Icebox Canyon, North Pass variation. Kolob Canyons, Zion National Park
Finally out of town for another zip down to Zion. The monsoon had set in and denied us the previous weekend, but the weather report was favorable so...
Getting out of town – another trip to Zion
Crack-O-Noon start for a long canyon – Hmmmm, maybe not such a good idea. Loaded up the packs and headed out for the North Pass approach to Icebox Canyon.
A complex pass allows access over into Icebox Canyon.
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Two possible routes – North Pass and Slickrock Pass. This trip we are headed to North Pass.
After a pleasant stroll up the canyon, the character building begins. A long trudge up the steep, brushy ridge, in the heat of the day leads to the pass. Alicia is only smiling because I told her we were close to the top.
Finally at the top, we relax for a while, then head down the other side. The canyon is like a slickrock couloir heading down and dropping out of sight.
Heading down the slickrock couloir is a little spooky, but it never really steepens up enough to be difficult. A single old bolt with homemade hanger makes a convenient anchor for a handline or rappel down the 4th class slab.
The slabs lead down, and down, and down. A few moves of 5th class climbing lead to more fourth class and occasional anchors. Here’s the view looking down Icebox Canyon from on high.
A few natural anchors are available, but the first descentionists placed occasional single bolt anchors.
A very interesting canyon - steep but very climbable slickrock leading down toward the percipitous canyon below. Much different than the big wall raps in the canyon to the south.
Alicia enjoys the impressive slickrock view, and the relaxed nature of this particular descent.
We spent a little time adding a bolt to this single-bolt station, since it looked like we would launch into the abyss from here. (Instead, we rapped right to a sturdy pine, and from there into the abyss).
Rap Anchor: notice 1/4″ rapid links on the bolt hangers to keep the slings from cutting. Two separate slings lead to a large rapid link.
Rappelling finally somewhat steeply. One rappel from a pine tree drops steeply to a pretty good ledge. Three bolts (including 2 Fixe bolts of dubious quality) allow a 150 foot rappel to the canyon floor.
A 15 minute fern-wack down the canyon leads to the first decent water and a few possible camping spots. We arrived just at dark and set up camp.
The canyon is amazingly lush, reminding us of the Pacific Northwest or British Columbia.
Here we are simul-climbing the waterfall…
We set up camp among the ferns and cooked dinner. Around midnight, the skys opened and an enormous deluge crashed down around us. Somewhat by luck, our tent site was not under a waterfall, though the stream on the left side of the prototype tent ran about 6" deep.
Not many pictures through the canyon itself, as we were rather behind schedule. A couple rappels and a lot of boulder hopping lead down this fabulous canyon to the triple waterfall near Kolob Arch.
Alicia still smiling. This is just before I let her know we have 7 miles of slogging to get back to the car.
We are extremely thankful that this weekend was not un-goshly hot as one would expect in Zion in July. Still, the trail out from Kolob Arch is hot and long. A quick swim at LaVerkin Falls preps us for the final two hour climb to Lee Pass, back to our car, just at dark.
