Okay so my kid (15yrs) is pushing for our first Zion outing of the year the first week of April. Are we going to need “Canyon Man” to get our Asses out of Subway !!, but seriously, looking to bring out two buddies of his who are noobs – what are the basic routes, such as Pine Creek, Echo, Subway, Spry & Mystery looking like now? Got everyone covered with 4/3 fullsuits/booties/etc. – but certainly wouldn’t want to overreach if snow/access/water flow is still a problem. Appreciate any latest conditions – thanks!!
Yahoo Canyons Group
TomJones
Current Zion Conditions 3/22/2012
OK, kinda based on speculation, as I have not been up to a reasonably high altitude in the Park, but…
It snowed some last weekend. At 5000 feet, we had 2″ of snow, and it burned off the next day. My guess is that the Kolob Terrace road is open to Wildcat Trailhead, and closed past there (based on a 2-week old report). So, I think there is 2-3 feet of snow up at Lava Point, and across the top of Horse Pasture Plateau (aka the West Rim).
This week, we have a warming trend. at 5000 feet, 70s during the day. Weather report says 66/43, which does not account for the very heavy frost this morning… so, warm during the day, very cold at night == not a big melt so far. I suspect in a week or two the melt will be going really well (mostly by not freezing at night), and proceeding down the Subway with or without Canyonman is probably not a good idea.
Or not, hard to say. Each canyon has its own little ecosystem. On your list:
Pine Creek – you can see from the road, so… likely very wet and cold, but not flowing. Echo – has snow in it. Enough to make it impossible? Hard to say. I would not go in there without checking it out from below, or fixing ropes. Subway – as above. Spry – usually a good bet in these conditions. From the road you can see if it is flowing – if not, probably good to go. Mystery – north-facing approach probably still in the snow. Caution advised. Narrows might be closed AND impassable.
4/3 wetsuit is pretty minimal this kind of conditions.
Tom
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “bollinger_joe” wrote:
Okay so my kid (15yrs) is pushing for our first Zion outing of the year the first week of April. Are we going to need “Canyon Man” to get our Asses out of Subway !!, but seriously, looking to bring out two buddies of his who are noobs – what are the basic routes, such as Pine Creek, Echo, Subway, Spry & Mystery looking like now? Got everyone covered with 4/3 fullsuits/booties/etc. – but certainly wouldn’t want to overreach if snow/access/water flow is still a problem. Appreciate any latest conditions – thanks!! >