First canyoneering trip..ZION for 7 days!!

[cookiecutter]

I originated the post to slot canyon or not to slot canyon, and with everyones help we were able to have an awesome week!

First off, BIG thanks to Tom Jones for his help in getting our supplies to us quickly and for his book that saved our butts plenty of times.

There is so much to write, but I'll just give a brief overview of each...

We arrived late saturday night and set up camp on some BLM ground just of the Kolob Terrace road. We dubbed this spot, "Fort Kolob" We woke up at 4:30 on Sunday and headed to the park where we were 3rd in line at the permit window and we picked up Subway permits. We went to church in Springdale and drove around getting used to what would be home for the next week.

Monday:
Wake up 4:30 - get Pine Creek permit. After that we came back, made a nice breakfast of eggs hashbrowns and bacon (breakfast was the only thing that kept us motivated to east, sorry but we got REALLY sick of freeze dried dinner). We started the hike into Subway round 9:30 aided by Tom's book and found it very easy to find our way there. The semi tech section was a lot fun and got our excitement up for the week to come. we hitched it back to the car, we got picked up by a friendly park ranger who was cool about driving us. We found Subway to be extremely easy and was great to be able to just 'take in' Zion.

Tuesday:
Wake up 4:30 - get keyhole permits. Once obtained we came back to yet another hearty breakfast (breakfast was really good, did I mention that?). We started into Pine Creek at about 9:30 at quickly met another group. They were cool and thought we'd be faster then them so they let us pass em and off we went. We loved every bit of this canyon. Just soooo cool, and compared to Subway it was slot canyon Heaven for us. By now our blood for canyons is pumpin purty good. We all enjoyed the cathedral rap where we were able to do a little swimming at the bottom. (this was probably the only canyon we were ever cold in, though we were still not too bad. we did this one without wet suits). On the 2nd to last rap we met a husband and wife duo that were cool peeps, they let us use the rope they had set up so we returned the favor and set up the final rap for them. Boy did we love that free fall! wow, by now I'm thinkin in my head "i have friend on a house boat in lake powell for their senior trip...what loosers!" (alright not loosers, but i think you get the idea). At the bottom this due we met up with said "hey if you parked at the top we'll give ya a ride up" as cool as we could trying to not sound new to all this we said, we'd LOVE THAT! Now again, this due was a real sweet pair. My group of 4 goofed around swimming in the pools and taking pictures (we told the husband and wife not to wait up if we weren't at the car when they got there) but when we climbed up to the road there they were, sitting in the hot sun as happy as can be to help us out. I wish I knew their names, great people, and a great day!

Wend:
Wake up at 4:30 - attempt to get mystery permits..failed :(. so we picked up Behunin. Today was our 'rest day' so part of our activities included moving camp. We camped at a much closer Mosquito Cove, we dubed it "camp disappointment" (there were no girls there). We were pooped from little sleep and long hikes to we planed keyhole for today for a nice short one. Keyhole was a huge surprise to us. Tom gave it 2 stars so we expected something sweet, but a little lower sweet; a sweet minus if you will. But what we got was totally different, this canyon was our favorite slot canyon of the week. We did wear wet suites and were thankful for them when all was done. We were in water just about the entire time, including about a 100 ft swim. What we loved so much about this canyon wasn't the tech parts, the raps aren't anything to brag about, but all that water in tiny narrows was like a mountain dew at 2 a.m. on friday night, man we really dug it. We took our time, paying special attention to enjoy it with much safety, and got through it in maybe 3 hours. Back at the car we met a european couple, the wife started talkin to us about some scholarship to some university, i dont know..?? she was border line loony, but she took a picture of us with our wet suites half off lookin manly, so we thought "hey, she is cool people."

Thursday
Wake up and get to permit window at 4, but yet again we only attempted to get mystery, we were beat out by some 3:30 dude. He smirked at us, not sure if I really cared for the guy but he did beat us there so we have nothing to complain about. Anyways, we picked up spry instead. Now for Behunin we got off to a later start, we met the trail head bout 11 i think it was. I wish we would have started earlier and caught some more shade, but it wasn't too hot so all was well. The hike in was killer, long and hot, but we found the canyon to be well worth the hike! Behunin was just awesome. So much different than the others we had done. Much much bigger, bigger raps, bigger hike, and bigger egos after we completed it. Those 100 ft + raps were just breath taking, we let ourselves get lost inside her. After the 5th rap we heard thunder (we had been watching weather reports closely and didn't expect a storm) so we sped up our pace a little but were put at ease when the storm blew away. On the rap just before the last one we had to clean up the anchor, the webbing was all messed up, so it should be real nice for those attempting the canyon in the upcoming days. We were just taken back by how sweet it all was, and then we hit the final rap. In his book Tom said it was mostly a free fall, but we looked over the edge and couldn't see the bottom so we weren't sure exactly what to expect. So we got all hooked up, tossed the ropes, and off went our first guy. All was going smooth until he dropped off the edge to where we couldn't see him and we heard a giant "Oh SH**...!!" Now you see, we're all LDS so we dont swear unless A: somethin really bad happens (this is what we all thought happened) or B: you drop over the edge to look at the most amazing free fall of your life (this happened to be the case in this particular situation. "You can't believe this!" soon followed the rare cursing. Now he did run into a little trouble, the ropes had somehow made a little jumble, but we were prepared to take care of such a situation, so all was fixed in relative ease. Man I wont forget hanging there, looking far below at people hiking to the pools with Big Brother Heaps close by thinking "this is the stuff you see in movies, no way should I be able to have this REALLY happen to me". It was just so neat for all of us.

Friday:
Our plan was to wake up and get the permit window at 2 with 2 group members on guard and 2 sleeping in the truck with rotations every hour. We set our alarms and Friday morning I awoke to my buddy poking me saying, "Jaden wake up, its 3:30, we slept through the alarm for an hour and a half!" Alright I was in come kind a trance because these words meant nothing to me. I let out some kind of grunt and went back to sleep. Anyways we all woke up bout 8 thinking what the heck happened to our morning! We were some tired dudes. So we climbed in the truck as fast as possible and zoomed (obeying speed limits of coarse :) ) to the permit window where were met with a slight laugh upon our asking for mystery permits. We had been beaten again! (this is staring to feel like an old time Jazz vs Bulls series). Any who, the ranger then told us rain was expected and she advised us not to do spry. So we followed her council, hoped in the truck, and went to st. george to find a place to climb. We had this fancy gps unit that was really good at knowing turn by turn directions to get us lost. so we ditched technology and found the "Desert Rat" through word of mouth. There we met a salesman who was real sweet and took us bouldering that night. Only one guy in our group is a climber, the rest of us have never been, so as those two talked about smearing the jib (explanation..??) we played around on some easier routes and had a real good time.

Saturday
We were told there was another very good chance of lots of moister so we just packed up and headed home. We drove in IN n Out burger before of coarse.

So after a sweet trip here is the dilemma: we are all addicted to canyoneering and live 9 hrs away, ahh the horror! So, does anyone know anything remotely close to canyoneering around eastern idaho? But to help aid things a bit, we are now in the process of planning another slightly shorter trip down to Zion before the summer is over (we gotta get mystery!)

What i took away from the trip:
1. Zion is absolutely beautiful! and its our job to keep it that way! too many tourists there not respecting the land.
2. You can do awesome amazing things, you just have to get off yer butt and go do them. This trip was something I normally would have never done but a wise teacher told me, "if your bored in the summer its your own damn fault" so we got together, through this trip together, and had the time of our lives.
3. The canyons are extremely serious. We were able to make it through the ones we did without much trouble at all, but I now understand the seriousness of them a little more. Before I had no clue at the scale these puppies are (that could be an oxymoron, sorry). We made sure to take the time to learn skills to help us and we had proper equipment, but even still I will be very picky as I do more canyons in the future. I think this is a sport to be learned over a long period of time, no need to rush into getting yourself hurt.
4. Wear a helmet: self explanatory
5, 6, 7.....: Zion and canyoneering are just unreal!!

Again, BIG thanks to Tom Jones, you helped us out more than you know. And thanks to everyone that gave me advice in my last post. You all made me and my group life long canyon junkies.

p.s.
I'm having trouble loading pics, any advice?

[sarahlizzy]

Wake up and get to permit window at 4, but yet again we only attempted to get mystery, we were beat out by some 3:30 dude.

Eek!

[Cirrus2000]

Dude, you're going to fit in here just fine! Mountain Dew at 2AM on a Friday night? Oh, yeah...

I'm half way through your report, but have to run off to work - looking forward to reading the rest!

[Iceaxe]

Great TR...

This shows how to upload pictures to Bogley....

[mmac]

Only one guy in our group is a climber, the rest of us have never been, so as those two talked about smearing the jib (explanation..??)

Smearing is a climbing technique where you place a hand or usually foot on the wall in a place where there aren't any really distinct holds. It uses shear friction to maintain contact and provide you with stability. A jib is a very small hand or foot hold.

Great TR, looking forward to photos!

[cookiecutter]

Thanks iceaxe, lets see if these pics work..

Starting Hike to Subway


Finding some water in Subway (yes I did put that helmet on right after)


Nice waterfall in subway


The grand Cathedral Rap, Pine Creek


Final Rap in Pine Creek


Some swimming in Pine Creek


Looking up the final rap, Pine Creek


Going into Keyhole


more keyhole..

[cookiecutter]

pics continued...behunin

[cookiecutter]

Sorry we aren't the best picture takers. The real photographer in our group wont let me use his pics till he photoshops them, so I'll try and get those up when they are done

[canyonguru]

u guys are awsome i could only wish to stay in zion for a week. i live in las vegas and am LDS as well wich you will find a lot here on bogley. anyways i pretty much only have time to drive up on a saturday at 4 in the morning hit a canyon and drive home. sounds like you guys had a good time.

[Cirrus2000]

Great photos. Glad I was reading on my laptop, so I could tilt it as required... The nice thing is the personality showing in the pics. Way to go, guys!

[ratagonia]

Great photos. Glad I was reading on my laptop, so I could tilt it as required... The nice thing is the personality showing in the pics. Way to go, guys!

Yeah, what he said. Looked like you guys had a lot of fun.

Thanks for the kind words. I like that last picture... Could I use that on my website???

Tom

[cookiecutter]

Glad I was reading on my laptop, so I could tilt it as required...

haha its good for a nice neck stretch..roll your head to your left shoulder, inhale, now slowly lean your head to your right shoulder, exhale. this moment of zen brought to by inexperienced posting

[cookiecutter]

I like that last picture... Could I use that on my website???

Serious?? If so, heck ya you can use it! Thats Sam, and he'd really find it awesome to be on your site. I think he can almost quote your entire book. I can e-mail the pic to you in full quality if needed




cookiecutter

[Odie_Canyon]

Sorry to hear you were unable to get Mystery permits. I was second in line Friday morning for Saturday permits and no one else in line seemed to be there for Mystery. You missed a nice hike, but I am still trying to decide if the hike was worth getting up at 3:30am...May have some pictures of what you missed out on.

[ratagonia]

I like that last picture... Could I use that on my website???

Serious?? If so, heck ya you can use it! Thats Sam, and he'd really find it awesome to be on your site. I think he can almost quote your entire book. I can e-mail the pic to you in full quality if needed

cookiecutter

Cool. Yeah, email me a bigger version: canyoneeringusa at gmail dot com.

Photo credit? Last name??

I am forwarding your trip report to Park Staff. Great to have a trip centered around getting to the permit office at the "correct" hour, eh? Sleep deprivation really enhances the wilderness experience.

Tom

[ratagonia]

Wake up and get to permit window at 4, but yet again we only attempted to get mystery, we were beat out by some 3:30 dude.

Eek!

And just so you know, "Everyone loves the permit system, because it works for them so well!!!"

Tom

[ratagonia]

I am forwarding your trip report to Park Staff. Great to have a trip centered around getting to the permit office at the "correct" hour, eh? Sleep deprivation really enhances the wilderness experience.

Tom

Actually, let me change that to a request - could you send the text of your trip report to the Park, with a cover letter that explains how wonderful the permit system enhanced the wilderness quality of your trip --- NOT! oops, sarcasm is not a good technique for official letters...

The address is:

Superintendent
Zion National Park
Springdale, UT 84767

Thanks, Tom

ps. taking out the effusive "thanks to Tom" might be a good idea.

[sarahlizzy]

Loving the photos, especially the one with the rope ascending into the heavens with the sun behind it - that's really fantastic!

Am thinking jetlag is going to be my ally when it comes to getting a Mystery permit.

[Iceaxe]

Sleep deprivation really enhances the wilderness experience.

And improves the safety of the group....

[Jaxx]

Great write up and pics! And to top it off Tom didn't criticize you for anything. You guys are starting off on a good foot!