Das Boot

The crew over at uutah.com put together a weekend trip to Zion, hoping to get some noobs through some quality stuff. The agenda would include Das Boot, a variation on the Left Fork of North Creek, and Pine Creek, the classical introduction to Zion Canyons. I’ve only done Subway the normal (boring) route, and once from the bottom for some photography, so I definitely wanted in on the trip.Canyoneering in Zion during the monsoons are completely hit and miss, but a gamble nonetheless. A few days ago, North Creek flowed HUGE, wiping out a ton of real estate near the town of Virgin. But the forecast looked favorable for us, so we decided to go ahead. Luckily, the heavy rainfall filled the Left Fork up with somewhat clean water and it was tip top full. Muy bueno…

A bridge with some serious debris embedded in it’s structure a few miles up stream from Virgin. I estimate the bridge is 15 feet tall, for reference.

Jason, Christian, and Alex on das catwalk.

The starting lineup for the uutah Zion trip would include a handful of internet canyoneering characters, a few of whom I’ve met, a few who I haven’t. Made for one of the most diverse groups I’ve ever been out with, no doubt. The Southern uutahns were led by Christian the Kinky Comedian from Vegas, and his regular partner, Jason from Hurricane, along with the soft-spoken Chris from Tocquerville. The Salt Lake Boys included Alex the Russian, Adam the MySpace Pimp, Shane of Climb-Utah fame (infamy?), and Mike the Internation DJ. Eastern Utah sent it’s finest representative, Justin “I Hate Lousy Guidebook Authors” Eatchel from Moab, and I represented the finest county of this fine state, Utah. Wow. Talk about a canyon melting pot. Let the games begin.

Making the logwalk in Das Boot. Jason in the back, Adam on solid ground, and Chris in the cesspool.

Shane and Mike doing their little thing on the catwalk, while singing “I’m too sexy for my neo… Too sexy for my neo…”

Justin making the squeeze through a logjam.

Christian relaxing in the hauntivirus pool. Dead rats were plentiful.

I believe that is what the conservatives call “the fear of God” in his eyes…

Justin just signed on with Team Stearns, quickly showing his sponsors why they signed him.

Typical section in Das Boot. Beautiful narrows and quite enjoyable when the water is high.
Adam, this image will look fantastic on your MySpace page.

Mmm… Fresh organic material.

Alex swimming through some narrows.

Christian on Das Jump. Massive style points for this one.

Jason emerging from Das Jump.

Chris surfacing after swimming the subway sinkhole.

Shane putting on a show for the young ladies around the corner.

Jason taking his turn in the Subway sinkhole.
Alex leading the troops into bowling ball alley.

Justin lookin’ so tight in the alley.

Alex on a little downclimb.

Mike the International DJ.

Mass chaos at Keyhole falls.

Cannonball!

The Subway is a regular circus.

Ah, that’s better. Crowds temporarily disappear so I can take the obligatory subway shot.

Left Fork certainly flowed, but showed limited evidence of flashing. Das Boot was tip top full as well, and the water was lukewarm, with a 2mm full being sufficient. Water was fairly clean, with only a few hauntivirus pools… Quite a few dead rats and some organic material, but overall very enjoyable conditions.

It appears the storm was localized over the right fork and coalpits cachements. Mosquito Cove was spared entirely, while Coalpits was completely leveled. Obviously anything downstream of the right/left junction were leveled in the flood plain. The bridge about 3 miles up from Virgin had dead trees embedded into it’s structure, even 20 feet high.

The highlight is definitely the sign outside virgin touting it’s “great development potential” on 53 acres. Of course, the whole 53 acres behind the sign are now demolished.

Overall, I really enjoyed Das Boot, but the Subway is an absolute zoo. I’d say the canyon is certainly worth doing, especially to add some spice to the typical Subway route.