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Canyoneering Route Description

Refrigerator Canyon (Upper) - 3A II
Zion National Park, Utah.

Pictures 07-24-11

Quick Facts

07-24-11, 4 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 10.5 hours) - Telephone Canyon and Upper Refrigerator Canyon on exit. 

Time Required - 3 to 5 hours
Distance - 4.5 miles Total, 0.6 miles Technical
Rappels - 2 Rappels, Longest Rappel 50 feet.
Elevation Range - 4280 - 5800 Feet
Shuttle Required -No Vehicle - Passenger Permit Required - Yes

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

Gear Used for Canyon

Rappelling and anchor gear, Ropes and or pull cords for rappels up to 50 feet and 30 feet of 1 inch webbing for sling placement.

General Comments

The route described here for Refrigerator Canyon is for the upper portion of the canyon which runs from the head of the canyon down until it meets with the Angel’s Landing trail running through Refrigerator Canyon.  

Travel down Refrigerator Canyon is annoying requiring sections of bushwhacking and a lot of boulder hopping down the steep ravine.  The two rappels in the canyon are less than 50 feet each and are a nuisance rather than fun.  The travel is annoying enough to overshadow any fun canyon experience.  But if you just gotta go, read on.  

You can see the pretty part of Refrigerator by hiking in from the bottom and avoiding the bushwhacking in the upper half.  Take the Angle’s Landing trail up into Refrigerator Canyon and drop down to the canyon floor before reaching Walter’s Wiggles.  Once on the canyon floor scramble up the boulder fields as far as comfortable to see what is in there.

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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Map showing mostly the technical section of Upper Refrigerator Canyon.

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GPS Waypoint Information

Details

The Approach:
After getting off the shuttle at the Grotto stop (wBusStpGrotto), 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, A well defined trail will begin again and begin to descend again.  

About 500 feet after the high point on the slick rock section, will be the head of Refrigerator Canyon on the left (west).  The head of the canyon is a steep ravine with the obvious start about 40 feet from the trail (yRefrigUpr-Tp).

The Canyoneering / Technical Section:
From the trail walk about 40 feet west to the head of Refrigerator (yRefrigUpr-Tp) and start working your way down the very steep ravine.  The angle of the ravine here is close to 45 degrees and has some sections of vegetation to fight through.  As you get farther down from the head of the canyon the vegetation lightens up a little.  As the vegetation lightens up, the canyon floor begins to have more loose rock debris to scramble down.  

About 400 feet down canyon from the head is the first down climb of significance (wRefrigUprRP-1).  When you get to this drop there will be a fin of rock in the middle of the canyon with a drop off on either side.  The easier les exposed down climb is on the LDC (east) side.  Down climb between the rock fin and the canyon wall in a narrow chimney about 15 feet.  

About 70 feet down canyon of the first down climb is a second down climb.  The second down climb drops about 15 feet and looks very exposed and intimidating from the top.  Some people may decide to rig a rappel here without giving this drop a good look.  There are a lot of ledges for feet and good ledges for hands as you start the down climb semi chimney style over a choke stone.  If this drop does get rigged as a rap, an obvious choice would be a small tree on a ledge RDC about 10 feet down canyon of the drop.  

Rap 1 (dRefrigUprR1) is about 70 feet down canyon of the second down climb.  Rap 1 is anchored from a tree about 5 inches in diameter in the water course about 10 feet back from the rap.  Rap 1 has pinch points at the top of the rap and can easily get your rope stuck, be careful where you place your ropes on this rappel.  Rap 1 drops about 30 feet next to an overhanging boulder in the wash.  

After rap 1 continue scrambling and boulder hoping down the ravine about 90 feet down canyon to a large rock feature in the center of the canyon.  To the left of the large rock feature is a narrow slot that looks like it may be down climbable but the height of it makes it look like a bad idea.  Rap 2 is on the right side of the rock feature in a slightly wider passage.  

Rap 2 (dRefrigUprR2) is about 90 feet down canyon of rap 1 and is anchored from a tree on the RDC (west) side of a large rock feature in the middle of the canyon.  Rap 2 is anchored from a tree out on a ledge RDC of the drop.  Walking along the ledge is a little precarious due to the ledge being narrow and having a lot of loose dirt.  An alternate anchor might be the tree in the water course about 10 feet back from the rap which would make things safer. Rap 2 drops about 50 feet.  Actually the rap is closer to 40 but I am noting it at 50 feet so people do not come in with less rope than needed.  

Down canyon of rap 2 is a short section of almost level sandy ground for a short distance then a few boulders to scramble down followed by another short section of almost level sandy floor.  

Just after these two short sandy sections will be a large fallen tree in the middle of the wash just before the vegetation begins to get thick in the water course.

When you get to the area where the vegetation gets thicker in the wash (wRefrigUprRP-2), look on the LDC (east) side of canyon for a game trail about 30 feet up out of the wash.  Follow the game trail on the LDC side instead of the wash.  Both routes will get you down canyon, but as usual, the animals seem to know a better way around things.  

The game trail will traverse along the side of the canyon going fairly high up out off the floor.   

About 200 feet down canyon, the game trail will drop down a little and meet a side drainage going back down to the canyon floor.  Cross over the drainage and continue on the game trail high up on the LDC side of the canyon.  After the ravine the trail will stay high up against the canyon wall.  

About another 130 feet the trail will cross the top of another small drainage.  Continue on the trail down canyon along the wall.  The trail will undulate up and down as it traverses the side of the canyon but is much easier travel than down in the wash.

A couple hundred feet later the game trail will drop back down to the canyon floor (wRefrigUprRP-3) where the vegetation is less dense and the floor is sandy with small rocks here and there.

A short distance farther down canyon the floor looses the mix of sand and small rocks and goes to a large boulder debris type of terrain.  Continue scrambling and boulder hopping your way down canyon with a few level sandy spots to walk on mixed in.

Continue down canyon about 0.25 miles to where the canyon floor is about 15 or 20 feet below the Angel’s Landing trail going through Refrigerator Canyon (yRefrigUpr-Bt).  Find one of many use trails going up the LDC (east) side of the wash up to the trail.

The Exit:
After getting back up onto the trail (yRefrigUpr-Bt), follow the Angle’s Landing trail about 1.4 miles back down to the Grotto bus stop (wBusStpGrotto).

GPS Waypoint Information

Back to the Canyoneering Trip Report List page.

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