August 2005. Right Fork Backpack: Perhaps toughest backpack. 18 miles apprx 2500 feet loss in elevation. Routefinding difficulties; The Black Pool; Rapels.
Another shuttle hike, this is probably one of the most challenging hikes in canyon country, at least in a National Park in canyon country. I met Dave at the Lava Point trailhead, start of the West Rim trail hike. We left early in the morning, Dave and I bringing his rappelling gear as well as a inflatable raft and some waterproof bags. I was nervous due to the difficulty of this hike. The book we read that gave a description of this hike described this as one of the toughest backcountry hikes around – due to degree of difficulty in route finding, a long section of cold water called the Black Pool, and a number of 40-50 foot rappels. But on we marched.
And immediately we found out another reason for this being such a difficult hike. After a nice easy mile on the Wildcat Connector trail, going slightly down, we headed off trail along the upper drainage of Wildcat Canyon and it was thick brush and lots of downed trees. This was extremely difficult going, especially carrying heavy backpacks. And it was about a mile of this. After finally clearing this we began the portion of the hike that would require careful route-finding. We had to count the number of small canyons coming out from the east of the canyon we were hiking in. And we sometimes may not be sure if a particular small little opening should be counted as a canyon or not. And you needed to know exactly when the best time to drop into a canyon, rather then staying up high because any wasted steps were not what you wanted out here in the desert. But we did count correctly and we did notice the correct saddle between 2 mountains looming ahead, and we made it correctly to the part of the hike that brought us to the upper areas of the Left Fork drainage (left fork of the North Creek). About 4-5 miles down from this location, this trickle of water would turn into one of the more intense day hikes anywhere, The Subway of Zion!
From here we needed to head up to the saddle that we noticed a few miles back. This was easy route-finding, but a good climb of about 500 feet exposed to the noon day sun. When we got to the top we took our packs off and had a nice lunch break. The views this high up were tremendous of the Great Western section of Zion. Looking north, back to where we just came, and looking south to where we were going to go, and it didn’t look like an easy way. Miles and miles of twisting canyons and rock; and trees. But on we marched.
Now, we had to hug the faint little trail in the trees along the bench to the west of the canyons that dropped far below. At this time we set our sights on a strange rock formation, called a hoo-doo, that would be seen up to the right, which was the mark of where we would need to start heading down into the canyon. We did see what we thought was the correct hoo-doo (there were so many formations that could be classified as such) and so we figured we were at the right spot. At this spot, we knew we were above the place we’d drop down, called the Giant Steps. The book sounded like this would be extremely steep, but we zig zagged down , sometimes holding onto trees, to keep our balance. It wasn’t as tough as I anticipated, but it was still something that caught your attention. We finally made it to a more level area, and this was where there were a few options that would take us into the upper part of the Right Fork, which would be the creek we’d take the rest of the way. The first option didn’t look too good to me (at this time I thought it was the only option, unfortunately). It was a huge drop-off of at least 50 feet, straight down, which would require a rappel. But there were no man-made anchors to put our rope around, only trees. And I didn’t like this at all. So we looked around and couldn’t find anything any better. I was beginning to worry here (I hate the thought of rappelling). But then we remembered the description in our book that we had on this hike. It described a little walk to the west where we’d end up on this sloping rock that would take us to a short little drop-off just about 5 feet above the sandy canyon floor. So we found this spot with no trouble and got to the spot we needed. It was a simple little jump for me and we were both down. You talk about relief!!
That relief would be only temporary. Within 15 minutes from there we came to another big dropoff, and this one had no other option but to rappel. This was about a 25 foot dropoff and it would be a free –rappel, i.e. nowhere to put your legs to help you step on down. I went first, Dave giving me instructions. Once I took that first step off the ledge up above, it was fun and again was relieved to make to the firm ground below. Dave lowered my pack to me on the rope and he came down with his pack on his back. We made our first of 3 rappels.
After this, we had to make the well documented sharp right turn in the canyon and now were heading almost due west. And it was pretty tight in the canyon from here till Barrier Falls, which was about 4 miles down creek (we wouldn’t get to Barriers till the next morning). The next part was the most crucial and dangerous part of the hike - called The Black Pool. This area could be fatal. The book described it as a pool of sometimes as long as 200 feet, in the deep shadows of the slot canyon. Ice cold water, with no sun. Plus you don’t want to get your gear and food wet. There was another option and that was to make a difficult climb up to the right or left and go down about 100 feet to bypass most of the pool of water; but that required a tough rappel. Plus it wasn’t easy to climb up to the ledge in the 1st place and you may still have about 20 feet of water anyhow after rappelling down. We decided to do the water. Dave had his little raft blown up and I made sure my backpack was sufficiently covered and water-proofed. After 30 minutes of prep work, we finally started our swim. The water was cold and deep. For the first part you couldn’t touch bottom, and believe me it’s difficult trying to get across in this slippery canyon with a heavy pack; my legs were cramping. Dave was also having some difficulties. I have to admit I was quite worried at this point, with both of us struggling so to get across the pool. But finally we made it halfway and we could walk; and it wasn’t close to the 200 feet we were told it could be. We made it, and we felt very cold. But we got in the sun and that helped. Another major hurdle over with.
But there was still a number of drop-offs ahead. The next one we came to was one where there were anchors in the wall to allow a rappel of about 30-40 feet. I didn’t really want to do that, so we discovered a nice easy way up on the ledge to the left. We took this, and at times it was steep and with big dropoffs, but not as difficult as the rappel. We then walked down to a 6 foot drop off ; I did it first with my long legs and then assisted Dave down into the sandy canyon floor. Just another ¼ mile down we came to a similar dropoff that required a rappel; but again we found a ledge to the left and climbed up and over and back down; this time a shorter 4 foot jump down into the canyon.
That was the last obstacle for the day, and thank God! We hiked a little further and finally made it our camping spot for the night. The Great Alcove of Zion’s Great West Rim was where we set up. It was far above the creek and under this giant alcove. Lush and beautiful, with the sights and sound of the Right Fork of the North Creek. We were tired, sore and sandy, but feeling great. We made it through most of the tough part of the hike. We made it to the campground in good time and alive and uninjured.
While resting, I went down the trail scouting what was ahead in the morning and didn’t like what I saw. It was quite a ways down along the ledge where the trail was to the creek. It went straight down. I came to the point where there were anchors in the rock, indicating our rappel for first thing the next morning. It was about 60 feet down. All night long while camping, that was on my mind, the rappel first thing in the morning. Plus I knew just after that rapple would The Barrier Falls rappel.
The next morning, off we went. At the drop-off, I went first again. I remember the first step over the edge as being so terrifying for me, but I did it. About 10 feet down you came to a small little ledge where you could stand, but I got the rope caught in a rock just above me. That wasn’t good, but we got it free. So off I went again. I scraped my hands a few times on the rocks going down but I finally made it. Words can’t describe the super feeling in my stomach the moment I got close to the ground below. Dave followed down, after lowering my pack to me. With my hands and knees all scraped up, we continued on.
For about ½ mile we followed the creek. I wasn’t able to enjoy the scenery yet, since there was the one more rappel ahead. We came to the top of Barrier Falls. I had hiked up the Right Fork a few times before to below this spot, 6 miles from the trailhead to Barriers via Double Falls. So I’ve seen it from the bottom looking up. But never have I been above it since it is, as it’s name implies, a barrier from further exploration going up. This rappel worried me because unlike the others, this one has water coming down the side of the dropoff. So I was worrying about keeping to the right of the waterfall so that I wouldn’t slip. But once the initial step over the edge and I was in the right spot, this was an easy one. I even had the backpack on this time, which actually was nice because it helped as far as balancing yourself as you went down. Once Dave and I were down, I felt so exhilarated. Mainly because I was done with all the obstacles; plus there was no more unknown parts of the trail the rest of the way. I’ve been on this last 6 miles of the trail on several occasions. Not that it was easy, there were still lots of climb downs and creek crossings and rock hopping, made especially more difficult since we had our backpacks on.
After about 1 or 1 ½ miles down from this spot, which was a very tiring part of the hike due to rock hopping and smaller drop-offs, we came to perhaps Dave and mine most favorite spots in Zion – Double Falls. We took a long break here to enjoy the scenery, as Dave took some of his trademark photo’s by DNally.
The last 5 miles were nothing more than the usual creek crossing and enjoying ourselves since it was easy going. We passed a few creeks coming in off from the side, including an unnamed creek from the north that Dave and I discovered years earlier on our first-ever backpack together. We didn’t take this canyon today, but it led about ½ to 1 mile up to 2 incredible waterfalls, each over 70-80 feet tall; and not even the backcountry ranger who discovered the Right Fork rappel hike we were just completing knew about this creek. I showed it to him on a map when we got this permit and he was not even aware it existed, and he had been a ranger in Zion for perhaps 20-30 years. The main trail along the Right Fork then passes an old corral off to the north of the creek; then goes through a nice, very short narrow section, then eventually gets you to the confluence of the Left Fork of the North Creek (yesterday we were at the very upper part of the Left Fork). In between those 2 spots, the famous Subway hike. We crossed the creek at the last point, just above a real nice waterfall in the slickrock. This is a great spot to take a dip in the water, cool and clean off. Plus it is always a good idea to get nice and cooled off and wet before proceeding. The last part at this point is just ahead and it’s a 300-400 foot climb straight up this Black Lava Rock cliff.
All wet and cold you start the climb following a winding trail to where you start straight up. Soon you have to climb through rocks and over boulders, following rock cairns as guides. You don’t want to get off the preferred marked trail because you’d get cliffed out and have to go down and start from where you left off. But we eventually make it to the top and got a great view from above. The North Creek far below; the Right Fork canyon from where we just came; and all the high mountains of the West Rim of Zion. Another 10 minutes of easy walking and we got back to our car.
What a hike, what a journey. Dave has done many a tough trips, and he thinks this is perhaps one of the toughest outings he’s been on. He shuttled me back to my car at the beginning trailhead. I remember taking a break at the top of Lava Point, at 8,000 feet and a great view of Wildcat Canyon, Left Fork Canyon and way off in the distance Right Fork canyon. Somewhere down there in Right Fork were tiny little drop-offs and a little pools of water. From where I was, you couldn’t see them, too many rocks and cliffs and trees. But they would have looked insignificant if you could see them from Lava Point – the highest point in all of Zion. But you couldn’t have told that to me the day before, my life was dependant on me getting past those little obstacles. I FELT GREAT!!! I made it.
And immediately we found out another reason for this being such a difficult hike. After a nice easy mile on the Wildcat Connector trail, going slightly down, we headed off trail along the upper drainage of Wildcat Canyon and it was thick brush and lots of downed trees. This was extremely difficult going, especially carrying heavy backpacks. And it was about a mile of this. After finally clearing this we began the portion of the hike that would require careful route-finding. We had to count the number of small canyons coming out from the east of the canyon we were hiking in. And we sometimes may not be sure if a particular small little opening should be counted as a canyon or not. And you needed to know exactly when the best time to drop into a canyon, rather then staying up high because any wasted steps were not what you wanted out here in the desert. But we did count correctly and we did notice the correct saddle between 2 mountains looming ahead, and we made it correctly to the part of the hike that brought us to the upper areas of the Left Fork drainage (left fork of the North Creek). About 4-5 miles down from this location, this trickle of water would turn into one of the more intense day hikes anywhere, The Subway of Zion!
From here we needed to head up to the saddle that we noticed a few miles back. This was easy route-finding, but a good climb of about 500 feet exposed to the noon day sun. When we got to the top we took our packs off and had a nice lunch break. The views this high up were tremendous of the Great Western section of Zion. Looking north, back to where we just came, and looking south to where we were going to go, and it didn’t look like an easy way. Miles and miles of twisting canyons and rock; and trees. But on we marched.
Now, we had to hug the faint little trail in the trees along the bench to the west of the canyons that dropped far below. At this time we set our sights on a strange rock formation, called a hoo-doo, that would be seen up to the right, which was the mark of where we would need to start heading down into the canyon. We did see what we thought was the correct hoo-doo (there were so many formations that could be classified as such) and so we figured we were at the right spot. At this spot, we knew we were above the place we’d drop down, called the Giant Steps. The book sounded like this would be extremely steep, but we zig zagged down , sometimes holding onto trees, to keep our balance. It wasn’t as tough as I anticipated, but it was still something that caught your attention. We finally made it to a more level area, and this was where there were a few options that would take us into the upper part of the Right Fork, which would be the creek we’d take the rest of the way. The first option didn’t look too good to me (at this time I thought it was the only option, unfortunately). It was a huge drop-off of at least 50 feet, straight down, which would require a rappel. But there were no man-made anchors to put our rope around, only trees. And I didn’t like this at all. So we looked around and couldn’t find anything any better. I was beginning to worry here (I hate the thought of rappelling). But then we remembered the description in our book that we had on this hike. It described a little walk to the west where we’d end up on this sloping rock that would take us to a short little drop-off just about 5 feet above the sandy canyon floor. So we found this spot with no trouble and got to the spot we needed. It was a simple little jump for me and we were both down. You talk about relief!!
That relief would be only temporary. Within 15 minutes from there we came to another big dropoff, and this one had no other option but to rappel. This was about a 25 foot dropoff and it would be a free –rappel, i.e. nowhere to put your legs to help you step on down. I went first, Dave giving me instructions. Once I took that first step off the ledge up above, it was fun and again was relieved to make to the firm ground below. Dave lowered my pack to me on the rope and he came down with his pack on his back. We made our first of 3 rappels.
After this, we had to make the well documented sharp right turn in the canyon and now were heading almost due west. And it was pretty tight in the canyon from here till Barrier Falls, which was about 4 miles down creek (we wouldn’t get to Barriers till the next morning). The next part was the most crucial and dangerous part of the hike - called The Black Pool. This area could be fatal. The book described it as a pool of sometimes as long as 200 feet, in the deep shadows of the slot canyon. Ice cold water, with no sun. Plus you don’t want to get your gear and food wet. There was another option and that was to make a difficult climb up to the right or left and go down about 100 feet to bypass most of the pool of water; but that required a tough rappel. Plus it wasn’t easy to climb up to the ledge in the 1st place and you may still have about 20 feet of water anyhow after rappelling down. We decided to do the water. Dave had his little raft blown up and I made sure my backpack was sufficiently covered and water-proofed. After 30 minutes of prep work, we finally started our swim. The water was cold and deep. For the first part you couldn’t touch bottom, and believe me it’s difficult trying to get across in this slippery canyon with a heavy pack; my legs were cramping. Dave was also having some difficulties. I have to admit I was quite worried at this point, with both of us struggling so to get across the pool. But finally we made it halfway and we could walk; and it wasn’t close to the 200 feet we were told it could be. We made it, and we felt very cold. But we got in the sun and that helped. Another major hurdle over with.
But there was still a number of drop-offs ahead. The next one we came to was one where there were anchors in the wall to allow a rappel of about 30-40 feet. I didn’t really want to do that, so we discovered a nice easy way up on the ledge to the left. We took this, and at times it was steep and with big dropoffs, but not as difficult as the rappel. We then walked down to a 6 foot drop off ; I did it first with my long legs and then assisted Dave down into the sandy canyon floor. Just another ¼ mile down we came to a similar dropoff that required a rappel; but again we found a ledge to the left and climbed up and over and back down; this time a shorter 4 foot jump down into the canyon.
That was the last obstacle for the day, and thank God! We hiked a little further and finally made it our camping spot for the night. The Great Alcove of Zion’s Great West Rim was where we set up. It was far above the creek and under this giant alcove. Lush and beautiful, with the sights and sound of the Right Fork of the North Creek. We were tired, sore and sandy, but feeling great. We made it through most of the tough part of the hike. We made it to the campground in good time and alive and uninjured.
While resting, I went down the trail scouting what was ahead in the morning and didn’t like what I saw. It was quite a ways down along the ledge where the trail was to the creek. It went straight down. I came to the point where there were anchors in the rock, indicating our rappel for first thing the next morning. It was about 60 feet down. All night long while camping, that was on my mind, the rappel first thing in the morning. Plus I knew just after that rapple would The Barrier Falls rappel.
The next morning, off we went. At the drop-off, I went first again. I remember the first step over the edge as being so terrifying for me, but I did it. About 10 feet down you came to a small little ledge where you could stand, but I got the rope caught in a rock just above me. That wasn’t good, but we got it free. So off I went again. I scraped my hands a few times on the rocks going down but I finally made it. Words can’t describe the super feeling in my stomach the moment I got close to the ground below. Dave followed down, after lowering my pack to me. With my hands and knees all scraped up, we continued on.
For about ½ mile we followed the creek. I wasn’t able to enjoy the scenery yet, since there was the one more rappel ahead. We came to the top of Barrier Falls. I had hiked up the Right Fork a few times before to below this spot, 6 miles from the trailhead to Barriers via Double Falls. So I’ve seen it from the bottom looking up. But never have I been above it since it is, as it’s name implies, a barrier from further exploration going up. This rappel worried me because unlike the others, this one has water coming down the side of the dropoff. So I was worrying about keeping to the right of the waterfall so that I wouldn’t slip. But once the initial step over the edge and I was in the right spot, this was an easy one. I even had the backpack on this time, which actually was nice because it helped as far as balancing yourself as you went down. Once Dave and I were down, I felt so exhilarated. Mainly because I was done with all the obstacles; plus there was no more unknown parts of the trail the rest of the way. I’ve been on this last 6 miles of the trail on several occasions. Not that it was easy, there were still lots of climb downs and creek crossings and rock hopping, made especially more difficult since we had our backpacks on.
After about 1 or 1 ½ miles down from this spot, which was a very tiring part of the hike due to rock hopping and smaller drop-offs, we came to perhaps Dave and mine most favorite spots in Zion – Double Falls. We took a long break here to enjoy the scenery, as Dave took some of his trademark photo’s by DNally.
The last 5 miles were nothing more than the usual creek crossing and enjoying ourselves since it was easy going. We passed a few creeks coming in off from the side, including an unnamed creek from the north that Dave and I discovered years earlier on our first-ever backpack together. We didn’t take this canyon today, but it led about ½ to 1 mile up to 2 incredible waterfalls, each over 70-80 feet tall; and not even the backcountry ranger who discovered the Right Fork rappel hike we were just completing knew about this creek. I showed it to him on a map when we got this permit and he was not even aware it existed, and he had been a ranger in Zion for perhaps 20-30 years. The main trail along the Right Fork then passes an old corral off to the north of the creek; then goes through a nice, very short narrow section, then eventually gets you to the confluence of the Left Fork of the North Creek (yesterday we were at the very upper part of the Left Fork). In between those 2 spots, the famous Subway hike. We crossed the creek at the last point, just above a real nice waterfall in the slickrock. This is a great spot to take a dip in the water, cool and clean off. Plus it is always a good idea to get nice and cooled off and wet before proceeding. The last part at this point is just ahead and it’s a 300-400 foot climb straight up this Black Lava Rock cliff.
All wet and cold you start the climb following a winding trail to where you start straight up. Soon you have to climb through rocks and over boulders, following rock cairns as guides. You don’t want to get off the preferred marked trail because you’d get cliffed out and have to go down and start from where you left off. But we eventually make it to the top and got a great view from above. The North Creek far below; the Right Fork canyon from where we just came; and all the high mountains of the West Rim of Zion. Another 10 minutes of easy walking and we got back to our car.
What a hike, what a journey. Dave has done many a tough trips, and he thinks this is perhaps one of the toughest outings he’s been on. He shuttled me back to my car at the beginning trailhead. I remember taking a break at the top of Lava Point, at 8,000 feet and a great view of Wildcat Canyon, Left Fork Canyon and way off in the distance Right Fork canyon. Somewhere down there in Right Fork were tiny little drop-offs and a little pools of water. From where I was, you couldn’t see them, too many rocks and cliffs and trees. But they would have looked insignificant if you could see them from Lava Point – the highest point in all of Zion. But you couldn’t have told that to me the day before, my life was dependant on me getting past those little obstacles. I FELT GREAT!!! I made it.
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