Mystery Canyon - Zion NP

[Iceaxe]

We did Mystery Canyon at the end of July after a very heavy rainstorm. The canyon had flashed big the night before and we actually had flow in the canyon through the upper section. The flow was little more than a garden hose, but it was about as wet as you can get in Mystery. All the rappels ended in at least knee deep water and the lake behind the rock slide was filled. I have probably done Mystery 20 or 30 times in my life and this is the first time I have found more than ankle deep water in the lake and this is by far the most water I have encountered in the canyon. We had two required swims, the first was at the bottom of Mystery Springs and the second was at the old jump between Mystery Springs and the Narrows rappel. I would not make this jump without someone checking the water depth as the water is still not as deep as it was in the "good ol' days". Enjoy the video.

[New Mexico]

Nice

[Bo_Beck]

Awesome! Great video. We hiked Mystery a few weeks ago and the lake looked pretty much the same. I remember the first few times in Mystery in the early 90's and the lake was always full. It was much longer then as well. It was good to have it back!

[gingerproblems]

Looked like a fun time. I bet it felt nice to get out and see the closure sign!

[Iceaxe]

Looked like a fun time. I bet it felt nice to get out and see the closure sign!

It had been raining north of us all day so I was prepared to sit at the top of the last rappel until any flash flood in the Virgin had dissipated, I was actually kinda surprised when we reached the last rappel and there was not more streamflow.

[ststephen]

Nice Vid!

We opted to skip Mystery this last Sunday when the weather forecast was so ominous. The Narrows flashed to 3600 cfs late that day so it was probably a good choice. Hoping to finally get my chance in that canyon later in September.