UT: Zion – Heaps Canyon 05/25/2014

Canyoneers: dRachel, Sid, Noah, Becca, Andrew, Itaru

For the most part, I am a self taught canyoneer. 5 years ago, a bunch of friends and I just decided it sounded like fun, and just hopped on a plane to Zion. None of us had any canyoneering experience, all we knew was based off of books and whatever transferable skills we had from caving and climbing.

The first day, we split into two groups, Behunin and Pinecreek, and we all had a pretty rough introduction to the sport. The Behunin trip ended up being an 18 hr epic, returning at 3AM. The Pinecreek group was without wetsuits, and struggled against hypothermia.

Despite our miserable first experiences, we were hooked. Every year we would come back for a week or two, to experience more of this silly sport. Some new and old faces each year, but always the same core group.

We’ve came a long way since then. Even just two years (of 1~2 week trips) ago, none of were even close to being able to do Heaps, and certainly not without someone who’s done it before. But over Memorial Day Weekend, we did just that, and had the most wonderful time enjoying this beautiful canyon.

Our Party of 6 left Lava Point at 6:30AM on Sunday, May 25th. The air temps were in the mid 40s, but we quickly de-layered after 5-10 minutes of hiking in the morning sun.

We reach Camp 4 around 10:30AM, started route finding our way down to the ridge. 30 minutes of sliding down loos rocks and sand later, a magnificent view Phantom Valley opened up in front of us.

Descending down to the ridge. ​

In the Northeast where we went to school, it’s hard to get to a remote location. From almost any mountain, you can still see the road, and even some of the highest mountains can be driven to the top. Out west it’s entirely different, where complete solitude can be found by just hiking a few hours off the beaten path.

After two rappels and a “crumbly knife edge” later, we started the long section of downhill slab hiking down to the valley floor. Wearing the 5.10 Canyoneers we all love and hate, our toes were getting quite sad by the time we got down to the valley. I was having a little more trouble than the rest with my “old man knees” as Becca would call it, and dumped off some gear to people with “younger” knees.

The “Crumbly Knife Edge”​

It had been a dry, hot day, but feeling a slight dampness in the air, I looked out over in the distance and was surprised to see some clouds dumping rain out in the distance, on the other side of the mesa in what was presumably the Great West Canyon. The clouds were being carried due south, and with clear skies above and to the North, we continued on our way.

We knew from the Back Country Desk that Potato Hollow Springs was dry, but we were pleasantly surprised by the water quality of the potholes at the bottom of the Valley. We topped off our water from one that was particularly clear with many tad poles living in it.

After a nice stroll down a sandy wash we got to the beginning of the first narrows, and suited up for the canyon around 2:30PM. It was really hot out, and we found the cold water very inviting – at least until the swimming began.

Becca on Rappel in the First Narrows
​ And what a beautiful canyon! All too soon, rapid fire swims and rappels quickly spat us out back into the sun. The good news was, we get to do it again!

The canyon was in full conditions as the Back Country Desk had said, and we found no significant pothole escape challenges. The second narrows was no different, although with less rappelling and more awkward down climbing, and a very exposed ledge traverse.

The ledge traverse really threw a wrench into our flow. I was typically “the climber” in the group, but I honestly wasn’t quite sure what to do. The ledge we were on just “ends” in a wide chasm, with another smaller ledge system coming in from the right, maybe 4 ft below the lip. A jump onto the sloping ledge might work, but the idea didn’t excite me with a 30’ fall potential. Maybe if I was taller I could just reach it with my foot…

Although I don’t usually use height as a excuse, I eventually accepted a meat anchor belay, and was lowered to gain the lower ledge. I set up a tensioned hand line for the rest of the group, which proved to make the move relatively easy. Yet another meat anchor on the other side of a boulder RDC was set up for the LAMAR, which Sid gracefully used to hop past the obstacle.

The anchor placement seemed a little odd, since an anchor along the water course seemed like a lot more straight forward option. Why risk a difficult exposed traverse to skip maybe 1 pot hole or log jam?

Besides the ledge traverse, we didn’t encounter any particular time consuming obstacles, and we reached the Crossroads no more than 3 hours from entering the first narrows, with a nice break taken between the first and second.

We let “Pepe” the (stuffed) chihuahua that we brought in honor of Dave Black from out of his dry bag, and sunbathed for over an hour. As the sun set, we set up camp and had dinner. Turns out that it take quite a few scientists to figure out how to prepare an MRE. The engineers seemed to be fairing a bit better.

“Pepe” the Canyon Chihuahua​

That night it dropped to about 50F. I was pretty comfortable in my make shift wind shelter and a 50F sleeping bag, but those that only brought a bivvy had a cold night.

We had quite a lazy start the next morning, with plenty of time spent eating breakfast and warming up in the sun.

We started on the 3rd narrows around 10AM. We kept a fairly leisurely pace throughout the entire 3rd narrows. The cold water was never sustained, and the obstacles only moderate. There were a few memorable obstacles, one tricky log jam to climb, one really long swim (which is probably many many potholes in lower water), a pack anchor with perfect geometry.

The Third Narrows was Particularly Photogenic​

About to go for a really long swim. ​

Looking up at the Pack Anchor Obstacle. What A beautiful canyon!​
​ After yet another pack anchor (which we opted for instead of using a rusted piton) the canyon opened up. Colors filled the canyon walls, and we took the opportunity to break, eat, and take some group pictures.

Group Photo (w/ Pepe)​
A casual stroll followed, with a ~50’ rappel down a perfectly vertical wall thrown in between, and we found ourselves at the end of the canyon. We peaked through the crack to view the 500’ drop, and changed out of our wetsuits. Becca was sporting the orange tank top she scored from canyon booty earlier that day.

“Canyon Booty”​
The chimney climb already had a hand line rigged, which we decided to just leave there. From the top of the last series of rappels, we could hear kids yelling and screaming from the Upper Emerald Pools below us. Sid went down first, and I took up the rear, a sequence that we often end up using, intentionally or not. When Sid touched down, a loud cheer erupted from the crowds. Noah received a round as well, but I guess things got a little repetitive after that, because the rest of us didn’t get any attention.

With Rachel’s help, I tossed down the pull line for the 300’ rappel, which landed – as aimed – 5’ from the ground crew. They pulled it aside to avoid getting it tangled with the rappel line, and down we went.

We pulled the ropes and that was it; we had just finished Heaps Canyon, one of the most challenging canyons in Zion (albeit in easy mode). 5 years of (infrequent) canyoneering from our first trip that landed us in the same trailhead at 3AM beaten and miserable, we now stood confident and elated. And the best part – there are more adventures just like this one waiting around the corner.

Great Canyon, Great Friends!​

More Pictures Here.

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