2005-07-02 Dam Tour 2005-07-03 Cedar Breaks and Bryce Canyon 2005-07-04 Red Canyon and Grand Canyon 2005-07-05 North Kaibab Trail 2005-07-06 Virgin River Narrows 2005-07-07 Zion Canyon and Gooseberry Mesa 2005-07-08 Water Canyon 2005-07-09 Red Rock Canyon

Day 7 (Friday, 7/8/2005)

Our group had hiked and biked dozens of miles this week and had explored five different canyons thus far.  Today, we would use the nascent sport of canyoneering to explore our sixth.  Canyoneering is a hybrid sport, combining elements of hiking and climbing to probe the depths of narrow gorges in the American Southwest that would otherwise be inaccessible.  In an older slot canyon such as the Virgin River Narrows of Zion, where the river has eroded the floor into a fairly steady grade, technical canyoneering skills are not required.  But younger slot canyons often contain pouroffs, large boulders, waterfalls, or other obstacles that can only be ascended or descended by canyoneering.  Our chosen target was Water Canyon, a slot canyon along Short Creek near the fundamentalist Mormon community of Hilldale.  Water Canyon is an ideal beginner's canyon because it contains a non-technical hiking trail in addition to the technical canyoneering route.  It offers the beginner a taste of what canyoneering is all about but also the opportunity to bail out if it gets too hairy.

We met at around 8 AM at the Zion Adventure Company (ZAC) in Springdale, went through a short orientation, and were fitted with helmets, canyoneering packs, and standard-issue neoprene booties.  The four of us, our two guides, and two guides from ZAC crowded into ZAC's Land Rover and skiied our way up the same washboard road that we had taken out to Gooseberry the previous afternoon.  Instead of turning at the mesa, however, we kept going and eventually emerged on Route 59 about halfway between Hurricane and Hilldale.

Our plan would be to hike up the canyon and canyoneer down.  It took us about 90 minutes from our arrival to hike up canyon and a full two hours more to set up and complete the first two 40-foot rappels.  I ultimately had to bail on the rappels.  I just couldn't get comfortable with the idea of stepping off a cliff, regardless of whether I had a rope around my waist or not.  But I hiked around to the bottom of the pouroffs, snapped a bunch of photos, and continued down the non-technical section with the group once the rappel was complete.  Unfortunately, that non-technical section was brief, and another rappel (this time a 100-footer) lay ahead.  Again I opted to walk around it and wait at the bottom as the rest of the group took over an hour to set up and descend (did I mention that canyoneering is not a fast-paced sport?)  From there, we were able to hike out along the canyon floor without any additional rappels.  On the way out, we met up with a family of polygs, Mommy and Mommy and Mommy and all the kids out for an afternoon swim in the crick.  They wore traditional 19th-century-style clothing, and the adults avoided speaking or making eye contact with us as we passed on the trail.  But I exchanged a friendly "hello" with one of the kids, who apparently hadn't had the concept of "outsider" hammered into him yet.

Arriving back in Springdale in mid afternoon, we loaded up the van for the last time to make the short drive back to St. George.  Upon reaching the Crystal Inn yet again, we said our goodbyes with the guides and checked in for the night.  I wouldn't be flying out until Sunday, but I would have to go it alone for the rest of the trip.