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Trip Report: Canyoneering in Zion NP (page 1)
All photos by Todd unless otherwise noted.

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Participants: Aaron, Tom, Todd & Steph with special guest appearance by Eric & Neil 
 
Among other meanings, the dictionary defines 'Zion' as a synonym for heaven. Zion National Park, on the other hand, is sort of heavenly to those that have a passion for canyons. The intrepid group for this series of excursions is a bit unsure of their standing regarding entry to the foremost destination, but is fairly confident they can meet the criteria for the latter (which amounts to $20 cash). Unfortunately this will require an extensive search between the seat cushions for the change I seem to remember dropping from my pocket last month, we stall by opting for another destination prior to arriving at the park.
 
We meet up with our guide for the trip who leads us down the brushy road, through the brushy field, over the brushy hill, past the brushy ridge, down the brushy wash and into the canyon, which is fortunately, no ..... make that mercifully, brush-free. We rappel the first drop, hmmm ..... that brush along the edge of the rappel wasn't there a second ago. Did you see that?! I swear it moved when my head was turned, is it getting closer?!! Something's rustling ..... My God !! ........ it's, .... it's ..... ALIVE !!!
Psychotic breaks aside, there was a lot of brush. 
 
One short walk, two down climbs and three Lithium Extra Strength caplets brings us to a little slot.
 
Ooohh, the colors, ..... or is that the medication, ..... no, ..... no ..... it's the canyon. S w w we e e e e e t.
 
Sandstone viewed under direct sunlight is usually grey, tan or reddish. Sandstone viewed under reflected light, on the other hand can take on a rainbow of hues. After a while a lot of these canyons start to all look the same. For me, the changing light keeps things interesting. That and the millions and millions of dollars worth of gold I find in the canyons.
 
You can see some of the effect that light can have starting with the last photo. Going down the page you have yellow > red > blue as the dominant colors.
 
The canyon isn't really blue, it's just the way some cameras interpret low light conditions.
 
These wavy slots are nice. I wish the walls of my house were made that way instead of straight up and down.
 
This is the final rappel in the canyon and features an interesting straw-like formation that you slide right through. As long as I'm mentally renovating the house, I'd love to have one of these in the back yard. It would be great to wake up and slide down it before going to work, just to sort of start off the day. I think it would be better than having a back yard pool, and it wouldn't be as much work, you'd maybe just have to give it a good dusting once in a while.
The exit hike is just as long as the entry and we wind up back at the car 14 hours after we started. The canyon is a good one, but I don't plan on doing it again any time soon. So we scrounge up the dough and move onto Zion National Park.
 
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