Engelstead
September 21, 2018
Day 2 of the Zion Canyon Rendezvous we did Engelstead. Keith from Out N Back was generous and dropped us off at the top and offered to bring the 300'er back so we didn't have to lug it with us!
Our group consisted of myself, Corey, Trent, Byron, Dave, and David. The two Daves were new to Engelstead and this was David's first >200' rappel.
There was a group behind us and we had 6 people so we sequenced the first set of rappels.
Of the first group of rappels, the last rap is a two stage rappel with a relatively tough pull. Corey was last and went double strand. Unfortunately the rope we had wasn't quite long enough to reach doubled over. This meant that he would have to pass a knot on one of the strands. He did it expertly, the rope pulled, and we continued on.
We stopped at the confluence with Orderville and had lunch. While there, we heard what sounded like a group of drones flying. Turns out that wasn't too far from the truth. About 100' up above us there was a cloud of bees moving down the canyon.
I love Orderville! It's such a beautiful hike. Combining it with Engelstead makes it a high quality day in Zion. I remember the first time I was in Orderville, looking up and losing my sense of direction. It looked to me like the canyon walls were reaching over us like a 1000' high tidal wave.
The giant chockstone with the trees living on it marks the point where I often start seeing narrows-bottom-up hikers. It also is where I put my camera away since it can't get wet.
Once we start seeing the hikers, the priority shifts from enjoying the scenery and solitude to looking cool while quickly walking through the narrows without the use of a ZAC hiking stick.