A field workshop in Cedar City Utah allowed a great opportunity to tag on a weekend in Zion for little extra driving. I pulled into Springdale early afternoon on a Friday, hopeful that the late season and cold weather meant many permit options would still be available. I was wrong. The park now sees 4 million visitors a year. Springdale now has paid street parking. How much has changed in so little time. The person working the backcountry desk was decidedly unpleasant as I asked about permit availability one by one and one by one I heard no in response. After a quick powwow with Keith, Kari, and Sara who were driving out to meet me, I grabbed an overnight Right Fork permit, stocked up on last minute gear purchases, ate some food, then secured my secret camping spot. The others arrived late due to Vegas traffic, which seemed to be the start of the weekend's misadventures.
Sleep came easy. Waking up was harder and we seemed slow to motivate into packing mode. Eventually we set off for the Right Fork trailhead for final packing which took considerable time. We left our shuttle car and drove on up the road. A quick stop into the Left Fork for a bathroom stop and hiss a flat tire on my car. Now what!? After discussion I drove to town and Donny the mechanic was able to repair the tire and I was back at Left Fork. A 1.5 hr penalty and now our Right Fork trip was becoming marginal. As a new plan we would leave my car as the shuttle (and in the chaos I left crucial things like my shirt, camera, wallet in the car...) and drove Keith's to West Rim Trailhead. At this point it was noon and I was not feeling great about being able to get through Right Fork. So Plan B or C or whatever it was at this point: Boundary Canyon. Here we were at the trailhead, no permit was needed as it was just outside the park, Keith had the ropes we would need, and we could get away with light packs. It would still be a long day but I was pretty sure we could pull it off. We hastily repacked and set out on our way to Boundary Canyon!
Sleep came easy. Waking up was harder and we seemed slow to motivate into packing mode. Eventually we set off for the Right Fork trailhead for final packing which took considerable time. We left our shuttle car and drove on up the road. A quick stop into the Left Fork for a bathroom stop and hiss a flat tire on my car. Now what!? After discussion I drove to town and Donny the mechanic was able to repair the tire and I was back at Left Fork. A 1.5 hr penalty and now our Right Fork trip was becoming marginal. As a new plan we would leave my car as the shuttle (and in the chaos I left crucial things like my shirt, camera, wallet in the car...) and drove Keith's to West Rim Trailhead. At this point it was noon and I was not feeling great about being able to get through Right Fork. So Plan B or C or whatever it was at this point: Boundary Canyon. Here we were at the trailhead, no permit was needed as it was just outside the park, Keith had the ropes we would need, and we could get away with light packs. It would still be a long day but I was pretty sure we could pull it off. We hastily repacked and set out on our way to Boundary Canyon!
The drop in
A little bush bashing but about an hour from the car we reach the spectacular headwall view into Boundary Canyon. I'll admit it was quite impressive and even a little intimidating to look into but this was a canyon I had been through before and was confident in being able to work through it. After a snack break I was first one down, then Sara, then Kari, then Keith, then the rope pull...shoot! We all should have paid more attention to the roots choking the edge of the rappel which the rope would not pull over. I had Keith anchor the pull side and got some exercise ascending the rope all the way back up. I repositioned the rope and rappelled back down. The pull again failed! I went up a second time, this time taking an entirely new foolproof rope strategy as I didn't want to go up a third time! This time worked. Again another 45 minute or so penalty we didn't really have time for!
First rappel
The rest of the canyon went pretty smooth. I remembered how beautiful this canyon was but forgot how steep and rapid fire the rappels were. We moved laterally through the canyon and about the same rate we dropped vertically. The canyon got deeper fast. Everyone seemed to enjoy the twists and turns and relatively non-awkward rappels.
The "log threading the arch" rappel
The arch (natural bridge) with a log threading it was the most distinctive feature I remembered from my last visit probably ten years earlier and was still as I remembered it.
We continued to descend, marveling at the shapes, colors, and textures as the walls rose around us. The day was escaping from us so I was glad to see the forest floor as we approached the lip of the final rappel. Once down we had a solid 45 minute jungle gym walk to Kolob Creek.
Final rappel in Boundary Canyon
A pleasant, less scrubby section of lower Boundary
I had promised we would not get wetter than knees in Kolob Creek and I was mostly right...a large log wedged itself across the canyon making a plunge pool beyond that brought frigid waters up to our midsections. Further on a long chest deep pools elicited several choice remarks. As dry bags were being prepared I decided on an engineering solution to the problem and had Keith help me drag a log into position. It was a rather flimsy log but I gave it first try and it held, I was across the pool with water only to my knees. Thankfully everyone else made it across without incident and we were back on our way without too much delay. I hoped there would be no more surprises! On the way we rock hopped through several very nice narrows, easily rivaling those in the main Zion Narrows. At the first point you could even start to imagine a possible escape from the narrow confines of this canyon, we approached a rock cairn marking the base of the rough and tough MIA Exit trail.
Some of the good stuff in Kolob Creek
I muttered something along the lines of this will be the last time I go up the MIA trail, and we'll see if that is true. It is a root clinging root up oversteepened sandy slopes (then annoyingly back down them!), in and out of drainages, and it saves a particularly steep and loose section for last. There was much groaning but at least we were in the shade here at the end of the day and it took us a little over an hour to reach the 4WD road. Light was fading fast (and it was getting cold) but this was the crucial point I wanted to get to before nightfall. The dirt road network would be easy enough to navigate in the dark. We trudged onward, mostly without incident. We saw the last pink colors of the sunset. Admittedly the road walk seemed to take forever. We were back to the cars a little before 9pm, very motivated to head to town for food. Luckily we found somewhere open, scarfed a meal down, drove to our campsite, and collapsed.
Sandy times on the steep MIA Exit
Sleeping in was definitely the thing to do. Not wanting to brave the park crowds Sara and I decided on a breakfast in La Verkin and then to drove back to beat the weekend Vegas exodus traffic. It was far from the Zion weekend I had planned or hoped for and a pretty brutal introduction to Zion canyoning for some, but nevertheless a good trip through spectacular backcountry enjoyed by all.
