Zion National Park

tanya-aa

Originally uploaded by tylas

Bo and Tanya in Zion National Park

Started reminiscing of past hikes and what has led up to the most
incredible 3 years of continuous adventures in my life. I can think
of almost 120 adventures, none of which shadows the other, but a few
that for some reason radiate in my mind?

I believe it was early spring 2 years ago that we decided to check
out North Taylor Creek in the Kolob Canyon District of Zion. Packs
filled, memory cards empty and ready to be filled, bodies and minds
ready to accept whatever would be coming our way.

This trail is very gentle until it splits away from Middle Taylor
Creek Trail, and then it gradually disintigrates into a free for all.
On the way we passed the fresh “kill” which stimulated our senses. It
confirmed that we were in a wild environment, but so close to safety!
Our bodies and minds fresh and clear, but now wary…onward we pushed
into such amazingly beautiful territory. Looking up and left…an
arch appeared! Had others even noticed it before? Undoubtably so, but
we wanted to think we had discovered it. Hence…we christened
it “Pico Rosado” and felt as though we had made our historic find.
What a glorious and exhilirating time for us! Now the remnants of a
medium winter showed us that further progress might just be a dream
without “Technical Gear” (Refer to thread in Canyons-egroup), so soon
our journey had reached an end.

Ah, but we had discovered so much, in a short hike, separated from
civilization. Time to relax, have a great lunch of sandwiches and
revel in such an accomplishment in the most beautiful place on earth!
Rejuvinated, and ready for the return trip, we loaded packs and made
our way west. Soon (thankfully) I remembered that I had left my
camera on the ground at our midway point. Quite embarrased, I told my
hiking partner to remain guarding my pack while I ran the mile or so
back up-canyon to retrieve my goods. After 15 or so minutes of
running, there was the camera which I hastily collected and began an
immediate return not wanting to inconvenience my partner. I passed
what I thought may be where I had left her, but wasn’t sure? Maybe I
had run too far and had missed her? Back up the canyon I ran…all
the way to the end….geeze…I was loosing it! Back down to where I
had thought I had left her! NOT THERE! OK….I’ll just run all the
way back to the parking area…….On the way there she
was!…….Why the heck didn’t you stay put with my pack so we could
hike back together???????……………..Bo, you left me right where
the “Fresh Kill” was and I WASN”T in the mood to be part of the Lions
Dinner!…………….I was so angry, but in hindsight I not only
could kick myself, but have to laugh at my frustration and stupidity!
-Bo

This was a great hike but the sandy slog does become tedius after a while.  The photography is wonderful, but its dark so bringing a tripod is not a good idea.  Bo and I have never used one, but the photos came out okay with us just holding the camera.  This hike is best done in the spring and fall, it was a bit too hot to do the exit in the summer.  We opted to do it as a long one day hike so we were hiking out as the sun was setting, just getting out at dark, so it was okay for us.  Although advertised as the world’s longest slot canyon, it probably is not.  Kolob Canyon is longer, but it’s most likely the longest slot canyon that most people can do!

There is so much debate about this when it comes to Canyoneering.  In Zion most accept that the canyons needing a permit are technical and Subway and Orderville are Semitechnical.

Here is Bo’s reply after a long debate on the subject…

If you hike in blue-jeans
and cotton socks with sneakers…its non-technical?

If you wear hydrophylic/ hydrophobic clothing and stealth rubber on
your sandals….its now technical hiking!

Ditto with canyoneering, except hemp rope is semi-technical and nylon-
polyester and dyneema ups the level to technical. Carry a dynomometer,
gps, frs radios, and it really gets technical. Throw in some new led
headlamps, titanium wetsuits, suction cup booties and now its technical
beyond imagination!

If climbing is involved in canyoneering and hiking, then the climbing
adds a new dimension. “technical climbing” generally referred to the
use of “technical gear” i.e, pitons,chocks,ladders, etc. On the other
hand the “purest” form of climbing requires no gear? Is it technical or
non technical? Maybe the technique used is what should be referred to
as “technical”? The best climber I ever saw (point of view) was
a “deadhead” that climbed “technical” routes in his hemp, dyed pants,
barefooted, dreadlocks weighing him down,….no rope…no
protection…..was he technical or non technical? Certainly the gear he
used was non technical…I don’t think he referred to himself as a
technical climber?

Perhaps a canyon rating system could include the canyon rating system
and also the yds system and a canyon might be referred to as a
Canyoneering/Climbing Route “Technical or Non-Technical” depending on
the need of protection to reduce the chance of injury or death?

Zion Narrows  Bo and I did the Zion Narrows yesterday.  Although we know this is considered to be the best “trail” in the National Park system, we still thought it would not stand up to all the off-the-beaten-path stuff we do.  We were wrong.  The Zion Narrows is everything that the media plays it up to be.  It’s a full, fun day of hiking.  Even though most of it is downhill, the slipping and sliding over rocks makes it more difficult.  If you  want to know the best hike in Zion - it is without a doubt the Zion Narrows.

This is my favorite hike of all times.  After hiking just about everything in Zion and nearby and doing this one several times using different ways in and out, I can say without a doubt that Parunuweap is my favorite hike!

After having done the entire river from near Mineral Gulch all the
way to Springdale in about 1991 with a group of young Boy Scouts, and
then hiking to Labrynth Falls yesterday, I would recommend this hike
to anyone who is fit!

I remember that the whole 25 mile day done in 1991 was a rush job and
yesterday being very casual, was much more enabling. Had we had rope
we would have ventured “underneath” Labrynth, but it becomes a bit
dicey beyond the top of Labrynth..

I do recall several archaelogical sites that we briefly encountered
below the falls in 1991, and due to timing didn’t have much time to
really absorb their magnitude.

Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend the hike from Checkerboard Mesa to
Labrynth Falls! Even if I say that the “Parunuweap Narrows” are
better than the VRG Narrows in Zion, it wouldn’t matter because one
has to work hard to view them. The remote feeling, the beauty and the
rarely visited area is the best by far, in and around Zion. Not that
I’ve seen them all, but I’ve seen a fair portion, and maybe I’m
biased, but yesterday, a holiday weekend, we saw not a nary person
except some sunflower seed hulls the entire day. To me….thats what
makes a day……One million visitors….not in the East Fork!

 – Bo

 I decided to “Do It” yesterday on sort of an impulse
and knowing that the weather would be too hot after May 12th.
I started headlamping at 3:05AM from Lee Pass with the intention of
jogging at least 10-15 miles of the hike. Immediately my left knee
said that jogging would be very limited. I wanted to do the entire
Zion Crossing unsupported (no food, water, clothing drops) and carry
everything on my back . I did it sort of! I took on 1.5 quarts of
water at the grotto at mile 37 and I also had my best hiking partner
Tanya pick me up at the East Entrance to give me a ride back to my
Pathfinder at Lee Pass. I also was shooting to get the entire hike
done in 14 hours or less……almost made it!

I made good time thru La Verkin Creek and up into Hop Valley, but got
my feet wet in Hop Valley which I wanted to avoid. I headlamped until
6AM. Nonetheless I made it to the Hop Valley TH at 7:07AM. Not
bothering to change socks or even stop at all, I continued on to
Wildcat Canyon Trail and passed West Rim TH at 9:35 AM and decided
that my first stop would be at 7 hours of hiking. I made it down the
West Rim a couple miles before taking a break at 10:05 AM. Should
have seen the faces of the hikers I passed that saw me with cold
weather attire (temps up past 80 by this time) and a headlamp on!
They must have thought I was totally screwed up! (many think I am
anyway!) Took 15 minutes to change socks, ingest some nutrients, shed
a layer or two and back on the trail at 10:20AM. Made it to West Rim
Spring at Noon and made my way down to The Grotto. Got there just as
Tanya and Chris Hansen pulled up in a shuttle to meet me at 1:25 PM.
Took a moment to change socks, add 1.5 quarts of water to my bladder
and Chris asked if he could hike the last 11 miles with me?
Absolutely! I was hammered and needed the moral support. My feet were
screaming bloody murder, Tanya said “Bo take care of that quarter
size blister on your left heel”. I didn’t even know it existed. The
bottoms of my feet were on fire. 90+ degree temps were brutal. 11
miles to go. I mustered what I had left in reserves (and powergels)
and slogged every painful inch up. When I got to Stave Spring the
adrenaline took over. I was almost done and my pace got back to
normal knowing I would complete my 3rd “FFF”. I made it to the smile
and encouragement of Tanya waiting in the Rover at 5:30 PM, just 25
minutes short of my goal of 14 hours or less. Oh well! Another day.

The heat was brutal! Hope you other FFF’ers can find some cool
weather as it really makes a difference! Good luck and have fun!

Bo

By Bo Beck about May 2007 Trek

First of all….the FFF was an idea that was inspired by my one time
supervisor, Terry Tucker. On a May day in the early 90’s he sat down
and was studying the “Hiking Zion” book to get an idea what would be
a fun hike. Terry noted that many of the hikes were listed as better
spring hikes than they were summer hikes. Well since it was getting
close to summer and he had limited weekends to chose from , it would
be a good idea to hike all of the trails very soon.

His hike was done from Lee Pass to La Verkin Creek and up Willis
Creek to Kolob Reservoir then down West Rim and back up East Rim.
When I wanted to repeat the hike I decided I wanted to hike from East
to West and remain in the park the entire time, thus I did my first
crossing in 2001.

Since the scenery was so beautiful on that first hike, I decided that
I needed to hike west to east so it would be a new hike (Tanya has
taught me an appreciation of never doing the same hike over and over)
and thus yesterday became my second, however innaugural FFF!

We started with 6 cheery folks, but by Hop Valley TH we started sort
of splitting up and going our own paces. Got to admit though I stuck
with the one person that I thought I may be able to hang with the
whole time since he was 8 years my senior (age has nothing to do with
endurance by the way). Jeff….YOU DA MAN! Not only is Jeff a fun guy
to hike with, but has an uncanny sense of humor and has an eye like
an eagle. In all the years I’ve been hiking I would never have
noticed a DUCK…yes a DUCK perched in a Pine Tree on the Wildcat
Canyon Trail if it weren’t for the keen eyes of Jeff! BTW…thanks
for letting me use your glasses in the hotel room so I could verify
that I had erased my trip log on the recorder!

Great Day, Great Friends……..This is the Life! Thanks All!

We set up a car shuttle with one car at Eagle Crags (Rockville near Zion) and the other at Hilldale (by Colorado City). We took the Smithsonian Butte Backway for the shuttle which is a great drive. We got underway about 9:30 am. Bo knew that Zion Rock was going to be there guiding a canyoneering trip, so we hiked up the steep trail to the head of Water Canyon (which we had to do anyway) to see where they start and asked about the rappels. Travis (who is on the Zion SAR team with Bo) said (I don’t remember exactly) that there are about 8 rappels and 160′ was the longest.

From there we hiked down the drainage until we found a good spot to climb up toward the hoodoos on top. We headed up the slickrock past lots of beautiful hoodoos. Then we got on the soft, sandy 4WD (that is suppose to be closed to 4WDs now) road and headed to the “Notch” and the “Windlass.” Our directions we got from Bo’s climbing friend Mikel told us to follow the dirt road and it would end at Sawmill Springs. There are lots of 4WD roads up there now – a mess of them. We followed a road and it got us way past the spring, so we had to dig out a map and figure out where the spring actually was since the roads were all over now. We got there and were happy to see there was water in the spring. Really gross water though! We set up camp and enjoyed the full moon and the food Bo cooked.

The night was COLD! Our water froze and there was ice on everything. We were warm in our bags though and we had those hot hand things to help us keep warm. We could not make a fire since we were in a wilderness study area.

The next day we started out — after the sun came up and it got warm. I was not leaving my sleeping bag before that!!! Bo was already up and cooked breakfast and hot drinks. (The perfect hiking partner!)

Sunday morning we headed down Sawmill Spring Wash. After hiking up hill all day on Saturday I was looking forward to some downhill. That area was perhaps the most spectacular of the whole hike. I will post some photos later today. We hiked the north edge to the 600′ pour-off. Bo looked from the vantage point but could not see any weakness in the sheer cliff that might be the chute we were looking for. We hiked along the rim, looking at each weakness and for the cairn that Mikel had placed there. We had been told the exit was less than a mile from the vantage point and Bo dropped his pack and went quite a bit farther, still not finding it.

It was getting late and we had to make a choice — stay and look for the chute and maybe camp out (and have SAR called!) Or head back UPHILL to Water Canyon. ~groan~ I was looking forward to the downhill. As much as I hated to head back that’s what we did. Bo decided to try and short cut so the parts that should have now been downhill were UPHILL. We were tired, but it was good exercise so we did not mind that much. We made it to the top of Water Canyon before dark and we saw the full moon peek over the mountain. We began to headlamp down the Water Canyon Trail, but we were dropping faster than the moon was rising so that was our only glimpse of it that night. So at least we did all the non-trail parts in daylight.