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Canyoneering Route Description

Telephone Canyon - 3A III
Zion National Park, Utah.

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Pictures 08-22-09

Quick Facts

08-22-09, 2 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 10.1 hours)

Distance - 9.6 miles Total, 0.8 miles Technical
Rappels - 13 Rappels, Longest Rappel 160 feet.

See the Canyoneer Trip Report Explanation Notes page for an explanation of how the technical mileage is determined.

Gear Used for Canyon

Rappelling and anchor gear, two 200 foot ropes and 60 feet of 1” webbing for sling placement.

See the Canyoneer Trip Report Explanation Notes page for an explanation of how the gear used list is determined.

General Comments

Telephone Canyon was a pleasant surprise.  The approach is a bit of a climb but is worth it.  The technical section is about 0.3 miles long and has 13 rappels in it.  The rappels are rapid fire.  There are several raps where you simply drag the rope over to the next rap rather than put it away after rappelling.  Some of the down climbs are fun and different.  Care should be taken on rap 1 as it involves a traverse (see the route description.)  The views of the tall sheer flat walls as you get further down canyon are awe inspiring.

Getting to the Trailhead and Exit Vehicle (Escape Pod) Parking

To get to the Trailhead

Park a vehicle at the Zion Visitor Center and ride the shuttle to the Grotto bus stop.

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

No exit vehicle is needed.  After exiting at the Grotto bus stop, ride the shuttle back to the visitor center to get your vehicle.  

Maps

Map showing entire route.

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Right Click then select "Save Target As" to save the Hi-Res version.

Map showing mostly the technical section of Telephone Canyon

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Right Click then select "Save Target As" to save the Hi-Res version.

GPS Waypoint Information

Waypoint coordinates are given with the WGS84 datum and in Lat/Lon hddd° mm.mmm' format unless otherwise noted.

Details

The Approach:
After getting off the shuttle at the Grotto stop (wGrottoBusStp), walk across the road and start down the trail to Angel's Landing.  The trail starts out flat and easy for a while but soon starts to climb switchbacks as it climbs to Refrigerator Canyon.  Continue on the trail through Refrigerator Canyon.  Next will be a series of 21 short but steep switch backs called Walter's Wiggles (sWaltrsWiglsTp).  A short distance after getting to the top of Walter’s Wiggles you will come to Scout’s Lookout which is about 2.1 miles from the trailhead.  From Scout's Lookout follow the signs pointing to the West Rim Trail (not Angel's Landing).  

As you continue up the West Rim Trail you will come to a section of slick rock where it would be easy to lose the trail.  A few sign posts along the slick rock with a boot print on them have been placed to mark the way over to the continuation of the trail.  After crossing the trail less slick rock area, the trail will begin to descend again.  About 1.2 miles after Scouts Lookout the trail will have a bridge that crosses a stream.   

As you continue on from the bridge the trail will slowly begin to climb again through wide open spaces with lots of views to take in.  About 0.75 miles after crossing the bridge the trail will begin to get steeper as it starts into an area with more vegetation (some of which had recently burned in a fire).  The trail will no longer be in a wide open area but will have walls on both sides.     

The trail will start up a series of gentle switch backs with an overall direction of southwest.  About 1 mile after crossing the bridge is where the switch backs will top out at an area kind of like a saddle.  At this saddle the trail will turn from an overall direction of southwest and start up northeast (yBehuninTp).  Continue up the trail which is cut into the side of a huge cliff heading northeast for about 0.5 miles to the next trail junction.  The trail junction (jTelphnCynTrl2) is where the Telephone Canyon trail and the Cabin Spring trail both meet the West Rim Trail.  

If you need water Cabin Springs is about 300 feet down a trail.  It is a good spot to filter water.  If you stay quiet and keep an eye out you may get to see a variety of animals looking to get some water after you leave.  Be sure to check with the back country desk before starting your trip to see if there is water flowing at the spring.  There are times when there is little or no flow.  

From the trail junction follow the Telephone Canyon trail north.  The Telephone Canyon trail starts off very defined then starts into a meadow like area.  In the meadow the grass and brush has begun to grow over the trail and it becomes a bit difficult to follow in places.  The trail winds a little but continues over all on an almost due north direction.  

As the trail crosses the meadow area it also passes through a lot of dead black burned trees.  The burned forest thins out about 0.2 miles from the trail junction leaving you in a wide open meadow.   

As you come out of the burned forest and travel through more meadow you will be able to see another section of burned forest further down the trail.  About 0.4 miles from the trail junction in the open area between the burned forests will be a single tall burned tree sitting all by itself right next to the trail on the right (east) side of the trail (jTelephonAprTp).  This is where you leave the Telephone Canyon trail to get to the head of Telephone Canyon.  Leave the trail and walk about 324 feet on a bearing of 66 deg. to get to the head of the canyon (yTelephoneTp).  There is a lot of small dense vegetation to plod through on the way down the slope to the head of the canyon.

The Canyon / Technical Section:
The head of Telephone Canyon (yTelephoneTp) is an abrupt deep drop in the water course.  Above the head of the canyon the drainage is wide open and pretty flat.  At the head is a drop of over 100 feet down into a tight slot section.  The Rap 1 is on the west side of the canyon right at the head.  

Rap 1 is anchored from a large but dead burned tree.  As of summer 2009 the tree seems very strong and solid.  All the trees on this side of the head of the canyon are dead due to fires.  Over time these trees may not be the best choice for an anchor.  There are few rocks and not much else to anchor to.  Bolts could be placed in a large boulder near the tree that is now the anchor.  Making this boulder the anchor would also decrease the danger of the first rappel.  

Rap 1 drops about 40 feet to a shelf with another tree on it (this one is alive and well).  But getting to the shelf does not follow the natural fall line from the tree anchor.  The natural fall line drops down next to the ledge with the tree on it.  Getting over to the shelf involves traversing a bit as you rappel down.  If the person rappelling were to slip while descending rap 1 they would pendulum over and drop down lower than the shelf they are trying to reach.  The only way out would be to ascend back up the rope or get help.  The angle of the traverse is such that it could easily cause someone to slip and pendulum over the edge.  Adding to the situation is the loose rock and dirt along the way.  

A suggestion to help with safety on rap 1 is to have a person at the top keep the lower end of the rope that is being rappelled on.  If the person rappelling were to slip and pendulum over the edge, the person at the top could walk around the edge and pull them over to where they need to be.  The first person down could tie the rope off to a tree (leaving lots of slack) so they do not lose it.  If the next person down, slips and pendulums over, the person below can grab the rope to pull them back onto course.  

Rap 2 is anchored from a tree on the shelf below rap 1.  Rap 2 drops about 130 feet to a section with tight twisty walls and some potholes.  There is also about 50 feet of free hang at the lower end of the rappel.  Once at the bottom of Rap 2 do not get off rope just yet.  Walk around the corner and across the next pothole to continue the drop down another 20 feet or so.  The total rope length needed for rap 2 is 160 feet.  From the bottom of Rap2 the ropes completely clear the walls of the potholes you just went through and provide a straight shot to the anchor making for an easy pull.  

At the bottom of rap 2 gives a good idea of the rest of the technical sections character.  Narrow, twisty and drop after drop.  

Rap 3 is right at the bottom of rap 2.  Rap 3 is anchored from 2 bolted hangers LDC and drops about 45 feet.   

Rap 4 is right at the bottom of rap 3.  Rap 4 is anchored from 2 bolted hangers LDC and drops about 35 feet.  

Just below rap 4 the canyon is a down climb of about 8 feet then into a very narrow section.  The narrow section is less than a foot wide at the bottom and a bit more than shoulder width at shoulder height.  The slot starts pretty vertical but soon leans almost at a 45° angle.  Part way down the angled slot is a choke stone with an anchor tied to it.  

Rap 5 is anchored from the choke stone part way down the angled slot.  The slot could be down climbed but since there is a ready anchor there it is safer to rap it, especially since the walls are coated with dust that makes it slick.  The bottom end of the angled slot gets a bit wide to climb down so you would do a little sliding if not on rappel.  Rap 5 is about 60 feet to the bottom end of the angled slot.  

Rap 6 is about 100 feet down canyon of the angled slot.  Rap 6 is anchored from two bolted hangers RDC and drops about 85 feet to a sloped floor.  Rap 6 looks beautiful from the top.  The floor at the bottom of rap 6 is sloped.  The rope should be pulled from the top of the sloped floor just below the rap to make the pull easier.  Then down climb LDC to get below the sloped rock to the canyon floor.  

Rap 7 is about 100 feet down canyon of rap 6 with a short down climb along some log debris along the way.  Rap 7 is anchored from a log at the top of the rap and drops about 30 feet to a pothole.  From the top the pothole looks like it might be a challenge to climb out of but is no big deal once you get to the bottom to look t over.  

Rap 8 is about 200 feet down canyon of rap 7 at the top of a large pour off.  Looking up from this area you start getting great views of the huge flat wall RDC in the canyon.  Rap 8 has 2 possible anchor stations.  One is a choke stone in the water course while the other is from a tree RDC.  The tree seems to give a better line to pull the rope.  Rap 8 drops about 40 feet from the tree.  

Rap 9 is at the bottom of rap 8.  Rap 9 is anchored from a choke stone and drops about 12 feet.  

Rap 10 is about 50 down canyon of rap 9.  Rap 10 is anchored from a large choke stone RDC.  Below the choke stone is a down climb of about 8 feet then another drop around a corner to the right.  There are a lot of rope pull marks on the canyon wall here.  Best bet is to extend an anchor from the large choke stone long enough to go around the corner below so it can be used to rap the next couple drops.  Use the extended webbing for the anchor as a hand line to get down the first drop (no hand line is really needed here though).  The drop around the corner is about 30 feet with an overhang under a large boulder.  After the 30 foot drop, walk down canyon a few feet to another drop around a corner to the left.  This second drop is about 20 feet.  After dropping down both the 30 foot and 20 foot drops the ropes can be pulled from the bottom.  This section had 3 separate anchors but can be done as one long rap as described above.  

Rap 11 is about 80 feet after rap 10.  Rap 11 is anchored from a very twisted looking log and a medium sized boulder at the top of the rap and drops about 25 feet.  

Shortly down canyon of rap 11 is a down climb of about 12 feet down a slick rock wall with a crack running down the middle of it about 6” wide.  The first person can be belayed as they down climb then assist the rest.  A fun way to get down this down climb is using hand / arm jams.  By going down feet first belly to the wall you can insert an arm down the crack and wedge it to lower you a little.  Then the next are does the same below that.  If you take your time you can safely get all the way down this crack with the arm jam technique and wedging your toes along the way.  I found this to be a very fun down climb.  

Rap 12 is right at the bottom of this down climb.  Rap 12 is anchored from a boulder and a piece of a log.  Rap 12 drops about 25 feet.  

Rap 13 is about 150 feet down canyon of rap 12 with some boulder hopping down climbs just before reaching the anchors.  Rap 13 is the last rap and is anchored from two bolted hangers RDC.  Rap 13 drops about 60 feet.  From the top of rap 13 take time to look back at the huge smooth wall of the canyon.  It is quite impressive from here.  

After rap 13 follow the canyon about 600 feet to where it starts to open up.  This is the end of the technical section (yTelephoneBt).

The Exit:
As the canyon opens up (yTelephoneBt), stay a bit high on the right (south) side of the drainage and follow the natural flow of the slick rock.  It will be about 0.5 miles to get back over to the West Rim Trail.  

Once back on the West Rim trail it is about 3.5 miles back down to the Grotto bus stop to complete the route.

Links to Pictures are at the top of the page.

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