Canyoneering Route Description
Refrigerator Canyon (Lower) - 3A I
Zion National Park, Utah.
10-14-11, 3 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 3.5 hours)
Time Required - 3 to 4 hours
Distance - 1.9 miles Total, 0.1 miles Technical
Rappels - 3 Rappels, Longest Rappel 190 feet.
Elevation Range - 4280 - 4920 Feet
Shuttle Required -No Vehicle - Passenger
Permit Required - Yes
Rappelling and anchor gear, Ropes and or pull cords for rappels up
to 190 feet and 40 feet of 1 inch webbing for sling placement.
Lower Refrigerator Canyon is short and doesn't really feel like a
canyon but is a fun short route if you only want a quick fun run.
With one pool that can be easily bypassed, a small ledge for an
anchor station and a nice free hanging rappel over a hanging garden
like are at the bottom of rap 3, this is an enjoyable route.
The landing between raps 2 and 3 can fit three people semi
comfortable and four people would definitely be a crowed and not
recommended. If you have a party of more than 3 people plan to
have enough rope to set both raps 2 and 3 at the same time so people
can rap through. If you are fairly new to canyoneering and
want to get a feel for what it feels like to be on a cramped ledge
setting up the next rappel, this is a good canyon to check that out.
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.
GPS coordinate information listed at the bottom. For information about waypoint naming and map symbols, refer to the
Glossary page.
Click the links for maps of the route.
Map of the entire route.
Map of the technical section.
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.
A little over a mile up, the trail will turn sharp left and start
into Refrigerator Canyon. A little over a hundred feet into
Refrigerator Canyon will be a bridge that allows the trail to cross
over the water course. Drop down into the water course
anywhere it feel comfortable before getting to the bridge
(yRefrigLwr-Tp).
The Canyoneering / Technical Section:
Once in the water course (yRefrigLwr-Tp) turn right and start south
down the water course. Shortly will be a narrow section to
down climb through. Some stemming and moderate down climbs
ranging from 12 to 20 feet will get you to the top of rap 1.
Rap 1 (dRefrigLwrR1-3) is anchored from 2 bolted hangers LDC.
Depending on the down climbing comfort level of previous parties you
may find webbing anchors in the rocks before reaching rap 1.
Rap 1 can also be down climbed if you are inclined to give it a go.
Rap 1 drops about 30 feet to a pool below. The pool is easily
avoidable by traversing along some rock features or with a short
gentle hope over on the RDC side. Rap 1 is where the canyon
opens up and you find your self basically out on a large ledge.
Rap 2 is anchored RDC from two bolted hangers on the large ledge at
the bottom of rap 1. Rap 2 drops about 115 feet down a
mostly vertical wall to a ledge on the cliff side. The ledge
is where rap 3 is.
Rap 3 is anchored from two bolted hangers on the ledge. The
ledge at the top of rap 3 (bottom of rap 2) is large enough for 3
people semi comfortably. There are a total of 4 bolted hangers
at the top of rap 3. two of these are old and have a lot of
the underlying rock eroded away and are not safe to rappel off off.
The other two are newer and should be used for the rappel. Rap
3 starts down a sloped wall then drops over an overhang leaving the
last 100 feet of so free hanging. As you rap down rap 3 take
time to look around and enjoy the hanging garden area as you
descend.
After getting to the bottom of rap 3 (the final rappel), continue
down canyon down climbing over boulders and hoping over the stream.
About 450 feet down canyon of rap 3 the boulder debris will begin to
end. As the boulder debris fades away look for an open grass
area (yRefrigLwr-Bt) on the right (west). You may find a faint
use trail going up to the grass area.
The Exit:
Once up into the open grass area (yRefrigLwr-Bt), follow faint use
trails about 600 feet south over two drainages then up to the paved
trail (jLowerRefer). Turn right and follow the paved trail
about 0.6 miles back to the Grotto shuttle stop.
Downloadable GPX files
available at
BG-Gear Store
(easier than manual entry and a great way to support
Bluugnome).
Waypoint naming convention and map symbol information can be found on the Glossary page.
Elevations are approximate.
BEFORE
manually entering coordinates set your system to WGS84 datum and Lat/Lon hddd.ddddd° coordinate format.
Inconsistent datum's and coordinate formats will result in location errors.
Click to show / expand the list of waypoints below........
| Lower Refrigerator (1) - Approach |
- wBusStpGrotto
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.25908
W -112.95121
Elev: 4,280 Feet
The Grotto shuttle stop on the Zion - Floor of the Valley road.
- tAngleLnd
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.25998
W -112.95152
Elev: 4,300 Feet
Angel's Landing Trailhead.
- jLowerRefer
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.26633
W -112.95083
Elev: NaN Feet
This is where the exit route out of Lower Refrigerator Canyon gets back up onto the trail.
- yRefrigLwr-Tp
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.26962
W -112.95027
Elev: 4,920 Feet
Top entry for Lower Refrigerator Canyon. Drop in anywhere it is easy just down canyon of the bridge.
|
| Lower Refrigerator (2) - The Canyon and Exit |
- yRefrigLwr-Tp
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.26962
W -112.95027
Elev: 4,920 Feet
Top entry for Lower Refrigerator Canyon. Drop in anywhere it is easy just down canyon of the bridge.
- dRefrigLwrR1-3
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.26937
W -112.95016
Elev: 4,840 Feet
Raps 1 thru 3 - Lower Refrigerator Canyon.
Rap 1 anchored LDC from two bolted hangers and drops about 30 feet to a pool and a large ledge.
Rap 2 is anchored from two bloted hangers RDC and drops about 115 feet to a small ledge on the cliff side.
Rap 3 anchored from two bolted hangers and drops about 190 feet with the last 100 feet being free hang over an hanging garden area.
- yRefrigLwr-Bt
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.26782
W -112.95056
Elev: NaN Feet
Bottom exit of Lower Refrigerator Canyon.
- jLowerRefer
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.26633
W -112.95083
Elev: NaN Feet
This is where the exit route out of Lower Refrigerator Canyon gets back up onto the trail.
- tAngleLnd
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.25998
W -112.95152
Elev: 4,300 Feet
Angel's Landing Trailhead.
- wBusStpGrotto
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.25908
W -112.95121
Elev: 4,280 Feet
The Grotto shuttle stop on the Zion - Floor of the Valley road.
|