Zero G, Alcatraz, Blue John, L. Black Box, High Spur, Subway, Pine Creek, Parunuweap

[Russted]

I had a good friend in town for a week and a half, so we put together a plan to hit a bunch of canyons. I was slightly pushing him toward Zion due to the heat, but he wanted to hit the Roost first, so we tied both trips together in a "beginner canyon" week. The GoPro got scratched on the second canyon, and being extremely lazy with photo's on this trip, I let the Pro's bust out their DSLR's. Most of the good photo's are still being edited, so I threw a few I had on hand into this TR.

100 - average daytime temperature
34 liters of water consumed on the trail
8 Canyons (not counting up Misery)
6 cases of beer
4 people total met in canyons
2 Rattlesnake encounters
1 bottle of Crown
1 Death March 2012 moniker (Parunuweap hike out)

We started off with a nice hike up Mt. Olympus, and then off to hit Zero G. on Sunday, June 24th...

Sunday, June 24th - Zero Gravity
Hot. Hot. Hot. Started hiking from the trailhead at 2:30 p.m. after driving down from SLC. Fun canyon, water in two spots (one avoidable.)

Monday, June 25th - Alcatraz
Tied off to the back of the 4runner, and dropped in. This was our first time through this canyon and the lower "dark section" was one of the highlights of the trip. Spiders crawling everywhere in the dark section which added to the fun (Daddy Long legs I think.) I had 3 liters of water on me for the day, and I ran out when we were about half way up on the hike out.

Tuesday, June 26th - Blue John
I busted out of camp early for a quick trip to SLC for an appointment while the rest of the group hit Blue John from Granary Springs (car shuttle at W. Exit.) Right after I left a father and his two sons (college or high school aged) rolled into our campsite. They looked pretty distraught, and they wanted to know where they were at. It turns out they got lost, ran out of water, and spent the night in the canyon. My group gave them more water and Gatorade before they took off. The father and sons ending up going into Blue John from somewhere on the West side on Monday, and got turned around. The father had "looked at a map" before entering, but they did not have a GPS unit or a map with them on the hike. They must have been pretty delirious, as they said they killed 4 rattlesnakes (possible) and also saw Ralston's arm (not possible.) Either way, glad they got out of there when they did. My day trip to SLC ended back at Granary Springs at 9:00 p.m. with time for some beers. The group ran into two others during the day.

Wednesday, June 27th - Lower Black Box
Due to my groups long day in Blue John and my 10 hour round trip drive to SLC, our late start and lack of competent shuttle vehicle put us at the bottom of the Lower Black Box around 1:00. We decided to hike up from the bottom and see how far we felt like going. The flow was 4 CFS, and I would not recommend doing this hike unless you had at least 15-20 CFS. This was a short "rest" day and we probably only made it a few miles up canyon before turning around.

Thursday, June 28th - High Spur
Another fun canyon, and after my lack of water on the hike out of Alcatraz, each of us had around 5-6 liters of water per day for the rest of the trip. We parked at the top/end spot and hiked the road up to just above the top of the canyon. The upper and lower narrows were phenomenal! Corkscrew section was my favorite part in this canyon. A bit of mud in the Corkscrew, but otherwise it was completely dry (obviously.)

Saturday, June 30th - The Subway
The wife and I took two noobies through the canyon. Our 11 a.m. Alpine Start from the trailhead put us in the water at the heat of the day. We did not rent wetsuits, and I don't think they were needed. We drybagged a few jackets for the women, but only one was used during the coldest part of the canyon. Hiking out in the shade was a joy. We ran into a couple (my first encounter on the trip) that had come in from Das Boot. It was their first technical canyon trip, and pretty impressed they went for more action than we did. They also had a permit for Pine Creek on Sunday, so we decided to share a shuttle with them on Sunday.

Sunday, July 1st - Pine Creek
First time through this canyon as well, and really enjoyed the hike in! Very minimal water (one mandatory swim for short people in the Cathedral.) Lingering smell throughout the first half of the canyon, but it wasn't unbearable. Getting on rope at the last rappel was much more intimidating for me than the longer drop at Alcatraz. No wetsuits again, but a drybagged jacket was used by a colder member of our group. Didn't run into any other groups during the afternoon.

Monday - Tuesday, July 1-2nd - Parunuweap
This hike was one that I have been really looking forward to, due to the "remoteness" of the area. A group of 7 of us hiked in from the BLM gate south of Mt. Carmel. I would only recommend hiking in from there if you are doing at least 2 nights in the canyon. We were pretty rushed and set-up camp about 12 miles in. The beta we had put the entire trip at 19 miles (out to Checkerboard Mesa.) After hiking the next morning for a few hours, I thought the numbers on my GPS didn't look right. We were getting pretty close to Misery and I was around 16 miles total on my GPS and I knew we had another 4.5 once we hit Misery.

Either way, the canyon was enjoyable. I did notice quite a few tires and a ton of dead animals. Most of them looked like deer, but I wasn't positive. We couldn't figure out why the bodies had been destroyed and hauled off in pieces, so I am assuming that no coyotes or other scavengers make it into this canyon? If anyone knows, I'd love to find out. I almost stepped on a rattlesnake while staring at my GPS... closest I've come to getting bit.

We up climbed Misery, filled our Camelbacks and got ready for the hike out. The moniker "Death March 2012" was uttered about 2 miles into the hike out, and it kinda stuck for the rest of the day. I don't think this is that bad of a hike, but I had a few people that were not acclimated to heat (and we did start the scramble out at 2:00 p.m) with large packs. It took us about 4 hours to get back to the shuttle car. When I do this hike again, I'm going in for 3 days/2 nights, and will look at Rock Canyon/Poverty or Mineral entrances. I regret not walking down to the falls or spending more time hitting side canyons. Total mileage on the GPS was 25, but could have been an extra mile or two looking for the perfect "facilities" in canyon.

Overall great trip, and I'm glad to remove my "training wheels" while leading some of the easier canyons in the area.

Zero G.


Lower Black Box




High Spur




The Subway




Pine Creek


Parunuweap - Purple backpacker was prepared to summit Everest after this overnighter


Snake I almost stepped on

[New Mexico]

Thanks for the TR.

[SRG]

"they said they killed 4 rattlesnakes (possible) and also saw Ralston's arm" haha wow sounds like they spent a little too long in the canyon... glad they made it out.

Nice TR man, looks like it was a blast

[ratagonia]

Nice TR, good on ya a grand road trip in this heat!!!

Tom

[Iceaxe]

[Mountaineer]

Great report! I can't believe how low the San Rafael is now, wow.

Way to have fun and beat the heat.

[accadacca]

EPIC...