Isaac Canyon

On Tuesday, June 29, 2010 Eric and I went canyoneering in Zion National Park. We teamed up with two park rangers who were off duty and also looking for an adventure. The canyon we chose to explore is nicknamed "Isaac" canyon and drains into the Court of the Patriarchs which is a side drainage off of the main Zion Canyon. This canyon has not seen many descents and in fact may have not been visited for several years judging the condition of the rappel anchors. Our day in St. George began at 4:30 a.m. as we crawled out of bed early in an effort to arrive in Zion and meet up with Andrew and Brandon and get on the trail. The morning was cool and the trail shaded for the first couple of hours as we trudged upward with heavy packs towards the West Rim. After three hours of steep trail we arrived at the drop in point above Phantom Valley. Two tricky raps into Phantom and then a beautiful scramble over slickrock following the water way past many pools of clear water. As the drainage "slots up" we donned our wet suits and neoprene gloves and proceeded into a beautiful slot full of water. A few of the pools proved challenging to get past but soon enough we arrived at the confluence of 4 canyons. In the past I had always continued down the main slot of Heaps canyon until the final series of raps into the Upper Emerald Pool. This time we chose to ascend the South Fork of Heaps up to it's saddle and then canyoneer down Isaac canyon. The ascent was strenuous and had a surprisingly large amount of snow in the base of the canyon. Many knee high bushes of wild raspberries jabbed our skin as we hiked and scrambled up to the saddle. The descent down Isaac was slow going and a bit difficult with lots of bush-wacking and assisted down climbs. We replaced or placed webbing on 4 different anchors (some being completely absent). The final rappel necessitated placing a bolt to make the anchor safe and acceptable. This rap was about 250 feet and required some skill and endurance. Eric did very well with this canyon, but he did mention that he never wanted to do it ever again. We finally arrived back to the road and my truck 14 hours after starting out in the morning. No need for our head lamps, but we did consume most of our food and water. We finished off the day with a delicious burger from Oscars in Springdale. This is often the favorite part of the day for Eric and I as we talk about or hike that day and quell our appetite. Once again a day well spent in the back country of Zion. It will take a few days for the soreness to pass in our muscles as we pushed quite hard all day long to do this canyon.