Zion West Rim Trail, Early April 2019

Yvonne said:
not with waist deep snow drifts that are still there. So snowshoes for sure. And no one of our staff has been up there yet and has an actual trail report, so I guess I should go and check it out.
I usually do East Mesa trail to Observation Point as a quick sunset hike and come back in the dark. It's a nice little hike and no pressure to catch the last shuttle. At the moment there is simply no way to get to the trailhead so it adds additional miles to snowshoe in and out
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Do what I did a few years ago and start from the ponderosa resort. only adds a couple of miles :eek: (each way)
 
zionsky said:
Do what I did a few years ago and start from the ponderosa resort. only adds a couple of miles :eek: (each way)
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Hahaha I walked it from hwy 9 to Chamberlain ranch. Not a ton of fun but better than paying for someone to shuttle you!
 
LarryBoy said:
Hahaha I walked it from hwy 9 to Chamberlain ranch. Not a ton of fun but better than paying for someone to shuttle you!
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Dang, thats about 18 miles. Glad my wife loved me enough to drive me to Chamberlain Ranch.
 
Yvonne said:
still snowing in higher elevations of the park.
Started yesterday afternoon. I would not want to go without snowshoes and proper winter gear. Heading up and out for a scouting trip on Saturday
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Hi Yvonne,
Just checking in to see if you were able to complete your scouting trip last weekend. Any trail updates to share?
thanks
 
monica said:
Hi Yvonne,
Just checking in to see if you were able to complete your scouting trip last weekend. Any trail updates to share?
thanks
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I did some scouting. Road to Wildcat TH is still closed due to the snow up day. Snow starts right now just past Hop Valley TH.
But it's warming up and snow is melting fast. I'll check again end of the week or on the weekend. High elevations still have at least 1-2 feet of snow
 
Yvonne said:
I'm also itching to get out and hike to Observation Point from East Mesa road or the East Rim trail...
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Per the park:
The Narrows is closed due to snowmelt. The Kayenta Trail and Upper Emerald Pools Trail are closed until further notice due to storm damage. The Hidden Canyon Trail and Observation Point (from Weeping Rock) are closed until further notice due to rockfall.
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I'm assuming this means that the E Rim trail proper is open.
 
Yvonne said:
It is but there are still two feet of snow on the access road. Still no way to access the trails from there. We just have to be patient and wait, the snow melts soon.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Oops, I meant the E Mesa trail.
 
Yvonne said:
I did some scouting. Road to Wildcat TH is still closed due to the snow up day. Snow starts right now just past Hop Valley TH.
But it's warming up and snow is melting fast. I'll check again end of the week or on the weekend. High elevations still have at least 1-2 feet of snow
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Thank you for the report - very helpful. Will definitely pack the snowshoes and microspikes and see what the advice is when we pick up our permits next week.
 
Yvonne said:
E Mesa is technically open but still extremely snowy up there. I guess in a few days or so it will be accessible.
No access down to Weeping Rock via Echo Canyon because the active rockfall is still going on. We're getting there super soon
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Roof, Hepworth, Bighorn, and Shelf are all snow free as is most of upper east canyon. I'll post trip reports when I return.
 
zionsky said:
Roof, Hepworth, Bighorn, and Shelf are all snow free as is most of upper east canyon. I'll post trip reports when I return.
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Candy cliffs were beautiful. Road was good up until last mile where it got a little bumpy.
 
zionsky said:
Candy cliffs were beautiful. Road was good up until last mile where it got a little bumpy.
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just wanted to say that to you that all is dried out up there. Just a bit rough the last mile as it often is.
Finally we're getting here somewhere.
Zion snow also melts super fast right now. It's crazy how much is gone now compared to Sunday when I was up there
 
Yvonne said:
just wanted to say that to you that all is dried out up there. Just a bit rough the last mile as it often is.
Finally we're getting here somewhere.
Zion snow also melts super fast right now. It's crazy how much is gone now compared to Sunday when I was up there
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After candy Cliffs, I did a scouting trip up Kolob Terrace. Unfortunately it is still closed at turn around. I parked below the turn around and caught the connector up past Pine Valley. It was wet in the bottom then dry up Maloney Hill then I ran into snow past the peak. I made it to the junction with Wildcat but the snow was very deep so I turned around
 
zionsky said:
After candy Cliffs, I did a scouting trip up Kolob Terrace. Unfortunately it is still closed at turn around. I parked below the turn around and caught the connector up past Pine Valley. It was wet in the bottom then dry up Maloney Hill then I ran into snow past the peak. I made it to the junction with Wildcat but the snow was very deep so I turned around
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On the other hand, cave Knoll was great for sunset.
 
zionsky said:
After candy Cliffs, I did a scouting trip up Kolob Terrace. Unfortunately it is still closed at turn around. I parked below the turn around and caught the connector up past Pine Valley. It was wet in the bottom then dry up Maloney Hill then I ran into snow past the peak. I made it to the junction with Wildcat but the snow was very deep so I turned around
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I won't take super long until it the snow melts up there as well.
Someone even did the Subway from the top down the last few days and they reported us that even in the Upper Subway section is a lot of quicksand.
I guess this year we have to be patient and just wait until the time comes to access all the trails
 
Yvonne said:
I won't take super long until it the snow melts up there as well.
Someone even did the Subway from the top down the last few days and they reported us that even in the Upper Subway section is a lot of quicksand.
I guess this year we have to be patient and just wait until the time comes to access all the trails
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Hats off to whoever did the top down Route. The snow got very deep (1-2 ft) past pine valley peak. I imagine it will very wet and muddy up there for another couple of weeks
 
Hi and thanks to everyone who contributed to this post Now that I'm back home after our few weeks in Utah I'd like to just close the loop on this hike. We arrived at the Wilderness desk in Zion on April 1 and the report from the ranger there was that even with snowshoes, a strong group had post-holed in snow up to their thighs on the West Rim. Given that, we decided to change plans and were able to get permits for 3 nights in the LeVerkin/Kolob Canyon area. Sites 7( on the trail, nice views and easy water), 13 (at the mouth of Bear Trap Canyon) and 3 (a dry camp but up high, private and peaceful). Some wind and rain one night, sunny days, cool mornings. It was all good and a nice alternative plan. So the West Rim will have to wait for another year - maybe a plan for a bit later in April. Anyway, thank you everyone for your input - much appreciated.
 
monica said:
Hi and thanks to everyone who contributed to this post Now that I'm back home after our few weeks in Utah I'd like to just close the loop on this hike. We arrived at the Wilderness desk in Zion on April 1 and the report from the ranger there was that even with snowshoes, a strong group had post-holed in snow up to their thighs on the West Rim. Given that, we decided to change plans and were able to get permits for 3 nights in the LeVerkin/Kolob Canyon area. Sites 7( on the trail, nice views and easy water), 13 (at the mouth of Bear Trap Canyon) and 3 (a dry camp but up high, private and peaceful). Some wind and rain one night, sunny days, cool mornings. It was all good and a nice alternative plan. So the West Rim will have to wait for another year - maybe a plan for a bit later in April. Anyway, thank you everyone for your input - much appreciated.
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Glad to hear you had a great time. I made it part way up wildcat when I was there a few weeks ago but had to turn around because of the deep snow. I too am looking at moving my 2020 trip back to April
 
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