Tallstack Canyon

Jacqueline, Zyla, and I went out for the day on the east side. We wanted to get some fall color shots. Just about the time that we got to the trailhead, Zyla decided to throw up. Now this was not a spontaneous event as the little one had been sick during the week leading up to this. We thought that she was better at this point, but we learned the lesson the hard way and now the car was doomed to smell like baby puke. We still could not miss the fall color and give Zyla a chance to be outside, which is always one of her favorite places. So instead, Jacqueline wandered up Clear Creek taking pictures, while I stayed with Zyla gathering rocks. We had a fun time hanging out and after a long time, mommy came back and took a turn with little Z. From where we were parked, I decided that hiking up a little known canyon next to the Many Pools hike might be a good idea. It was not the best idea because frankly it just intrigued me for more. As soon as I got into this canyon, I wondered why I had never entered it before. Tight, narrow, colorful, excellent were all words that I could use to describe it. When I got back, I told Jacqueline she had to come check it out. We talked to some folks along the way and a visitor from Vegas said that, “oh yeah, that’s one of my favorites” that he used to hike up when he was younger. Well, that sealed the deal and I was definitely going to have to come back sometime soon. That sometime soon turned out to be the next morning as the allure of unexplored territory could not keep me away long. I felt an early morning start would be the best, so that is what I did. I was on the road before the sun could even come up. Along the road, I saw a whole bunch of bighorn sheep. They had about an hour before the throngs would be out and they would have to scurry to quieter ground. I started the hike, retracing my steps to the place I was just yesterday. On this day, though, I had more time and no sick child to worry about. The canyon was sandy at first before getting to some pools that I had to go high above to avoid. Then came to a section where it looked like this might be a quick end to my hike. But a 3rd class scramble to the right lead to a ledge that eventually dropped back down into the canyon. The obstacles from here were easy enough to deal with while the canyon stayed tight. As soon as I would get to a place where it seemed like this would be it, I would find a way around the difficulty. Especially in a narrow canyon, you expect to not be able to continue for such a long time, but it just kept going and going with excellent narrows. Finally, I though, there was a place where a big rock jam about 12 feet high would keep me from continuing, but no. I was able to sit on a log and shimmy my way up until finally gaining the top and continuing on even farther. I would run into a big pour-off, but the right side had a sandy slope that worked also. This was starting to get ridiculous as I wondered why such an interesting canyon would be so unnoticed. Finally, I hit an obstacle that made me turn around, but by that point, I was almost out of the canyon! And frankly, it was nothing insanely scary. It was just about an eight to ten foot rock wall. It just was one that I thought would be foolish to attempt to climb when I was by myself so far from any roads. I immediately knew I had to come back to check out this canyon from the top sometime. I had to retrace my steps carefully and I knew that it would be a challenge in itself, but I had no problems and could really enjoy how untouched this place really was. I knew that it wouldn’t stay like that with so many people searching Zion for this exact place. It is a non-technical canyon accessed directly from the road. I wondered why no one had visited it before? Well, looking for a route description online, I was only able to find one even mentioning it. It discouraged visitors from hiking it saying you could not get too far and it was not interesting. I am not sure if that is a cover to keep this place to itself, but if you have a little bit of an adventurous spirit, this canyon has a lot to offer. A few weeks later, Seth and I went on a patrol of the East Rim. We had to take a break around lunch to see if we could find the head of the canyon. We did very successfully. It looked beautiful and intriguing. We planned to make a descent sometime next year. I like the name Tallstack better than West Molar, by the way and hopefully this one will stick with this beautiful, pristine Zion Canyon.