A Pie and Beer Day Benson Creek - July 24 2019

There is a long tradition of Pie and Beer Day in Utah — our second 4th of July! Coming on a Wednesday this year, we HAD to take the day off but… the madness of Zion these days, and the maddening heat finally here, the standard canyons inside the Park just did not seem like a good idea. Shirlz suggested a romp through Benson Creek up by Parowan / Brian Head. Splashing water, a couple nice raps, not too long, someone else driving… Previously it had seemed a long way to go for a short canyon (1-1/2 hours from Mount Carmel), but it sure seemed like a good idea on this day.

Getting up early was not that much fun, but the drive was delightful with Doug driving. The fast route from here is across the top via Cedar Breaks and Brian Head, then down Parowan canyon. No Zion traffic madness here. Lots of wildflowers, a few sprinkles at the highest altitude. We arrive a few minutes early and put on our shoes. The crew from St George pulled in a few minutes later. Our team for the day was fellow Jones’s (no relation) Shawn and Corrine, Paula LeFevere, and then Doug Murray and Shirlz Rox from Kanab; and me.

I had heard the horror stories of the approach. The good news is that with a 9 am meet time, the approach was entirely in the shade. Which helped a lot. Even with a starting elevation of 7000 feet, it was warm enough and humid enough to be a sweat fest climbing the steep talus — full direct sun would have made it heckish! We wandered up the Nature Trail and found the picnic tables. We wandered through the woods to find the talus, then up the talus to the apex. At this point, signs of passage (not quite a trail) thankfully appeared to help us continue upward, steeply, on loose dirt, talus, etc. until we attained the top. Whew! We followed a trail back a bit, then descended to the creek bed. Not Too Bad!

A big tree (BFT) on the left with a sling was the conspicuous anchor for the first rappel. Doug rigged the rope and headed on down. The stream was flowing maybe 2 CFS, just enough to be delightful and get us fully soaked in the waterfall without being pushy. Great first rappel. Very splashy. The second rap was somewhat less elegant. An awkward first step led to a fun short almost-in-the-waterfall second step. While the water was not cold, my tee shirt was now soaked so I switched out to my raincoat and that worked better.

Another BFT anchored the third rappel, slippery of course, and ending with a good splashing. A short section of narrows followed, with a few minor downclimbs and five minutes of hiking. The final rappel showed up and felt LARGE, though it turned out to be but 45 feet tall. The BFT was back away from the edge a ways, so rappellers have their choice of where in or next to the waterfall they want to rappel. Several choices were made. Much splashing was enjoyed.

And done. We stripped off harnesses, packed up the gear, and hiked down the streambed a few minutes to the picnic tables. Hidden Haven was now swarming with families escaping the heat of Parowan. We did the short hike out to the parking lot. Time for Pie and Beer, which we did, then headed home.

Nice little canyon to escape the heat, especially with an early start. A good time was had by all.