Frog Holllow, Keyhole and North Wash trip report

[EvergreenDean]

We left Colorado on Thursday March 4th. Plan was to run a canyon or to around Zion with my buddy Steve from Zion Adventure Company then head to Escalante to try Egypt. We were the only fools in a tent in Springdale with temps dropping below freezing at night. Friday morning we geared up at ZAC and decided to try the huge rap at Frog Hollow since Zion Canyons were still mostly full of snow and ice, then give Keyhole a shot. Being relative noobies, Frog Hollow took longer than anticipated. The 240 ft rap to start our descent was awesome, but slightly nerve wracking. I learned an important lesson...do NOT mark your ropes mid-point with tape. Our auto blocks got jammed up on the tape as it rolled into a ring and had to struggle 100+ feet above the bottom to maneuver around it. The pot holes were mostly dry or just muddy, so we never pulled out the dry suits. Too bad the cows have wreaked havoc in this canyon but still a lot of fun. Challenging maneuvering around a pot hole 1/2 way down after zip lining our packs past it. Again, Steve did not instruct and let us figure out how to do it. Chris did a great spider man impression on the vertical wall, only to fall in at the very end. Hysterical laughter from Steve and I, and yes we got it on video!

ZAC was nice enough to let us keep the gear we didn't use til Saturday mid-day, so we got our chance to run Keyhole the next morning. The permit office said they had only issued one permit this season for Keyhole and did not get a report from the participants, so we didn't know what to expect. Plodded through snow to get down to the entrance, huge icicles hanging in the canyon and plenty of water. This was our first experience in dry suits and I was very impressed at how comfortable we were in the super cold water. Full swims in the narrow halls, short fun raps with flowing water. This canyon was a lot more fun than I expected. We had hoped for Pine Creek but just too much water. Steve was awesome and let us figure everything out for ourselves rather than giving instruction.

We returned the gear to ZAC and headed for Escalante at mid-day. Again, I can't say enough good things about this company and its staff. Weather report said possible light snow Saturday evening, but we were going slightly below the snow line so we decided to decline an offer on a free room in Escalante and headed down Hole In The Rock to camp instead. We camped about 1 mile past the entrance to East Egypt and listened to coyotes howling at dusk as we made dinner. Big surprise Sunday morning as we awoke to 4 inches of heavy wet snow. Egypt was definitely a no-go. We made the most of our morning and enjoyed the spectacular view of the Kaipirowits Plateau with fresh snow, but we knew we had an adventure ahead to make it out on the trail which had become pure bentonite sludge. After over two hours in low 4wd, 1st gear, we amazingly made it out. Goodyear Dura-tracks are the bomb!

With continued precipitation predicted, we decided at the last minute to head to the North Wash and see what conditions were like. We planned to just camp and play around as we did not bring North Wash maps, nor could we find any recent trip reports. Thankfully, we ran into DaveWyo, Penny and Lisa at the Sandthrax camp, who advised us they had been through West Lep the previous day. Unfortunately it rained all night Sunday and Dave smartly advised us that it would be bad for us and the canyon to attempt the Leprechauns that morning. Instead, we ran up Lucky Charms through the North entrance and saw exactly what Dave was talking about. The rock was wet and brittle, and even Five Ten Canyoneers did not stick well. We made it to the top but again we were mapless and decided trying to find the South route down with no description or map would be foolish. Great pictograph panel at the beginning of the hike. Too bad it has been vandalized with gringo art, but still really cool. Water in Lucky Charms was only ankle deep and mostly easy to avoid. Pour offs were dry, or at least not flowing.

Hellish drive home with the Glenwood Canyon rock slide shutting down I-70 but a great adventure none the less. Can't wait to get back in May!

Oops, looks like our pics are too big to post! Oh well, another lesson learned by the rookies.

[Iceaxe]

Thanks for the TR and welcome to Bogley.

And here is the info for sizing your picturees to fit on Bogley
http://www.bogley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1718

I'd like to see a couple of your snow pics.

[EvergreenDean]

Will figure out resizing and get them on. It was beautiful for sure.

[EvergreenDean]

Got the pics!javascript:emoticon('')

[Iceaxe]

Where exactly are these Petroglyphs? I've probably only been in North Wash 100 times and I've never seen these....

I think the coolest thing we've found was a dino trackway in Leprechaun
http://www.bogley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3154

[Cirrus2000]

They're over near this horned, thunderbirdy kind of one, Shane:

[EvergreenDean]

They are on the North side of the big talus slope between the two entrances. Just walk along the wall and you will see them. The ones on the South side of the talus are fakes, though.

[jman]

never heard of Frog Hollow Canyon - but I have heard of Frog Hollow Reservoir (and know where that is). I'm assuming they are connected? And you mentioned cows, so I'm imagining it's not very slutty..err slot-ty. right?

[EvergreenDean]

Frog Hollow is in south east Hurricane. The hike begins and ends in a new residential development. I don't know the street names, but if you head south through town along the far eastern side of the mesa, you will see a dumpster that you can park behind and this is where you will come out. You can walk north through the residential neighborhood about a mile to get to the trail up, or shuttle it. The entire hike should take 3.5 to 5 hours. Again, first rap is 240 feet. It is bolted at the top and halfway down so it could be done as a two stage, but the second bolt is on a narrow ledge. For me, being fairly new at this, it would have been sketchy without the 300 ft rope. Sorry I can't be more specific but it was new to me too. Steve at Zion Adventure Company in Springdale took us there so you could call him for more specific directions.

[trackrunner]

Frog Hollow is by Mollies Nipple.

[jman]

Frog Hollow is by Mollies Nipple.

haha...so many jokes out of this. But speaking as a former St. George resident I know exactly where this is.

Thanks Dean, the "reservoir" is located in Hurricane and know now exactly where it is. thanks!

[EvergreenDean]

Yeah, although not very "slutty", you do get to see some nipple...I'll stop while I'm ahead.

[oldno7]

Frog Hollow is by Mollies Nipple.

haha...so many jokes out of this. But speaking as a former St. George resident I know exactly where this is.

Thanks Dean, the "reservoir" is located in Hurricane and know now exactly where it is. thanks!

I'm afraid this time, Shaun was being serious.

[trackrunner]

Frog Hollow is by Mollies Nipple.

haha...so many jokes out of this. But speaking as a former St. George resident I know exactly where this is.

Thanks Dean, the "reservoir" is located in Hurricane and know now exactly where it is. thanks!

I'm afraid this time, Shaun was being serious.

Everything I wrote was correct. nothing wrong with that statement.

It's not my fault they named a geographic feature that looks like a nipple a nipple, and canyon system that looks like a treasure trail near the nipple feature frog hollow.

Now if there is a woman out there and her, uhm, "hollow" has received the nickname "frog hollow" stay away from that. There is a reason for that nickname don't want to find out why.

[mtthwlw]

Frog Hollow is in south east Hurricane. The hike begins and ends in a new residential development. I don't know the street names, but if you head south through town along the far eastern side of the mesa, you will see a dumpster that you can park behind and this is where you will come out. You can walk north through the residential neighborhood about a mile to get to the trail up, or shuttle it. The entire hike should take 3.5 to 5 hours. Again, first rap is 240 feet. ... it would have been sketchy without the 300 ft rope. ...call him for more specific directions.

So, what is the canyon like (besides the nipples and cows)? You didn't wear drysuits... but did you get wet at all? Would I want to bring a wetsuit? Can you leave the 300' rope at the first rap (ala Yankee Doodle) and if so, how long is the longest rap in the canyon besides the first?

Thanks for the TR. Great pictures!

[EvergreenDean]

I think there were four more raps after the big entry, all pretty small. You don't need any more than a 120' after dropping in. There is a big pot hole that can be worked around if you have some basic climbing skills and sticky shoes. We sent one man down without pack, set up a zip line across the hole and zipped the packs down to help up maneuver around the hole. It is a challenge, and you have a very good chance of falling in, but it can be done. Chris made it all the way around the hard part then fell in after he let his guard down at the end. You could actually set up a rap, maybe 100', to get past it but it is more fun to try and work around it. I wouldn't say this is a spectacular canyon but the views from the top are great. Neighborhood kids obviously come up canyon to party and it shows below the last rap with some garbage and a couple fire pits. I would not go out of my way to do it unless you just want to experience a huge rap like we did. The hike up is about 45 minutes so you could go back and retrieve your big rope at the end as well. Hope that helps.

[mtthwlw]

I think there were four more raps after the big entry, all pretty small. You don't need any more than a 120' after dropping in. There is a big pot hole that can be worked around if you have some basic climbing skills and sticky shoes. We sent one man down without pack, set up a zip line across the hole and zipped the packs down to help up maneuver around the hole. It is a challenge, and you have a very good chance of falling in, but it can be done. Chris made it all the way around the hard part then fell in after he let his guard down at the end. You could actually set up a rap, maybe 100', to get past it but it is more fun to try and work around it. I wouldn't say this is a spectacular canyon but the views from the top are great. Neighborhood kids obviously come up canyon to party and it shows below the last rap with some garbage and a couple fire pits. I would not go out of my way to do it unless you just want to experience a huge rap like we did. The hike up is about 45 minutes so you could go back and retrieve your big rope at the end as well. Hope that helps.

Thanks. I work about 10 minutes from this canyon, so it would't be out of my way at all. Thanks for the info.

[ratagonia]

Frog Hollow is in south east Hurricane. The hike begins and ends in a new residential development. I don't know the street names, but if you head south through town along the far eastern side of the mesa, you will see a dumpster that you can park behind and this is where you will come out. You can walk north through the residential neighborhood about a mile to get to the trail up, or shuttle it. The entire hike should take 3.5 to 5 hours. Again, first rap is 240 feet. ... it would have been sketchy without the 300 ft rope. ...call him for more specific directions.

So, what is the canyon like (besides the nipples and cows)? You didn't wear drysuits... but did you get wet at all? Would I want to bring a wetsuit? Can you leave the 300' rope at the first rap (ala Yankee Doodle) and if so, how long is the longest rap in the canyon besides the first?

Thanks for the TR. Great pictures!

I thought it was 200' from the top anchor to the ground, pretty much exactly - but - We were using Kips ropes so maybe not. It was quite a long way. Scary looking station half way down.

The first rap is quite a walk from the car, so it would be an hour or more round trip to go fetch.

Tom