Backcountry Explorer

Embedded into the backcountry areas of Zion National Park, the Sierra Nevada, Death Valley National Park, and the Mojave Desert, Courtney Purcell's ramblings have also taken him all across the country and the world. From hiking, climbing and peakbagging in the Rockies, the Andes, the high volcanoes of Washington and Mexico, into the depths explored in spelunking, and the canyoneering of the Colorado Plateau, here you'll find trip reports, route beta and "stuff" relevant to the world of...

Telephone Canyon

When: Fall 2005
Partners: Mike Cressman & Rick Kent
Rating: 3AIII

I don't remember who it was, but someone once recommended an obscure canyon for me to do in Zion National Park. Short and sweet, but packing a punch, I was told that Telephone Canyon could be combined with the popular and classic Behunin Canyon for a fine day of canyoneering.

So one morning, Rick Kent, Mike Cressman and I started up the West Rim Trail on our approach to Telephone. Making good time up past Scout Lookout, and eventually, Behunin Pass, we soon gained the rim. There, we left the trail and headed cross-country to our drop-in a short distance away.

Despite a reasonable weather forecast, as we hauled out a rope for the first rappel, a short step that would bring us to the station for the biggest rappel of the day, a cold wind arose, clouds rolled in, and the mood became ominous. The first two rappels were dispatched without incident.

And then we wandered down canyon...

What a terrific canyon Telephone is! Lots of downclimbs, short rappels, weaving and bobbing through slots. Nothing particularly hard, and everything enjoyable.

Encountering water as we neared the lower part of the slot, Mike bridged his body across a pothole so that I could climb up and over his back and drop down to dry terrain, thereby avoiding getting wet. A bit of ingenuity for the simple sake of fun.

Below the "human bridge," another rappel or two, and then we were finished with the canyon. We hadn't secured permits for Behunin, so instead we collected our gear and made the short hike back down to the Grotto.

*Photos courtesy of Rick Kent

...those moments when time stands still. The catalysts are as varied as the individuals who pursue this path: a meteor shower; a night sky so star-filled that it snatches your breath; another rise of the sun over distant mountains vast and untouchable; dodging a rock careening crazily down a gully; a desperate icy struggle through whiteout and ground blizzard down to the safety of camp after an unsuccessful summit attempt; standing atop a mountain with a friend, the whole world at your feet, a blinding sun blazing out of a flawless sky, taking the time to watch that sun dip below the horizon even though camp is still many miles and many thousands of feet distant; stumbling over boulders and through brush in the darkness; watching the starlight and the storm wrest for possession of the night sky, seated on a narrow ledge beside your rope-mate with only the clothes on your back for shelter, shivering the night away, knowing that, sometime in a distant place you cannot now touch, the world will once again grow bright, the sun will rise, and you will look out on the infant day with new eyes.

-Bruce Binder

One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.

-Edward Abbey