Mystery Canyon Again!

[Howells Outdoors]

So,

I should be writing two separate trip reports, but that's too much work. I got to do Mystery Canyon in Zion National Park twice in a week.

I saw on Sunday Sept. 14 that there were still spots available for the next Tuesday, so I called my dad up and said, "Shirk all responsibilities and lets go do Mystery Canyon."

Best choice EVER!

The canyon was flooded with water from that huge rainstorm that destroyed I-15. The only other time I had been in Mystery it was completely dry until the spring, which was pretty shallow.

The lake was full this time. We had a 150 yard swim across that thing, and by the time you reached the other side you were cold, tired and ready to be out. It was awesome!

Then the spring has been cleared out too! It served nice to be able to clean off the dirty water from the lake.

Then of course there is the Rockstar Rappel into The Narrows. Fantastic!

Overall I was happy that I ditched out on all responsibilities that day and went canyoneering. Then the next Sunday I get a call from my boss, "Hey, what are you doing Monday? I have permits for Mystery and one open spot."

The funny part of that was only have work at SUU Outdoors on Monday, but it was my boss asking me to come. Kind of an interesting pickle to be in.

Mystery Canyon twice in one week. I like living in Cedar City!

This video is from the second trip:

 

[Howells Outdoors]

And I'll add to this.

Here's the #Trailfie (a selfie from the trail) Tale as I swam across the lake the first time:

We were pushing through the water, past the logs and debris. The weight of our bags, clothes, and gear trying to drag us down. I thought about how cool it would be to have a photo of us in the water here -- excluding the GoPros on our helmets.
"Crap, my phone!" I exclaimed. "It's in my pocket."
I reached down into my pocket, picking up a few sticks floating around me. Drew out my phone, snapped a shot of us, put the phone back in my pocket, and kept swimming.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 is water-resistant, but I had it fully submerged!
Well done!

 

[Nick]

Awesome! Great job on the video. I absolutely love Mystery Canyon. That's great the lake was full. I like it that way. Unless of course you lose a much needed rope in it like we did once. Thank god for the smorgascord we made or we would have been stuck!

 

[TannerT]

Twice in a week. Cedar City is sounding pretty sweet. I've never done Mystery when it's full. The video was awesome too.

salud!