October Sun- Zion

I just finished 4 days in Zion working on a new route with Andrew. Here's some video, photos, and words about the trip...



I awake to a clear blue sky and frost on my sleeping bag, pillow, etc. The low golden light of the morning gives depth to the rock castles beyond.

My camp is a clearing in chest high grass in Coal Pit Wash, a slice of BLM land outside of town. Road noise is ever present, more audible than the crickets and birds surrounding.

The highway leads through Rockville, a town where American flags line the single road, on to Springdale, and Zion National Park. My destination today is the South Fork Canyon in the Kolob region of Zion.



The day starts with coffee and sun light. Soon I'm hiking a sandy trail through changing trees on the way to a overhanging orange and black streaked wall. The wall overhangs 20 degrees above a dry river bed, and it is riddled with sandstone huecos.



The area has a handful of classic bolted routes, and I intend to add another. The existing routes were established on lead. Being alone, I've devised a way to rappel bolt the new line. The system involves rope soloing an adjacent route, then using hooks to hang on my route. Should I fall, the only risk is a large swing into the air.

Zion requires bolts to be hand drilled, a time intensive process of hammering the drill and turning the bit until a 4" hole is created. Today I'll place one bolt on a route that likely requires 14. I recently quit my job, the effort required to establish this route shows my work has just begun.