Zion over Holiday weekend

Zion was packed this past weekend, but despite the crowds we managed to find some solitude in some of the canyons.

Friday: Pine Creek was everything I expected it to be. Short and sweet and we even managed to get in front of most the groups. We were the second group dropping in that day. The cathedral was amazing! This is the only place I got cold, but that was only because I had to belay my beginers. :cold:
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Saturday: Birch Hollow through Orderville. We were halfway down Birch before a group of 2 caught us, but using two ropes we managed to stay ahead of them. Didn't see anyone in Orderville until the waterfall. We did the first big drop despite all the lose rock on this drop. The group behind us said one of them knocked loose a tire sized boulder and almost hit the guy below. :shock:
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This is my daughter on her first 100 footer. Very proud father :nod:
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We did not bring wet suits on this outing. The water was shocking, but bearable once you got wet. :lol8:Attachment 66376

Sunday: Echo canyon. Dropped in on the alternate (upper) entrance. Not really worth it in my mind. The middle section is very nice and very cold when helpping rookies through the semi-keeper potholes. I was in my drysuit with some down pants underneath. I wouldn't say I was toasty warm, but I also didn't mind standing in cold water for any length of time. We had the canyon to ourselves which was very nice. The first semi-keeper you could smear your way out of as Kellis is doing. The second semi-keeper (that drops into the echo chamber) was a little harder but could be defeated easily if you were tall enough.
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Monday: Ran through Keyhole before we left town. Bumped into my first Bogley member as 2065toyota caught up to us. Keyhole was fun because it was my trainees turn to guide me through the canyon. They did a great job and it was fun to take a position toward the back.
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Nice

That's awesome, thanks for sharing.

mzamp,

This I believe is your group too. We were the ones behind you in Pine Creek.
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I enjoyed your photos! Thanks for the TR.

Great canyon list! Best way to enjoy the weekend. Thanks for posting up, and nicely done.

Awesome! I can't wait to go canyoneering myself! :)

Nice pics. I didn't realize that was you guys in front of us in keyhole. I was with kodys massive group. We did that and pine creek after. Me and gf had permits to do echo too but ended up not doing echo cause I had to work last night.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WorkBad

mzamp,

This I believe is your group too. We were the ones behind you in Pine Creek.

I enjoyed your photos! Thanks for the TR.

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Yes that is us. :nod: Thanks for the pic. I think that's the second to last rap? Sorry if we were slowing you down, but then again when you do a canyon like pine I guess you go with the assumption that you will encounter groups with beginners.

No issues whatsoever. It was good to meet you guys. Look us up next time you are back in town and maybe we can meet up

Thanks for the report. Looks like a great weekend! :popcorn:

Nice pics and question where you get your orange/ reflective- grey dry suit top from man been looking for one like that for a while. :2thumbs:

It's a kokatat gortext drysuit. I got it locally from the AZ Hiking Shack (http://www.hikingshack.com/). Great store! Shameless plug since Dale hooked me up.