Another Peak in Zion

[Bo_Beck]

One that I'd been eyeballing for some time now unfolded yesterday. Originally I'd tried getting up this iconic landmark from another direction, and failed after rain stopped our progress. This time I couldn't use weather as an excuse. Andy and I started out from The Desert Rat at 6am to hopefully get hiking by 7am. Yep...just after 7 we were on the way with minimal headlamping before daylight radiated the path to be. All went as planned for the most part with only a few minor altercations to what information we had recieved and remembered (we forgot our printout directions!). A little over 1/2 of the way in I slipped and jammed my right shoulder. From experience I deducted that I had torn my rotator cuff, and this morning I'm even more sure of it. Andy mentioned that this would be a good bail out point, but as stubborn (stupid) as I am we pushed on. The injury certainly stemmed my confidence, and a few more slips almost had me giving up, but with great positive encouragement from Andy we continued. We certainly didn't have a goal of setting any records, but ultimately set our sights for the summit. After about 6 1/2 hours of some pretty tense moments our goal was met. Phenomenal! Gorgeous! Breathtaking! The moments on top revealed other places that I must visit. Great trip with a great friend. The return went resonably smoothly and back to the car at Canyon Overlook TH just after 6pm. Not bad for a guy with metal knees and myself with a now bum right shoulder! Oscars was waiting! Here are a few pictures. If you haven't discerned by now....it's The East Temple!

[trackrunner]

congrats on the east temple. I know that was on your hit list for a while

sorry about the shoulder. hope it's not as bad as you think it its & heal fast.

[peakbaggers]

That was a long day!
Almost all of our peakbagging has been in the Colorado Rockies, but in recent years, we've begun including Zion peaks on our annual trip there. Those summits are quite a contrast to Colorado. We've really enjoyed them. Have used yours and Tanya's site for info as well as CP's book. Did not see East Temple on your site. How would you rate it? That mountain certainly dominates the view from most places anywhere in the east canyon. We hope to do many more Zion peaks in the future.
Last November, did Mtn. of the Sun and slipped like you did. Hyper-extended the left knee and eventually found I had torn cartiledge as well and underwent surgery in late March. Hope your injury is not nearly as bad.

[Brian in SLC]

Wow, Bo, nicely done and sorry about the shoulder.

Burger at Oscars yesterday for me, following our ascent of the south face of the Great White Throne. Neat-o!

[tanya]

Cool Arch! Are you looking at surgery for the shoulder?

I will be down to see you Thursday.

[Bo_Beck]

congrats on the east temple. I know that was on your hit list for a while

sorry about the shoulder. hope it's not as bad as you think it its & heal fast.

I'm not going to wait as long as I did after my waterfall accident in Deep Creek. Think I'll schedule an MRI in the next week. The shoulder feels almost identical to the left one when I had a class "D" tear. Sucks gettin' old!

[Bo_Beck]

That was a long day!
Almost all of our peakbagging has been in the Colorado Rockies, but in recent years, we've begun including Zion peaks on our annual trip there. Those summits are quite a contrast to Colorado. We've really enjoyed them. Have used yours and Tanya's site for info as well as CP's book. Did not see East Temple on your site. How would you rate it? That mountain certainly dominates the view from most places anywhere in the east canyon. We hope to do many more Zion peaks in the future.
Last November, did Mtn. of the Sun and slipped like you did. Hyper-extended the left knee and eventually found I had torn cartiledge as well and underwent surgery in late March. Hope your injury is not nearly as bad.

It's certainly one that becons the explorer! It was an 11 hour day for us. I think next time we could shorten it by 2-3 hours without all the "second guessing" and would also know what gear to take. The person that gave me insight to the route has been up 4 times and the last time he did it was car-to-car in 2 hours and 45 minutes without ropes! It is a straight forward approach, but offers plenty of opportunity to get adrenaline flowing. Some sections sported a fair piece of exposure. Lots of class 3 and 4 with a smathering of 5. Not a lot of room for error in select sections. The reward is very GREAT!

[Bo_Beck]

Wow, Bo, nicely done and sorry about the shoulder.

Burger at Oscars yesterday for me, following our ascent of the south face of the Great White Throne. Neat-o!

Nice Brian! There's another one that someday I might enjoy! No burgers last night......Sirloin medium rare, steak fries and pink lemonade, oh yeah and 3 Advil.

[Bo_Beck]

Cool Arch! Are you looking at surgery for the shoulder?

I will be down to see you Thursday.

It's actually like a "Blind Arch" on the south side of Twin Brothers Tanya! See ya' Thursday!

[Bo_Beck]

Couple more pictures.

[Cirrus2000]

Wow - very nice, Bo and Andy! Great pics, too. Best of luck with the shoulder, Bo!

[Bo_Beck]

Wow - very nice, Bo and Andy! Great pics, too. Best of luck with the shoulder, Bo!

Thanks Kev! Twas a wonderful "out and about". Scheduled an appt. with the Ortho. for a week from monday. The vitamin "I's" are helping with getting a bit of sleep, but dang what an inconvenience! A tad bit of bushwacking on the route had me looking a bit like you looked last time you stopped by ;-) BTW...hope you can make the event?

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=273627229342910

[Cirrus2000]

Sure wish I could, Bo! Probably won't be back through town 'til May... I've had some rotator cuff issues before (not as bad as yours!), and sleep is the worst part, I find. Totally messes with getting a good night's rest. Hurray for modern chemistry!

[oldno7]

So who has more fixed parts, you or Andy?

What a great trip report

[Bo_Beck]

So who has more fixed parts, you or Andy?

What a great trip report

Good question? Maybe your question should read: "Who has more unfixed parts?"

Was a fun peak though through all the moaning and groaning!

[Scott P]

Awesome!

[SarahT]

Sweet! Congratulations! I'd love to get up that puppy.

After so much talk about "not being that into peaks" Andy goes and pulls this off. Sneaky. I will be picking his brain for the details!

[tanya]

Bo - It's amazing you kept going after hurting your shoulder so bad! OUCH!

[Bo_Beck]

Sweet! Congratulations! I'd love to get up that puppy.

After so much talk about "not being that into peaks" Andy goes and pulls this off. Sneaky. I will be picking his brain for the details!

Not too sure how you deducted that Andy isn't into peaks? If Andy were to be "into" posting about his adventures (many, many with CP and DB) I think you'd realize that Andy is "into" ANY adventure; peaks included!

I'd been eyeballing this summit for quite some time and Andy just happened to be willing that day! It is definately a fun hike, but also a fairly serious undertaking; be cautious but have fun!

[Bo_Beck]

Bo - It's amazing you kept going after hurting your shoulder so bad! OUCH!

Tanya, I had attempted a route up the east side of the East Temple maybe 7-8 or so years back. Eric Brueck had given me information about a 5th class route that he had taken up probably 25 years ago. Mike Nad and I started out on our same "East Temple Saddle Route" that we published, and followed it to the east side. I picked out the route up and began, but after the first pitch the rain forced us off the rock. I swore that someday I'd go back and try again. Subsequently I had talked to Buzz about his several ascents up and decided that his route would be a more reasonable for my success. When Andy and I began up I felt very confident about our success. When I slipped and injured my shoulder it HURT, and I knew that it was a similar injury to the one that I had sustained while Kayaking the Narrows back in 2008. I was able to finish my trip through the Narrows (like I really had a choice) so I just decided that my shoulder was injured and realized that when we hit the harder sections if I just wasn't able to pull it off I could turn around and be "shut-down" once again or just keep pushing and give it a go. Several times I "knee-jerk" reacted on slight slips, and it put me down in a kneeling position wondering what the heck I was doing, but the pain subsided after just moments so I pushed on. I'm very glad that I did because now I don't have that monkey on my back any longer. After consultation with my orthopaedist, the tear is a complete tear to the supraspinatus tendon, with partial tears to the infraspinatus and bi-cep. He feels that the repairs that I'll undergo on Jan. 9th will be much simpler than the repairs I had done on my left rotator cuff after my Narrows accident. I should be back at adventuring in the spring of 2012 thanks to Mike A.