CRAWFORD ARCH HIKE

[azhiaziam]

Well let me start off by thanking everyone on this site for all there help and info,I started two years ago reserching this hike that ment alot to my dad, It was his dying wish that i experance this epic hike that he enjoyed so much and took many times, he loved zion and wanted to spend his life hiking the backcountry trailsof zion, he was a heavy smoker, three packs of "lucky strikes" a day mixed with as much pot as he could get his hands on tus giving him lung cancer with took his life,
after spending the end of his life with him in rockville i had a weird feeling that overtook my body and i felt that i needed to do this hike, as time pasted the feeling wore off untill i revisted zion in 08.
My motel i stayed in in 08 had a great viwe of the arch right outside my door i found myself gazing at it for hours on end, i soon became obsesed with the arch and had to make the hike. but i was at the end of my vaca so i planed to make it the fallowing year, so in 09 i packed my pack and waited at the canyon overlook parking lot hoping to meet up with someone to tag along with, after showing up at 6:00 am for four days and waiting three to four hours and seeing nobody i decided to talk to the back country desk and that it was a hike not often taken.
after talkin to many rangers and being told that someone like me would never be able to complete the hike cuz i never hiked before and i was a smoker also i wanted to do it even more so i went back to mass. quit smokin and began to reserch the hike.
after hundreds of phone calls to guide companys i found that no one could take me into the park and guide me.
just wheni was at my wits end i got a call back from a off duty ranger that gave me the name of bo beck, and this site i was told that he was the man to talk to .
after sending him a PM through this site the ball was rolling again , he informed me that he had planed a packrafting trip for that week but he could put me intouch with someone who might be able to help me .
He put me in touch with shaun " trackrunner "and a few PMs later shaun agreed to take the hike with me, and soon after that tyler joined the group and the date was set for oct 16th
We planen to me at 6:30am on saturday the 16th, the day before i went on my first rappel with tylerand noticed that at 6:30 it was still dark so i decided to get a lite, we me at the flagpole at the center in the pitchblack kissed my honey and jumped in shauns jeep and headed to the canyon overlook parking lot, as we started down into the wash under the bridge my heart was pounding so fast i could bearly think i dident know if i was ready for this epic hike, the sun soon came up and the lights went off but my heart was still pounding, after a short walk up the wash we came to the dry waterfall and started up the frist approuch to the right about half way up i started to huff and puff and my nerves got the best of me and i lost garlic burger from oscars after a short break and a mental carm down we started again
after going up and down and up and down we came to the start of hepworth wash and rappeled into the wash.
after rappelling in the was a short walk brought us to the vortex, a hudge crack in the mountain it was awesome, after a short brake at the vortex we started up the wash ,i had no idear what way to go but shaun great leading tyler and myself the best way as i started to see some of the things my dad wrote in his beta at the end of the wash was the hepwort arch.
after even more approuches and decends we came to the coulior i knew the arch was close but the chimmeyand the class five climb was close as well i thought that the chimmey was on level ground not the case it was exposed and over looked the swichbacks of the road on the east side of the tunnel.
shaun was the first to climb the chimmey he tired the rope around his waist and made it look easy this was the first time i tought that i was not going to be able to make it but before i had a chance to think about it tyler said your up and with a bost from tyler i was on the log and climbing for my life and before i kewn it i was at the top and shaun cliped me in to the webbing at the top of the chimmey that was super exposed so i scrambled around to safer ground.
after 6 hours and a few more small approuches and decends we rounded the corner to the arch it was almost unreal that i was there, i felt my dad in many ways throuout the hike and at the arch i felt him inside me as i had a breif brackdown and a good cry. after calling my honey and a three way call to my son i felt at ease.
i want to thank shaun and tyler for there time and compassion in makin this happen
oh did i mention that up till the hike that i was terrified of hights but lost the fear on that day.

tyler and i have already planing our next hike to the arch in april and we plan to be the first to hike to the arch and then rappel down the face of bridge mountain .

[Iceaxe]

[oldno7]

Well done and congrats on fulfilling a dream.

[tanya]

Very nice guys!

[spinesnaper]

Wow, it's a great community. Glad you could experience the country your father loved. Hope this will be the start of many backcountry trips for you. Quitting smoking-that's great!

Ken