Zion Canyoneering

I have planned a trip to Zion right after x-mas. I know it will be cold and there is a high possibilty of snow. What about the canyons themselves? Would it be out of the question to explore some of them with out getting my feet wet? I cant find any info for winter. What canyons are the best and driest this time of year? Any info would be great! TIA

- Josh

heres some info, do a little research, never been but it looks like TONS of fun!
be safe,
mark
canyoneeringusa.com/utah/

For the most part they are wet and winter passage rquires alot of preparation and experience. Canyons there are not to be taken lightly in the winter. There are a couple of storms coming through the northern AZ area this weekend/week so I don't know how far north they will go. It's a phenomenal place to be in general. I've done very wet and COLD canyons there in Nov., but never in Dec., and you need a 7mm to 9mm full wetsuit. Post your query to the Yahoo Canyons group, thats where most Southern Utah Canyoneers hang out. Ask for Tom Jones, he's the guy, or Hank.

Josh - You can rent gear. When I was there at the end of October, Zion Adventure had a deal getting canyoneering shoes, neoprene socks and dry pants for $35. Everyone in the canyon seem to have their gear on. When I checked their website, the shop was closed for remodeling. We did the Narrows from Temple of Sinawava to the Floating Rock. We did a short easy hike from the bottom and back (about 6 miles). The water was low (about thigh high) and we spent about half the time in the water. I have one of Zion Adventure's brochures and it said that water flow is 2-4 level (1=least and 10=most). Water temps are 40-45 degrees. Flood danger is 1-2 level (1=low and 10=high). All these numbers are for the Zion Narrows in December. If you want to do the Narrows from the top to the bottom (16 miles and 12 hours), make sure the top is open and you need a permit if you start at the top. Hope that helps.

Your best bet for canyons this time of year is out of Zion. North Wash and Robber's Roost (Hanksvilleish) is the best bet.

If your stuck on freezing your ass off in Zion the driest (still not dry!) are going to be Behunin and Spry. They both have some water but if you plan accordingly, it won't suck to bad.

Just got back from north wash Friday night.
No water to be found in Boss Hog. It was pretty sweet BTW lots of opportunity to practice stemming, bridging, and chimmneying. We found it to be pretty easy though, opting to practice more then was absolutely necessary. If I would have known better we probly would have done hog 2 and 3 also but I didn't even know they existed until the approach where you can see all 3. boss hog (hog 1) is the middle fork, hog 2 is the other long fork lookers right on the approach, and hog 3 is the short first fork you could drop into (I think it drops into boss hog also but I'm not sure). I'm pretty sure all would be dry but have no beta on 2 & 3 although I did see a trip report with vague details. I think one could do all in a day if moving fast and motivated. it took us about 4 hours for boss hog but we stopped a couple times and weren't going as fast as possible. Also if you do boss hog and want to have the best style you could probly clean all the webbing and ghost the anchors leaving nothing behind, we should have but didn't think about it till we had finished. (the only anchor we constructed was left with no webbing however)

Check out climb-utah.com

there is probly at least a couple mostly/ all dry options. The roost is probly a good spot also, maybe high spur or alcatraz would be dry.

I'll second climb-utah.com. It's the best place for canyoneering info. Behunin is basically dry year round. I wouldn't count on not getting wet in Spry.

Also, I'll recommend the North Wash and Robbers Roost for good fun dry canyons.

Be safe.