm would have been comfortable, socks & gloves definitely advised. My brother forgot his socks back at camp & regretted it the entire time.
After echo we headed back to the lodge to dry our gear & eat lunch in the shade. After an hour of rest we grabbed our packs again & headed up the angels landing trailhead to refrigerator canyon. I have never done this canyon either & was eager to mark yet another canyon off my list. With that being said I would not really call lower refrigerator a canyon. It's more of a 3 stage (or 4 if you set it up that way) rappelling route. I can throw a rock longer then the canyon route. The 1st rappel is rather awkward that drops you down to seaming a large flat boulder that has 300 ft drops on all sides. Someone has set up bolts in between raps 1 & 2. These bolts would break up your rappels & the 2nd station would allow you increased safety when trying to set up rap 2. Rap 2 is fairly difficulty to get to being that it is over the edge requiring you to reach over the edge. We used a safety rope to the individual grabbing the rap. Once the rap is set up & set up a pull chord to pull the rope over toe the rock for the next person to hook up increasing our safety. Rap 2 dropped us down 100 ft to a ledge. The ledge had 4 bolts, 2 of them very old. We were able to fit all 4 of us on the station with ease, but doesn't allow much working room. The 3rd & final rap dropped us to the canyon floor with a fun over hanging rappel over a weeping rock.
Beat and worn out we headed back to camp in preparation for pinecreek the next day.
Sunday 05/22/16.
I have done pinecreek twice before & was mainly running it for my little brother who had never done it before. The 1st time we ran pinecreek was in august 3 years ago & we went without wetsuits & were glad we opted out of them. The 2nd time was 2 years ago in the first of October. In October the wather was still 90 degrees & we went without wetsuits. Our group of 5 got hypothermia & were miserable the entire time. Unable to feel our hands & feet the canyon was a bust. THIS time though we had our wetsuits & were ready to have a good time. Moral of the story if it says bring wetsuits, BRING WETSUITS. Being cold & miserable can not only ruin your canyon, but it can be deadly.
We suited up in the parking lot in our wetsuits & were already stacked up at the 1st rappel as expected for pinecreek. We took our time splashing & and jumping in the 1st pools. After the ahead groups cleared the cathedral we took our turn. The cathedral was 5 ft deep at the bottom of the rappel & a DEEP swimmer on the sim over the the exit. We climbed up by the arch & were able to jump resulting in some extra play time & fun. Sure were glad we had our wetsuits. The canyon was full to the brim & as cold as ever. Even with our 5mm wetsuits we were chilly, but not cold enough to play around in the water & take our time. The groups in front of us played the "Keep dry" game, while we played the "get as wet as possible" game. The last rappel out of pinecreek we rappelled off the boulder in to the cathedral. We used a 100 ft rope & had a perfect set up for the fiddlestick. I have been falling in love with the fiddlestick as a quick easy method that not only saves time, but wear on my ropes. As a test at the bottom of the rappel while the last person hung 1 ft from the water we had 2 people pull as hard as they could on the fiddlestick without any budging or give. As soon as the person got off the rope the fiddlestick pulled out with ease dropping both ropes to the canyon floor. We marched down stream to our favorite swimming hole, dried our gear, cliff jumped, & baked in the warming sun.
Overall a great & unforgettable trip. I can't wait to be down in Zion next weekend in hopes to run Kolob, Boundary, or Heaps !!!!!
All pictures are on my phone. I have been slowly uploading them to my instagram. If you want to check them out look me up: @koda_motion5
