Canyoneering Birch Hollow

[Kuya]

What a TRIP!


I received a text from a friends a few weeks ago, wherein it was suggested that we have dinner at my house. While I liked the idea, I suggested that I'd RATHER plan a rendezvous in Zion NP! To my surprise, everyone who received the text AGREED! A few weeks later, 5 of us good friends found ourselves in a Cowboy cabin at Zion Ponderosa Ranch. It was gonna be a wonderful weekend!


The canyon was wonderful! The weather for this weekend was perfect for our trip. To be canyoneering in Birch Hollow at the end of March was a real treat! The mud in the canyon was minimal, and the weather was warm!


The hike to the slot canyon was a pleasant one. The scenery was very nice and, the hiking was relatively easy. We had some beginner canyoneers with us for this trip, so I was pleased to see how easy the approach was. When we approached our the first drop, I was surprised to see Tom Jones there! Of all the canyons to find him at, it happened to be this one! For those that don't know, Tom Jones has made a living canyoneering. He makes much of the amazing canyoneering gear that I use. It was nice to meet him, even if it was brief.


The first rappel of the day proved to be one of the most difficult. It was a overhanging cliff. This was a very scary drop for most in my group. what a way to begin the trip! Most made it down well enough, but my friend Laura accidently smashed her hand while she was trying to get over the cliff. Fortunately, there was a ledge big enough for me to step down onto so I could help release her pinched hand. But, still; the experience was not one either of us would want to deal with again. I was worried that her hand was going to be broken, but fortune was smiling upon us. Her had was bruised and tender, but functional. She gave us the go ahead to press on!


The next few drops were interesting. Some in my group found it easier to rappel the "down climbs" by sliding on their belly! haha! rappelling from anchors located below your feet was a new thing for my group. They all did great and all made it safely down these awkward drops.


I was blown away by the beauty of the Birch Hollow narrows. The first BIG drop was fantastic! I was so proud of my group for dealing with that rappel as well as they did. It was fluted and fun! Not to mention pretty HUGE for the beginner canyoneer!


The section of canyon after the BIG drop was incredible. All the rappels were beautiful. It was so fun to be in that canyon with good friends, and especially my wife! The walls were perfectly sculpted and filled with golden spring light. It was wonderful to be in a Zion canyon again!


The hike up and out of Orderville was way better than I expected. The scenery was beautiful :) What was not expected were the massive amounts of MUD we had to deal with. There were a few sections that were really bad and we almost lost a shoe! All in all, the hike out wasn't to bad. I had heard people talk about how the hike up and out of Orderville is awful, but I didn't find that to be the case. Yeah, it isn't as pretty as the main Orderville canyon, but it still has some charm! Next time though, I am definetly driving my vehicle to the lower parking lot! That extra mile or so on the road was quite the hike!

To top it all off, I had the pleasant experience of meeting our very own TOM JONES (@Ratagonia) . I even got a glimpse of the elusive SQURIL rappel device that he was testing out. It was good to finally meet ya Tom, even if it was for only a short 5 minutes.

[Erik B]

Great photos!

[Kuya]

Great photos!

Thanks! I had some fun with the HDR filter in Google Photo Edit. Amazing what they can do with a cell phone picture haha!

[Sandstone Addiction]

I caught my hand under the rope on one of my first rappels ever...hurt bad for quite a while.

Glad to see everyone had a great time. Loved the report, thanks for posting it Blake.