Zion Trifecta

[Iceaxe]

Many consider the Zion Trifecta to be Heaps, Imlay and Kolob. Just for giggles let’s see how Bogley members are doing at completing the big three. Feel free to also post your thoughts and comments concerning the Zion Trifecta.

[Brian in SLC]

Not in a day of course...

Kolob is the only one I don't have multiple laps on...need to rectify that situation...maybe this season?

[Stick]

Are we talking about doing them all on the same day (same permit), or in the same weekend, or just completing all of them? I'll never go down all of them on the same trip, let alone the same day. I think it took me 9 years from when I did the first one (Imlay) until I did the last one (Kolob).

All of them are a good time, and are highly regarded for good reason. Imlay is my favorite of the three (and my favorite in Zion). Every time I have done Imlay and Heaps (two times each) the water level has been high. None of the pothole escapes were especially difficult in those conditions, but the canyons were sure a lot of fun that way. My first time through Imlay the water was high enough that we could have done a beach whale exit out of just about every pothole, but I bought the aiders and talon hooks, and I was going to use them...

The MIA exit out of Kolob sucks, and the technical section isn't very long. It is beautiful, and everyone should do it at least once.

[Iceaxe]

The question was how many have you completed. I consider any time frame or any of the route variations as completed.

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[TommyBoy]

I've done each of them once, although I did the sneak approach for Imlay. I plan on hitting up the full Imlay in July. Heaps was high water, Kolob was just a trickle and Imlay was just right. Low water for difficult Pothole escapes, but not so low as to be boring.

[Iceaxe]

Imlay is my personal favorite of the three. Kolob was the last of the big three I completed, at the time I was kinda disapointed in Kolob because the tech section was so short. I was expecting a full day of hard canyoneering after completing Heaps and Imlay.

My first time through Imlay was with Tom Jones and Kip Marshall. It was also their first time doing the canyon.

My first time through Heaps was as a pair with downtown Mel Brown. Doing Heaps as a pair is difficult because you have to hump so much gear and rope. And we were loaded for bear as we went in through Phantom Valley. At the time there was no beta available on the Phantom Valley route as Gunsight was the "standard" entrance.

My first trip through Kolob was a major clusterf**k. It was a who's who team of 12. The A+ team of the time if there ever was one. My critique of the experience is we had 12 chiefs and no indians on the trip. Everyone was doing their own thing on the trip and teamwork sucked. This experience really soured me on large teams doing big canyons. I much prefer small intimate teams over herds.

Anyhoo.... I guess I've rambled enough...

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[Scott P]

I've only done Imlay. It was September 1990.

Back when we did Kolob (September 1992), usually doing Kolob meant entering at the MIA and going downcanyon, which is what most people back then thought of when someone said they have done Kolob Canyon. Everytime I've gone to Zion in recent years upper Kolob has been "closed", so I haven't been able to do it.

I haven't done Heaps. When we went to do it the first time, the most experienced member of the team dropped out and I was the only one left who had done a really big rappel. I didn't feel qualified to lead it (probably still don't) so we bailed. The next time we were going to do it, the NPS closed the canyon the day we were going to start.

[Bo_Beck]

Heaps well over a dozen times, both Gunsight and Phantom Routes. Equally enjoy both routes. First time in Heaps??? Don't remember '93-95'? Gunsight Route with 1 friend that had done his first and only canyon (Mystery) with me that same spring and his boss that we took out a couple days prior to our trip and taught him to rappel. We carried far too much gear; 1100' ft. of rope,webbing and cord, camping gear, full desert climbing rack, climbing shoes, bolt kit etc. My pack dry weighed in at a measly 65+ lbs. Our 2 day event (full 12+ hour days) actually was by far my most enjoyable Heaps trip to date. Successive Heaps trips have been and always will be awesome.

Imlay a half dozen times; both full and sneak. First time with rangers from Zion and Canyonlands back in '96'? Very enjoyable full Imlay trip. Successive and future will always be awesome.

Kolob Creek at least 8 times. First time in '96' with ZNPSAR team. 10 or so CFS. Was by far the most impressive trip for me. We did the full Kolob/Zion Narrows trip that time. Successive trips have all exited at MIA. One of the most memorable was Tanyas 2nd slot canyon trip ever with me and it started to rain and we had to hurry a lot to get out, and then ran into a Cougar coming upstream at a very narrow area. What a shock and awesome experience it was indeed!

None of these canyons have ever failed to impress me and I'll always enjoy each and every trip I may have the pleasure to participate in!

[Scott Card]

Bo wins! Impressive

[tanya]

Bo is the man!

[qedcook]

Kolob twice

[WorkBad]

Imlay-Never
Heaps-Never
Kolob-Never

Would love to do all three. I just have to find the right people to take/go with. Hint Hint.

[Scott Card]

None of these canyons have ever failed to impress me and I'll always enjoy each and every trip I may have the pleasure to participate in!

This sums up my feeling on all three. They all have a different flavor and all are wonderful!