Zion: Echo Canyon from the Top - Sept 19, 2024

I guess that trail is gonna be closed for a while yet…

Back In The Day: Middle Echo WAS a fun, scenic, straightforward ‘beginner’ canyon when accessed from the Weeping Rock Shuttle stop. That trail has been closed for a while, and will for another long while. Middle Echo can now be accessed from the top, from Stave Springs trailhead, and should not Tom’s beta reflect this reality? Tom (uh, me) had been through upper Middle Echo a decade ago and did not remember much in the way of nice canyon nor difficulties. A recent post disagreed. Hank Moon pointed out the obvious - my beta really oughta be accurate, so…

I rounded up Tim and Marco for a note-taking trip. It had been eight years since I had enjoyed Middle Echo. I had placed some bolts in there BITD, some of the first bolts I placed in Zion - I wonder how they are doing? The crux anticipated was the big hike out during the heat of the day, which it was.

The RESULT: more fun canyon. Was a half-day canyon, now a 3/4 day canyon. One new bolt placed. Fun had. Here we go:

Stave Spring Trailhead, 10:10 AM. Not an early start.

We hiked in. My old beta carefully describes where to enter the canyon from below, in a place that gets a person into the shade quickly, and to the rappels fairly soon. The new question is where to go in when hiking from the top.

I’ve always been impressed by the Echo Canyon Trail, particularly the segment down from the rim, that follows a ridge with well-designed switchbacks. Though steep (climbing 800 feet in about a mile), it does find quite a bit of shade and is nice… The trail comes off the ridge and crosses the streambed of Echo Canyon. Is this the best place to enter? Well yes. Tim and I followed the trail to where it crosses the next branch, but this looked kinda sucky, so we returned to the first crossing, the “new” entry point.

Marco at the new entry point, 11:03 am.

Starts off mellow, has some boulder hopping and log walking, then some boulder downclimbs

And finally an awkward rappel or two. A party had recently been through and had rigged pinches with a tidy, short loop of black webbing and a single rapide. We arrived at the first real water and suited up. A few minutes downstream was the first real rappel in the canyon, where the posting party had said there was no anchor rigged, and slim resources for building an anchor. True that. There was pinch about 40 feet back that COULD be rigged either with a long piece of webbing, or requiring more rope than we and most parties would be carrying. I installed one 1/2” x 2-3/4” Stainless Steel Powerbolt here with a hanger and two rapid links. I plan to replace with a stout glue-in fairly soon. For better or worse. We found ourselves at the intersection with Fiddle Me This - AHA! - and were glad we had suited up.

Tom rappelling. photo Tim.

I had done Fiddle many times, but had not continued on down Echo Canyon, so this section from here to the former Middle Echo start was also an unknown. Turns out there were a few nuisance rappels and some boulder downclimbs, then we were at the former entry point.

I was pretty happy with this “ground anchored bollard anchor” for this nuisance rappel. Surely downclimbable by many…

Back in Terra Cognito, Echo presented as expected, as in a lot of sand had washed in recently, so the two ‘keeper potholes’ were not at all keeper. A bit of swimming though, and of course the water was rather chilly.

Tim on the “last rap”.

I was happy to see that my previous bolting efforts had held up well. We walked through the marvelous lower canyon and eventually found sunshine to warm up in, partially dry our rubber suits, eat and drink and prepare for the grueling hike out.

Marco and the yard sale on the slab.

We gruelled up to the carpark, arriving at 4:30. All in all, a bit more canyon makes it a bit more of a canyon adventure, which is good because it is also a lot more of a hike. Recommended. The stats: