Misery & Parunuweap Sept 14

Today was an excellent day- one of my favorites from the Zion trip. The approach hike was pleasant, crossing some of the nicest slickrock terrane in Zion and really giving a feel of wilderness, which is hard to find in Zion National Park. It was just a great opportunity to explore. Upcanyon from our drop-in point we found a neat chain of deep water and frog-filled potholes. Fat Man's Misery has several nice slot sections spliced with open, sandy wash. The canyon gets its name because there used to be a small obstacle that could be downclimbed by skinny people but larger people were forced to rappel. We managed to downclimb or bypass all but two rappels in the whole canyon. We also played around with using a human anchor for rappels. One of the most amazing things about this canyon is that all the old bolts are placed in very inaccessible places- typically 15ft off the ground- indicating that the canyon has changed dramatically over the years. The sights in the canyon just kept getting better as it built to the grand finale. The last 2 slots were fantastic- some of the nicest I've seen anywhere. Beautiful rock, wild sculpting, several natural bridges and dark corners. Water emerges at a spring in the last slot section, giving the final stretch some very nice hanging gardens of ferns and moss. An interesting warm spring also contributes. Misery empties into Parunuweap Canyon ("Roaring River Canyon in Pauite, named by John Wesley Powell)- little sister of the Zion Narrows but far more pleasant. A crystal clear river flowing through a meandering canyon with dramatically changing walls. Abundant springs and greenery everywhere with little sign of human influence. This place is a total secret. After some well-deserved relaxing we climbed out of the canyon and began the hike back to the car, the last 30 minutes of which were in the dark. We didn't see anyone the whole day except for a handful of hikers near the trailhead.