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

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 is now 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. I had not been in Middle Echo is quite some time (10 years?)

Echo CanyonTom JonesSeptember 24, 2024Echo Canyon, Echo

Fiddle Me This Canyon, Zion National Park, UT

Fiddle Me This Canyon

I was looking for good stuff going into Echo Canyon, and this is the good one. I looked seriously at a couple others that were kinda lame. But this one… starts with a 200 foot rappel, has a bunch of raps, a bunch of interesting features and, me still my beating heart, can be done without leaving anything behind.

Lower Echo, Descending and Ascending, Zion National Park, UT

Darn hot down here, it is, limiting choices to a few. But Lower Echo (Echo below the trail) is one that is deep and dark, with some water to cool off in. A short approach hike means, not so bad. But the penalty gets paid at the end - since the final rap out of the canyon is closed, one must fix ropes to exit the canyon. A while ago, I put in an anchor to improve the usability of the fixed rope...

A Snowy Echo Canyon, Zion National Park, Winter Canyoneering

Guest Rave by Steve Ramras; all the good pictures by Ramsel Adams. It doesn't happen every year. Usually about every 4 or 5 years. When it does, I can't resist. It happened to us the first time, in the early 90's. We descended Middle Echo, one May day, finished the short raps and came smack into a walls of ice. For the next 2 hours, we dangerously weaved our way through the snow and ice...

Lower Echo and Anchor Activities, Zion National Park, UT

Yes, it is still winter. After a few days of rain, we were psyched to go sneak another canyon in, and also psyched for a lazyish start, given the festivities the night before, Amanda and Kat's going away party in advance of their coming-up-fast South Africa adventure. The day was grey and not all that warm. The plan was to do Lower Lower Echo...

First Descent of Not So Hot with Echo Canyon in Zion National Park, UT

It WAS hot out, but a north-running canyon, early start and projected cloud cover combined to make this reasonable. THIS being exploring a branch of Echo Canyon that comes off Cable Mountain. The team for this adventure was Kody Prisbrey from St G, Jonathan Zambella from Springdale, Felicia Bicknell from Phoenix and me.

Lower Echo Canyon, Zion National Park, UT

Evergreen Dean came out with a couple of friends to run a lap on Imlay. I thought a warmup day was in order to assess skills, spread the The Imperial Style of canyon ropework and teamwork

Winter Canyons: Behunin and Echo, Zion National Park

As the date approached, I rounded up a partner for Saturday also, and the weather report looked good. Not so the weather in Salt Lake as I hit the road Friday night. The snowstorm did not let up till past Nephi and got me worried.

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