Wildcat canyon trail/west rim conditions

[backcountryblazer]

Has anyone been on the Wildcat Canyon trail or the West Rim lately? I'm doing the Zion Traverse 5/20/11-5/23/11 and was just wondering how much snow was out there. Any information would be appreciated.

[ratagonia]

Has anyone been on the Wildcat Canyon trail or the West Rim lately? I'm doing the Zion Traverse 5/20/11-5/23/11 and was just wondering how much snow was out there. Any information would be appreciated.

Updates:

Steve@... May 11, 2011:

I dropped a couple off at Wildcat this morning then took a German hiker up to
the turnoff to Lava Point. There is fresh snow(maybe 6"). The dirt road is
impassable to drive with a Sprinter. I also gave the hiker trail info and
pointed out the knee deep lake inundating the road about 300 yards down.I gave
him the option of returning to Wildcat and informed him that Wildcat would be an
extra 4 miles more than if I dropped him off at the asphalt edge at Lava Point.

He was happy with this option and so started his hike at Wildcat.
That lake covering the road is an obstacle that I would avoid if possible.

Be Safe, Steve.


On Wed, 11 May 2011 07:32:14 -0600, Bill Westerhoff
<bill@...> wrote:
Lanell & I went up yesterday and saw that the amount of snow has
decreased significantly. The entire road is accessible to 2 way traffic up to
the turn off for Lava Pt. Snow on the side of the road is *maybe *4*-*6* inches.
That leaves shuttle clients to hike the 2.4 miles to the West Rim trail. We did
easily make it about .4 to .5 of a mile until the snow level reached about 6-12
inches and would not be recommended to drive our vehicles through. It looks
like it would stay that way for at least the first section of the road hike for
hikers seeking access to the West Rim Trail.

There were no vehicle tracks and not many footprints continuing down this path.

Bill Westerhoff

[ratagonia]

Update May 14, 2011:

Today Steve was able to drive to the Lava Point Turnoff, turn onto the
side road, drive the road as it passes the short meadow, continue on
it to stopping at the gate where the road splits to the Lava Look-out
viewpoint and the West Rim Trailhead.

The steep down and up section where there is a creek at the bottom is
very muddy. Not passable in a Sprinter, only in a 4wd like a Land
Cruiser.

Reporting,
Dave Buckingham
Zion Adventure Company