Zion - A Mountain and a Canyon

May 24-29, 2006

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Orderville Canyon in Zion National Park

Spectacular slot canyon

Climbing Lady Mountain at Zion

Report by Bruce LaCroix, Photos by Bruce LaCroix and Harlan Stockman

Snafu and I left Vegas on Wednesday around 10.00 am to go to Zion National Park for an extended Memorial Day weekend. We wanted to arrive before the LVMC hikes to do a technical canyon descent and a little climbing.

We got a campsite at South Campground for five nights, pitched our tents, and set up a tarp for a sunshade. It was hot that day and the sunshade was perfectly located over our picnic table. We had just sat down to enjoy a cold barley pop when a ranger came to inform us that we could not leave our tarp up because it was tied to the surrounding trees, which is now park violation. We tried to use walking poles to hold the tarp in place, but that night the wind picked up and it wasn't possible.

Thursday it was windy, and Snafu and I did a descent of Echo Canyon, a short canyon that ends at Weeping Rock. It required nine rappels and some swimming, and it took us most of the day. The wind blew through the night.

On Friday we decided to go climbing at a crag in the park called the Practice Cliffs. This would be a fine place for a club top-rope. We finished early and went back to camp to meet Janet Curry, who would be joining us to climb Lady Mountain on Saturday. The wind blew through the night.

When we woke up on Saturday, Nathan Petrosian and Valentina Fields were camped with us. They had arrived late Friday night. None of us had heard them come in. It just so happens that this was the FIRST time Valentina has ever been camping. The weather was windy when we left to get on the shuttle to take us to the trailhead for Lady Mountain. There isn't much of a trail really; it's more of a route to the top. You start at the Zion Lodge and follow the Emerald Pools trail for awhile before leaving this good trail and following an old abandoned park trail. I had heard this trail is not used much anymore because of its difficulty.

Not long after leaving the main trail, you come to the first short class 4 section followed by some exposed steps that are cut into the sandstone. There were quite a few of these steps cut into the rock along the entire route. There were some old paint blazes, and remnants of a former trail, so the route finding was not too bad.

The second hard section is through a chimney maybe forty feet in length and is very exposed. We all made it through with no problems and were on our way to the third and final cruxy section of climbing up a short corner system with little exposure. After this you just follow the steps and gullies that lead to the saddle, and then across a ridgeline about fifteen minutes to the summit.

En route to Lady Mountain

Up to then we had been somewhat protected from the wind, but once on the ridge, the wind was blowing hard and we all got sand everywhere. We went to the summit and took photos and then, on the way back to the saddle, found a spot out of the wind to eat our lunch.

It is only a couple of miles to the summit of Lady Mountain., with about 2900' elevation gain. With the few sections of climbing and a lot of exposure, it had taken us four and a half hours. The descent went a little faster with everyone finding the downclimbing easier than the climbing. It took us a little over three hours on the descent.

Back at the campground, Harlan Stockman was waiting for us. He was going to join us for the Sunday descent of Orderville Canyon. Then we said good-bye to Janet Curry, who had to get back for work. By now, because of the wind, fire restrictions were in effect. Campfires were not allowed, but charcoal was OK.

Sunday, when we woke up, it was windy. I picked up our permit and we left camp around 9.30. We all piled into Snafu's vehicle and drove to the Orderville Gulch trailhead. I still don't know the difference between a canyon and a gulch. I looked it up in the dictionary and the descriptions are very similar. One of the first things you notice at the trailhead is a dead deer hanging on a barb wire fence. The walk down into the canyon is very easy and we moved fast. There is water at the start and I thought we would be in water all day. Unfortunately, I was wrong, the stream dried up after an hour or so.

The hike to the narrows is easy, with the exception of a few log jams, and a dry fall that is easily descended. As we continued down the canyon, the walls got taller and they closed in on you until they were only 12-20 feet wide. By then the sun was almost directly overhead and we get some great colors and shadows while taking photos of the scalloped canyon walls.

The stream started to flow again and we all stopped to put on our wetsuits for the remainder of the hike. There were a couple more chockstones to bypass and by then the stream is flowing steady and has many nice cascades and pools, some which are deep enough that you have to swim. The canyon levels out as you get close to the confluence with the Virgin river and we started seeing people that had hiked up the Virgin from the Riverside walk and Temple of Sinawava.

The flow in the Virgin River was about 110 cfs this day. The walking was good in water about ankle to knee deep, although the occasional deeper pool caught your attention. By the time we got to Riverside walk we were cold and hungry.

We caught the bus back to the campground and Harlan and Snafu left to go get Snafu's truck. Valentina, Nathan, and I stayed behind to light up the grill and cook the evening meal: carne asada, sausage, squash, beans, and tortillas. Everything was ready when Harlan and Snafu returned. We were all tired and got to bed at around midnight.

Monday morning we slept late and arose to a cool, windy day. We packed up and were on our way around 11:00. The best quote I heard from the trip was, "How am I going to explain to people what I did this weekend?"