Pinecreek & Waterfalls

Yesterday Nick agreed to go canyoneering with me in Zion. We chose to do Pinecreek, a slot that I have done over 30 times over the years. April assures us that we would have the canyon to ourselves as the slot is usually full of cold clear water after the winter snows and rains. Few canyoneers venture into the slots this early in the year because they are so cold. I personally enjoy the canyons early because it is more of a challenge and the lack of other people. We made a stop in Springdale to rent Nick a dry suit as he is too big for any of my gear and then I visited with my ranger buddies at the EOC where they have their offices. It was there that I convinced one of the rangers (Craig) to give us a ride through the tunnel thus avoiding having to hitchhike a ride back through the tunnel after finishing the canyon. Peering down into the drainage as Craig dropped us off I quickly realized that the canyon was flowing with a considerable amount of snow runoff. In fact the flow looked like it rivaled the time I went through with Marty in 2005 when the big snows and floods hit last time. I was suddenly very excited and nervous at the same time. This was going to be a much bigger challenge than I had planned on! It was a good thing that we both had brought dry suits. Soon we were putting on our gear at stream side as we listened to the roar of the water as it dropped into the slot before us. The first rappel station was tricky to get to because of the high water and I had Nick belay me over to it. Then we began. The second drop we chose to jump instead of use the rope. That was exciting and very chilly! Our biggest challenge came at the "Cathedral Room" rappel. The 70 foot drop provided a big water fall and the pool was deep and churning. Swimming under the waterfall was crazy. Nothing like snow-melt cold water pounding you downward as you try to swim through it! The rest of the canyon went well. We essentially floated through the narrow sections as the rush of water pushed us along with the occasional toe touch on a sand bar or rock underneath. After the last rappel we took off our dry suits and began the hour long boulder hop out to the road. The sun came out and we warmed up. Another great trip through Pinecreek and the second most difficult experience for me. Purty crazy huh Nick!?