Anybody been down Middle Echo Lately

[nieder81]

I have not seen any TR's or post on Middle Echo yet this spring. Anyone got any info on conditions. I am heading there soon.

[mattandersao]

I Talked to the always reliable backcountry desk and they said lots of water...

[Michael_WB]

I Talked to the always reliable backcountry desk and they said lots of water...

On arrival in Zion two weeks ago, we had Echo permits for Friday May 25th but the canyon was still closed. It did indeed open on that very day, with reports of "8ft of snow" but as there were still a couple of walk-in Mystery permits for that day left, we pounced on those instead!

We finally did Echo last Tuesday, (the day before our departure), and the water was indeed very cold (appreciably colder than in Das Boot the week before.) But not that high in my opinion; I needed a partner assist to exit one pothole, and there was no more than a few feet of swimming here and there, mostly wading.

As for the reported snow, on the walk-out after the technical section, there were two chunks of snow/ice which had slid down into the canyon from the mesa above: about 8ft high and 12-15ft long and barely a foot wide.

We had rented neoprene jackets to go over our 4/3 wetsuits, but neither of us bothered unpacking them from the rucksacks. With hindsight I would have liked better gloves and thicker socks, as fingers and toes did get a bit cold for a while during the technical part, but nothing unduly unpleasant.

Anyway, a beautiful canyon and well worth that trudge in the sun up from Weeping Rock.

Cheers,

Michael.

[ratagonia]

On arrival in Zion two weeks ago, we had Echo permits for Friday May 25th but the canyon was still closed. It did indeed open on that very day, with reports of "8ft of snow" but as there were still a couple of walk-in Mystery permits for that day left, we pounced on those instead!

We finally did Echo last Tuesday, (the day before our departure), and the water was indeed very cold (appreciably colder than in Das Boot the week before.) But not that high in my opinion; I needed a partner assist to exit one pothole, and there was no more than a few feet of swimming here and there, mostly wading.

As for the reported snow, on the walk-out after the technical section, there were two chunks of snow/ice which had slid down into the canyon from the mesa above: about 8ft high and 12-15ft long and barely a foot wide.

We had rented neoprene jackets to go over our 4/3 wetsuits, but neither of us bothered unpacking them from the rucksacks. With hindsight I would have liked better gloves and thicker socks, as fingers and toes did get a bit cold for a while during the technical part, but nothing unduly unpleasant.

Anyway, a beautiful canyon and well worth that trudge in the sun up from Weeping Rock.

Cheers,

Michael.

Thanks for the report, Michael.

Tom

[maarten.1975]

Nothing to add to Michael's report... says it all!

and I'll copy his report, add some pictures to it and I'd say it has become a TR which will be posted in a couple of minutes :)