2011.10.22 - Keyhole & Pine Creek Canyon

[maarten.1975]

And so it began. October 22nd 2011, my very first day of technical canyoneering, after the course at ZAC. I was invited by Andy via Bogley, which I am still very thankfull for. The day started out relaxed, I met Andy and Bonnie at the parking of Zion near the visitors centre where Lea, Jeff and Kyle joined us some time later. After a relaxing start and meeting one another, we got all our stuff and went for Keyhole Canyon. We had the convenience/ luxury of 3 cars, so we could park where needed. I was happy with my oversized rental car, because we could easily fit in 6 people.

After the short hike up we finished our suits and equipment and went into the canyon. I had learnt well at the course at ZAC, and with the guidance I had in the group the needed techniques were easy. I was able to also enjoy the area I was in. Wow, such a different world, such a beautiful world. I felt so happy to be able to be in there. Trying to enjoy the beauty and being of the canyon as much as possible.
A short but beautiful canyon, that ended to quickly...

Luckily Pine Creek was next on the list. After we drove to another parking we had a quick snack under the bridge and continued into Pine Creek. Which had a kind of traffic jam... There was a line-up of people it appeared, one group still waiting in front of us. And there, we met a man in a pair of shorts that was way to short to be comfortable... comfortable for us to look at I mean... hahaha. It was funny. This group decided not to go into the canyon though, which gave us an almost free canyon ahead of us, as long as we didn

[moab mark]

Nice, looks like you had a great trip.

Mark

[Felicia]

It sounds like you had a great trip. There is so much to see in Zion and beyond - you will be back!

[jman]

That was a fun TR to read! Thanks for posting it! Glad you had a great trip

[Scott Card]

Nice TR. That 7th photo (in Pine Creek) is particularly cool. That particular angle was interesting.

[Brian in SLC]

Fantastic!

[Michael_WB]

Maarten,

Great photos... though not good for my bank balance, as it makes me check Geneva-Vegas flight prices too regularly. During my September trip, after the ZAC course, I descended Keyhole and Pine Creek twice each and topped it off with an incredible trip down Mystery. Far from satisfying my Zion canyon appetite, it has merely whetted it for all the others there!

So when are *you* going again?

Michael.

[Iceaxe]

Netherlands, Switzerland, California and Happy Valley (Provo, UT).... this is truly the international thread.

[Scott Card]

Thank you for clarifying "Happy Valley" as the other "Happy Valley" - Penn State ain't so happy.

[Cirrus2000]

Nice, Maarten - glad you had a good time! Both lovely canyons!