Local canyoneer and guidebook author Tom Jones notes that the regular route through the Right Fork provides a "remarkable journey across the Zion landscape" but extracts a "worthy price of admission". Throwing in the (significantly more technical) Hammerhead Entry and Direct Variation for good measure yields a substantial route by most any definition.
Floating somewhere between completely and relatively new to canyoneering, Patti, Steve, and Tina deserve tremendous respect and kudos for soldiering onward for three full days. To no surprise of those on this board, I'm sure, their fitness and mental strength were sufficient to carry them through.
As would any reasonable canyon leader, Kirk and I were sure to let the relative newbies tackle all the difficult technical challenges.
I rudely introduced Steve to the "frog in a pot" experience of keeper potholes by suggesting ("Steve, get down in that hole!") he investigate whether the downstream lip of our first major pothole was escapable via climbing. It was not (Kirk and I hauled him back out) but the pothole was amenable to high stemming or a pack toss. Tina and Patty bravely pushed forth into the other substantial challenge of the day, a long and cold (52F) pothole with a smooth, upward sloping final shore that initially appeared unclimbable. After several false starts, this pothole yielded to partner-assisted climbing via an underwater shoulder stand.Though beautiful throughout, the highlight of the trip was undoubtedly spending the second night in the Grand Alcove. Indeed it is hard to imagine a finer campsite than this. The beauty was so overwhelming and invigorating that it was difficult to sleep -- we spent several hours laying awake, enthralled by the creep of the full-moon shadows across the Alcove walls above.
I've included a few pictures directly below; the full album is available on Flickr.
