On Friday, I went with a group to Zion National Park and descended Behunin Canyon. I’ve done this canyon a number of times before, but it’s been a while since the last time I have done it. The view right before the last rappel is quite stunning, and it is one of my favorite spots in the park. While standing on a ledge next to a 200-foot drop, I carefully shot this series of images to stitch together for a Panorama of Lady Mountain, Deertrap Mountain, and Mountain of the Sun from the end of Behunin Canyon.
At this spot, you will not encounter any large crowds – there is a limit of 20 people allowed to do the canyon on any given day (up to 14 people can reserve a permit ahead of time, and up to 6 can get a “walk on” permit as early as the day before the trip). There is a maximum group size of 6 people allowed in this canyon. On the day we did it, there was one other group of three people that we met up with, and based on the permit records only eight people went through the canyon that day.
To get to the point that this shot was taken requires a backcountry permit, around 6 to 8 hours of hiking, a lot of downclimbing, wading through water and eight rappels (this is right before the 9th – and final – rappel).
What you can see
The pink looking navajo sandstone mountain towering over you as the panorama loads is “Lady Mountain”. Apparently to some early pioneers it resembled a lady, hence the name. Note: The Lady Mountain hiking/climbing route is a technical hiking trail (involves two 5.6 climbing sections) – is only described on Tom’s website, but might make it in the next edition of his book. haven’t done it yet, but it’s on my list
As you look down canyon, if you zoom in you will be able to see the roof of the Zion Lodge. The original lodge was built in 1924 by a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad – but burned down in 1966. The lodge was rebuilt quickly, but it wasn’t until 1990 that it was remodeled to feel rustic again. I’m not a Zion Mountain-name buff, so these names might be wrong – but looking to the left, the white-capped mountain topped with ponderosa pines is Deertrap Mountain, and then looking to the right you see The Mountain of the Sun, and behind it are the Twin Brothers.
The trail you see in the trees following the base of Lady Mountain is the Emerald Pools trail leading to the Middle Emerald Pools. If you zoom in far enough you can see a few people on the trail making their way up to the pools. On our way out of the canyon, we passed by the Middle and Lower emerald pools. I probably should have taken pictures of them – but we were all pretty hungry and anxious to make our way out of there.
I took several more panoramas that day, and as I get time I’ll process them and post them here in another post. I think this one is probably the most interesting of them – and this view was the main reason I wanted to do Behunin canyon again.
