UT: Zion – Summer Solstice (almost) in Kolob Canyon June 22, 2015

Okay, for those of you not on any mutual facebook groups, I thought I would post a brief trip report for a June 22, 2015 trip through Kolob Canyon. Kolob has been on my list for years. Logistically, getting it done has been a bit of a nightmare for me. Many seasons were just to wet for my available dates. This year looked like it might work, but my first set of partners evaporated. The Water District had not been releasing water which also meant they did not have any type of a regular schedule. Essentially the trip had to been planned with no idea if it would be remotely possible until the Friday before, June 19. Imlay Sneak was the back up plan. At this point, Heather Beasley, a medical student, and her boyfriend Tom Grummon, a geologist, indicated that they were interested and available. The 19th came and the Water District made it official-no water release. We arranged to meet at the West Rim trailhead early in the morning provided a permit was available. Weather was clear and stable.

I drove like a mad man from Los Angeles Sunday so I could get the permit. I arrived in the short line at the Backcountry Desk at 4PM. The couple ahead of me was requesting a top down permit for Subway. Problem was that they had no ropes, or harnesses, no wet suits, and no technical experience. This information did not seem to surprise the ranger at the counter who diplomatically suggested them that a bottom up trip would better match their technical skills (or lack of them). While this was going on, I was reading the repetitive note taped to the front of the counter stating: NO NEW PERMITS BEING ISSUED. COMPUTERS DOWN. SORRY FOR THE INCONVIENCE. I choose to ignore this information. As it turned out, I was saved by the fact that Kolob permits are not on-line. They are issued manually. I had my permit in hand. I texted Heather that we were good to go.

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We met up as planned. They were having breakfast al fresco out their truck. Meeting them for the first time, whatever trepidations I might have had about doing Kolob with canyoneers I had not previously met, evaporated immediately. As a technical note, I used Blue Gnome GPX download. Luke’s waypoint were right on the money. I could hear my GPS unit beep whenever we crossed a point. We had little trouble getting right to the head of Kolob Canyon. We suited up and rapped in at about 9AM. We had a beautiful robin’s egg blue sky. There was just a trickle of water. My guess is that the flow was some tiny fraction of a cubic foot per second. Enough for atmosphere but not enough to complicate navigation. To complete my commercial endorsements, I tried out my new Sqwurel rappel device and put my new Kolob pack into service on this trip. Very pleased with both items. I carried my Leica M240 with a 18 mm f/3.8 SuperElmar in double urethane water bags. All the picture were taken with this camera.

The anchors and their slings were in pretty good condition. Some of the bolts did show some signs of deterioration and a few of the hangers were bent, no doubt from collisions with debris during high flow conditions. Rappel 10 was the biggy. It had an amazing sheet of fresh water flowing down its face. I encourage you to look at the attached video on the vimeo website in high definition. All too soon we finished the technical portion of the canyon and pulled up to a sunny spot below the 400 foot waterfall at about 12 noon. We took off our suits, dried out, rehydrated, ate, and stocked up on water. For those of you who have not been in Kolob creek, it is an amazing, rugged narrows that seems to go on and on. The water was clear and with the exception of a few swims, the warm air kept us comfortable. We did not arrive to the MIA exit until 5 PM. We met a family who has just descended Boundary and planned to camp the night before hiking out the Narrows.

This was my first trip up the MIA trail. I understand that it is in pretty good condition. Having said that from Kolob Creek to the dirt road at the very top of the trail, it took 2 hours for us to climb up. Basically, you are eating dirt all the way up. We took a short brake at the spring, rehydrated, topped off the water bottles, and made our way on the road back to the West Rim Trailhead. Car to car in just under 14 hours. We missed the longest day of the year by a day, but you could hardly tell. Tom and Heather proved to be super solid and great company.

Ken