Canyoneering in Zion

Mark has always wanted to try canyoneering so he signed up for a day of repelling in the beautiful canyons just outside of Zion National Park.  Its always nice to see the natural inhabitants enjoying the beauty of the cliffs in this area.

In order to learn this sport, the knots and all it entails, Mark went to canyoneer Birch Hollow with a group from Zion Adventure Company which included one couple, and three crazy Aussies!

 

The Australian group made it interesting but the real thrill was rappelling down this amazing canyon.  Although this was a group of first timers,  there were 12 drops! Some of the drops went straight down, some were only 12 feet wide cylinders and some were like a plumbing pipe that went down, bent sideways, and then went down some more.

Sometimes you went down rappelling down the wall of the canyon...

...and sometimes you just had to enjoy the ride.

From the looks of this photo you can see that the climb down this 120 foot rappel is nothing short of thrilling.

 

Once you are down you can especially enjoy the view as you look up from the bottom!

One of Mark's instructors, Kim, had some company coming in that wanted to do canyoneering.  Mark was quick to learn "the ropes" so she offered him the opportunity to join them on another canyoneering adventure to Echo Canyon inside of Zion National Park.

Mark enjoyed the hike and canyoneering in Echo Canyon with Kim, Dean and Brenley (who took this photo).  Echo Canyon provided Mark's first experience in the wet environment. 

Thank goodness he had rented a wetsuit as there was water right after you rappelled down.  Bad news was that alot of the water was "skanky."  But, he loved it!

 



From left to right: Louise, Bill and Gretchen

Next canyon adventure was a class on Basic Canyoneering at Lambs Knoll.  Mark took the class with Louise and Gretchen and Bill, one of the instructors from Mark's first canyoneering adventure.  Mark made the decision before this class to purchase his own canyoneering equipment. He's completly addicted now!

Gretchen also became addicted to Canyoneering so Mark and Gretchen decided to hike Key Hole.  Here is an example of what it looks like when you rappel down into some water!  Thank goodness Mark has a wet suit on under his clothes as that water is cold!
















From left to right: Shelly B., Dude Man (aka Daniel), and Kim

Kim invited Mark to cayoneer Spry Canyon with her friends Shelly B and "Dude Man."  It was a long 8 hour day with 9 rappels and a two hour hike through a boulder field to exit the canyon. 

Here is Mark performing a water disconnect after one of the rappels in Spry Canyon.






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Mark's instructor on his first experience in Canyoneering was Bill.   Mark again had Bill as his instructor for Basic Canyoneering.  And, to close out Mark's Zion canyoneering adventures for this visit, Bill invited Mark to canyoneer Chalk Stone, aka Yankee Doodle.  Bill fine tuned some of Mark's skills on complex down climbs and practiced ascending with a 120 foot climb back to the top!!






Mark is looking forward to trying out his canyoneering skills in Arizona and also to return to Zion to experience some more of the canyons in this area.