Kolob Creek

Wednesday & Thursday, June 17-18, 2009

Kolob Creek is a technical slot canyon that begins outside Zion National Park, and is a tributary to the world-famous Zion Narrows. Kolob Creek drains out of Kolob Reservoir and carves its way through thousands of feet of Navajo Sandstone before it joins the Virgin River in the Zion Narrows. Kolob Creek is unique for Zion Canyons in that it has year-round water flow. The canyon is rated 3-C-V in the Canyon Rating System, has 12 rappels, ranging from short drops over boulder and log jams, to 150' rappels down raging waterfalls. The following is a telling of my adventure through Kolob.

Scott and Mike made it to my house late Tuesday night, shortly before midnight. "You guys going to be ready to go at 6:00 tomorrow morning," was my first question upon seeing them arrive so late. "Absolutely," was the response. Sure enough, we didn't leave the house until after 7:00 am. On to the La Verkin Chevron to meet up with Rick, our 4th adventurer for this round of fun. Our plan was to start near Lava Point, and hike all the way through the Narrows to finish at the Temple of Sinawava, which would require a car shuttle. ShaeLee was kind enough to offer to drive us to the trail head. After leaving Mike's care at the Visitor's Center, we were finally on our way to the trail head.

9:00 am - Parting ways with ShaeLee, we began our hike through the forest to reach the headwaters of Kolob Creek, and our first rappel. Hiking through the forest in Southern Utah is a unique experience. I am so used to open desert, that I am out of place when put in the midst of thick vegetation with cool mountain dew clinging to the leaves. Our hike began at an elevation of over 9,000 ft. and would end at less than 4,000 ft. We have a lot of elevation to lose. The high elevation creates a very diverse environment from what I am used to. Tall ponderosa pines tower hundreds of feet in the air to create the forest canopy. Scrub oak, ferns, wild flowers of all shapes and colors, and small plants and trees blanket the forest floor. While it may be summer down in the valley, up on the mountain, it is still spring, and the wild flowers are incredible. The columbine is in full bloom, and each of its five funnel like petals are full of sweet nectar. Biting off the ends of the columbine petals will soon become my favorite pass-time as the endless hiking over ankle-breaking slime covered cobble stones wears on and on.

9:45 am - Our first rappel. Putting on a dry suit in the company of others is a delicate task. It isn't stripping down to put on the base layers that bothers me, nor the forcing of giant feet that it seems will never fit into the tiny gaskets, but the heat. You don't want to be the first, nor the last guy to have his dry suit on. If you are first, you begin to wonder if you are going to die of heat stroke while you wait for the others to suit up. If you are last, you feel bad that your partners may expire from heat stroke before there is any chance that a flash flood may get them. A word of caution. Always wear too much clothing under your dry-suit. You will be very hot when suiting up, however, after hours of exposure to cold water, you will appreciate the extra layers.

In 1993 a group of scouts descended into Kolob during a time when the Washington County Water Conservancy District was releasing water out of the reservoir. As I sit at the precipice of the canyon, and gaze into into its depths, I try to imagine what was going through their minds when they decided to rappel into the canyon. From the comfort of my position 16 years later, and plenty of hind-sight between me and the ghosts of the scouts, I look at the trickle of water dropping into the canyon, and try to imagine what it must have been like sitting in this same spot, watching a flood, a deluge of water pour into the canyon. Call them crazy, I call it hubris, and poor judgement. No one could survive the torrent that was flowing through the canyon that day. Today, the water is cool, clear, and not much more than a trickle. Most canyons are dark and dank, full of scummy, insect infested pools of water, that make crawling into a sewer system seem like a walk in a flower garden. Kolob is unique in that the constant flow of water leaves each pool and pot-hole full of cool crystal clear mountain spring water. No bugs are present, and the real surprise is that each pool is full of giant rainbow trout! Apparently, the floods that are released from the reservoir carry fish down stream into Kolob canyon where they get trapped in the pot holes and grow to monstrous sizes. Remember to take a piece of fishing line next time you go. Kolob is a very clean pristine canyon compared to others I have done. Please leave it that way. Carry out all trash and stay in the water course at all times. For pictures that are not my own, please see: http://www.zionnational-park.com/images/albums/index64.htm

Shortly after the technical section you will become enchanted with a 400' waterfall spouting its way off the mesa top. Never in Zion have I seen such a large waterfall in such a remote place, and during summer conditions. If this waterfall were near a road of any kind it would be written up in every guidebook as "the thing to see." As such, it is just another secret treasure that only the hearty will be rewarded with.

Feeling somewhat invincible in my 37 layers of clothing I have on underneath my dry-suit, I take no heed of bumping into rocks, trees, and have no concern for the wildlife. Mike on the other hand, wearing only a wet suit is a bit more susceptible to the fangs of the slithering creatures. While looking up at the 400' waterfall, he happened upon a rattle snake. It made a lot of noise, but took further action to defend its position.

8:00 pm - Kolob Creek has a near continuous flow until shortly before it reaches the Virgin River. Many hours of hiking over slime covered rocks brought us to the confluence, and our home for the evening, campsite #8. Upon setting out we believed that a person, wearing many layers under a dry-suit, would be able to sleep the night away comfortably with out proper sleeping gear. This, however, assumes that the layers under the dry suit are dry. Scott drew the short straw and suffered a cold night in damp clothes. Mike's sleeping bag was the victim of a leaky dry-bag, and also suffered a cold bivy. Rick and I however, were quite comfortable in our warm, dry sleeping bags.

6:00 am Thursday, June 18th - Back into wet clothes. The idea of hiking the Narrows sounds like a great adventure. The reality is another thing. Imagine hiking for miles over the most water polished cobble stones in the known universe, covered in a friction resisting slime the engineers at Dupont and 3M have only dreamt about. Needless to say, the Narrows has been the site of more than one broken ankle. For our group of hearty adventurers, the water flow was high enough to accommodate an exciting float trip inside of our dry suits. It may not have been class 4 and 5 rapids, but it was a magical experience floating down the narrows, staring up at the sky between the canyon walls.

Returning the gear. Maria, our friend currently working at the Zion Adventure Company, had exciting news. Yesterday, while we saw and felt a few sprinkles in the canyon, the east side of Zion experienced a torrential down pour, resulting in flash flooding in both Spry, and Pine Creek Canyons. It took the Virgin below Pine Creek from less than 60 cfs to over 400 cfs in minutes. Someone was watching out for us.