No Country for Monogamous Men

Eric called me up and wanted to go for a hiking trip since his girlfriend was working and my lady was having her bachelorette weekend in Vegas. We originally thought of doing the Barracks, but after the weather looked dismal, we went to a Plan B. I used my TOPO software and found Squirrel Canyon that seemed to lead to the cliffs high above the famous polygamous community of Hildale and Colorado City. It seemed like a nice spot with chances for some unique views of Zion. Eric had been to the area one time before, so he was able to find the trailhead easily. It was a sandy slog up Short Creek until we came to the turn for Squirrel Canyon. There was an excellent ATV track that lead us high into Squirrel away from the brush and the water flowing through. Soon we got to where the walls should stop us, but they did not. It seemed to have a path blasted out of the wall. The trail lead us up right under a prominent sandstone monolith called the Beehive. That is where we popped out into the higher plateau. We turned left and soon we were walking on the slickrock. It was a path similar to that of the east side of Zion. There were many hoodoos rising above us with sandstone formations to rival any interesting place such as the popular Wave. We followed the slickrock until it seemed to give way to an area that looked a bit more challenging. We checked our map, headed up and eventually ran into the trail again. The only thing bad I could say about this hike is that all the ATV use, which impresses me that those vehicles can make it up certain places, has created a trail that is so sandy it makes walking quickly a difficult prospect. We walked along and came to a significant sandstone section. It was a brilliant white color and was one of the best outcrops of sandstone that I have ever got to enjoy. We took many pictures and ran around on the rocks. I was so impressed with all the sandstone on this hike. I believe that this hike has scenery that would rival the Wave. If someone publicized it and made it into a big deal, soon Colorado City would be having some issues with tourism. Eric took a ton of pictures and some of them came out just excellent. We continued on and we were in for more surprises. Moqui marbles littered the landscape. These are round rocks that remain because of their weather resistant ability with a higher portion of iron compared to other sandstone. Soon we realized that it was a layer of rock rather than just pockets in the sandstone. It was not a thick layer, maybe only a couple of feet thick at the thickest. It just survives and makes for some fun stuff to look at and play with. Soon we became a little curious when the end of this hike was going to come. Both of us were getting sore legs from fighting the sand all day. We finally found the end of the road as it hit the cliffs. We were supposed to find some spring, which we eventually did, but it was not much to see. What was exciting to see were the amazing views that we got of Zion. A different angle than we are used to seeing. Instead of looking up and wondering what could be up there, I was looking down from that spot on where I usually am looking up. We turned around and called it good. We seemed to fly on the way down taking less pictures and going downhill through the sand. On the hike down Squirrel Canyon, we ran into a couple that hiked from Zion through Pahrunaweap to Hildale. They asked us if we were from Hildale. Eric said he had relatives there and I could not stop from laughing. The closest we will ever get is parking and driving through town as that place is no country for monogamous men.

Keyhole

Having finally received a day off, I decided to do what I get paid to do and went through Keyhole Canyon. Nick who I went to SAR training with and his roommate Bill wanted to go through a canyon. Having never been canyoneering before, I figured that Keyhole was about the only choice. We got going a bit after 1pm and got ourselves all the gear from the cache. (Nice being a trip leader) We climbed the hill and dropped into the middle slot where we wetsuited up. I used a farmer john rather than a full wetsuit and I was happy. I could see Bill sweating away and I knew what he was going through. The water was even lower than the last time and soon Keyhole will be back to its usual stinkiness. I made sure that each one of them knew what they were doing on the rappel and then I went down with a prussik on. It is highly irritating rappelling that way, not smooth at all. They went down after that and I showed them how to bottom belay. The rest of the canyon went smoothly. The guys picked up downclimbing on those big rocks rather quickly. The rappelling was smooth and they enjoyed the beauty of the canyon. I was so glad to only have the farmer john on because the only time the water got close to being over my head was right at the 100 ft swim which was more like a 100 ft wade as it was just barely over my head this time. A couple of downclimbs later and we were out of the canyon. I popped out first above everyone. They were grateful to me for leading them through. The truth is that anyone with a bit of common sense can do this stuff. I remember eight years prior making it through Keyhole and realizing how big of an accomplishment that can be.

Work, Work, Work

I feel like all I have been doing lately is working. Not too bad of a deal when I have such a sweet job. My outings in these two weeks have taken me all over the park. The first spot that I went to was to revisit Coalpits Wash. This time I took a trip up Scoggins Wash since I had not been up there for a couple years. It was how I remembered it except drier and saltier. I met up with Coalpits Wash eventually and went up it as far as my limited time would allow. This was all in response to a cancelled trip through Keyhole due to Scott's (the VIP) dad being up. The next day the same thing happened. I was supposed to go through Keyhole with Delynko, but he had Taser training. Instead, Annette and I went through Keyhole. It was what Keyhole usually is, filled with water, downclimbs, and some short rappels. Once again I wore too thick of a wetsuit and it made life miserable on me. We went back up to try to find where the dead deer was. We found it up canyon a ways. When I got back, there was a SAR going on. I stuck my head in the door to see all the important SAR people talking. Eventually I got the call and got to go out to the Subway to be radio relay. I sat at the Hoodoo Pass and relayed everything Rob and Cody said to the whole park. The guy that was hurt had a badly broken leg. It was an exciting job considering that the whole park noticed what I was saying over the radio. I got to stay out overnight and got quite a bit of overtime. In the end, everything went smoothly as we short hauled the guy out of there by helicopter. Immediately after that Jacqueline and I went down to Mesquite, but I was disappointed by the place. The next week saw many great trips. I went up to Observation Point and the East Mesa area, where I actually got a better view from a spot on the East Mesa near Mystery canyon, simply because it was a view I had not witnessed before. The next day I was supposed to go through Left Fork. I got a call saying that we had a search for an elderly couple instead. They were overnight in Coalpits and I was actually the one who located them in Coalpits Wash. Way to go me. They were fine and in surprisingly good spirits for the age and having spent the night out. Seth (fellow backcountry ranger) and I finished the day up with some arch site monitoring on the Kolob Terrace Road and a hike out to the Northgate Peaks. The following day, Seth and I left for an overnight on the West Rim. This is exciting because I have got to do very few overnights. The West Rim was its usual with beautiful views of the Left Fork, Right Fork, and all the mountains and temples in between. We cleared a lot of old dead trees out and even a whole house made out of dead trees from the campsite. We camped for the evening and I slept fairly well in my bivy sack. The next day we put up some trail counters that included a jaunt up Angel's Landing. It is funny doing that trip in my park uniform. I feel like I should not even think about being worried about it and frankly I wasn't that worried. It just seems so strange that people will do Angel's Landing so frequently, but not venture out into some of these more interesting places in the park. To end it all, we picked up a rattlesnake that was living right next to the trail. We moved him even though he would likely return sooner or later to the same spot. That finished it up, but I definitely am starting to feel as if I am returning to mid season form.

Update: Before I could post this, I got to go out on yet another SAR. This time to Echo Canyon where two canyoneers were stuck because of heavy snow conditions. I got to be the first on the scene. They were not injured and so really my main job was to let them know that someone was coming. Then the rest of the team showed up (Tom, Eric, Rob, and Vid) and we rigged a system up to yank them out. We lowered an attendant and then pulled all three back up. It was a great SAR and kept me out until 3am.