Keyhole Canyon in Winter, Zion National Park, UT
Mr. Deanpaul Russell aka Deeps came down to enjoy our incredible non-winter weather in Zion... except, the day before and the night he drove down, it snowed about 6" in Zion. Winter again! As the weather report predicted clearing in the afternoon, we delayed our start, meeting Jenny down at Deep Creek at 10 am. We geared up and picked up a permit, then headed up to do Pine Creek Canyon. The storm had cleared and the sun was out, melting snow on the slickrock. The flow in Pine Creek was a little more than we were up for, so we drove up the highway a bit, and ventured into Keyhole Canyon.
Jenny and Deeps hiking up the slickrock
Up the slickrock, walking up the streams of meltwater where the rock was clean and not-icy. Down the snowy slope on the other side, to find the canyon flowing nicely with 1 cfs or so. Into the canyon, such fun. Just enough flow to make it fun and a little bit serious, but not too pushy. After the middle-section narrows, we set up the rappels and pushed on through, then more traversing. Several sections had a rainstorm coming in over the edge from melting slabs on each side. We hopped through these sections quickly to avoid the shampoo-commercial effect.
Deeping helping Jenny out of the swirl at the bottom of Rap 3
It was not too cold, but the toes and fingers sure were! We boogaloo'd on out through the swims to the sunlight. Just the right adventure to match our taste and ambitions.
