Video Runtime 7:24
Filesize 45.4 MB

The Kolob Canyon video was captured on Jason Mateljak and I’s first trip down Kolob Canyon.  The video was quickly edited together showing most all of the captured footage.  Unfortunately, the video camera never seemed to operate quite the same after that wet trip.

Kolob Canyon may not have the biggest drops, the most drops, or the longest trips, but it seems to have one thing.  It is the coldest and highest of all of the Zion Canyons.  The water feeding the canyon comes from the Kolob Reservoir over 9,000 ft in elevation.  The winter of 2005 was a good snow year.  The road up to the beginning of the hike, the West Rim Trail, wasn’t even open due to snow until mid-June.  Following the usual procedure, we called the water authority to see how much water was being released from the dam – the answer none.   All of the water was naturally running into the canyon.

The day of the trip was August 25, 2005.  For our first trip, we carried to bit more safety and warming gear.  We had our new Pirana descenders and still were carrying the heavy 11 mm climbing ropes.  The high in the Zion Canyon was 105 degrees F.  We were chilled all the way to the exit MIA route.  We did have one amazing ideas was to stuff in our packs large empty water bottles.  With the bottles in our packs, we floated with easy through the seemingly endless number of bottomless potholes.  Our first trip took 11 hours.

Our following trips, we took much less gear.  Made sure everyone took ATC XP descenders to be sure not to tangle the ropes (tangled being able to be pulled down ropes was definitely a problem on the first trip).  We take 9 mm ropes.  And the trip time has been cut to about 7 to 8 hour trips.  And amazingly each trip seemed to have just a slight bit more water on them.