A Day In Zion

I finally had a day off after a long stretch of work shifts at the hospital. The weather forecast was good and I had no other commitments all day long. I was hoping to either climb a multiple pitch route or do a canyon in Zion. I contacted John Tully (the PA that works with me in the ED) and convinced him to join me. We decided to hike through Spry Canyon. Most people take 6 to 8 hours to get through this canyon, but Marty and I had done it in 3 hours before. We didn't exactly get an early start, but by 10 am we were well on our way up and over the slickrock pass that heralds the beginning of the drainage between Mount Spry and Mountain of the Sun. It was a warm day for the 2nd of November. Once we dropped into the slot and began to rappel we did put on our wet suits and neoprene gloves. It had rained just last week and most of the pools were still full of water. It took us 4 1/2 hours this time through the canyon. This left us with some time to rock climb. We drove to the end of the road at the Temple of Sinawava where the Narrows comes out and parked the truck. There is a 100 foot climb up a crack called "Tourist Crack" right above the parking area. We spent the rest of daylight climbing this crack and made it back to the truck after dark using our headlamps. The next stop was at the Zion Pizza and Noodle (in the old Mormon chapel) in Springdale. The spicy pasta dish hit the spot! Although I was physically tired when I arrived home, I felt rejuvenated.