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...

Boundary Canyon

Where: Zion National Park, Utah
When: October 2008
Partners: DB, Andy Archibald, Jason Pease & Sonja from Vegas

With fall in full effect and the yellows and reds of Kolob Terrace in shimmering display, DB and I joined up with some friends for a descent of Boundary Canyon, a technical canyon just outside the Zion National Park boundary. A tributary of Kolob Creek, the outing promised to be special.

Making the short approach to the canyon, we found the sequence of rappels into the flat bottom of the canyon to be stunning, mesmerizing and absolutely wonderful. A fine canyon! We all proclaimed it to be "awesome".

With the technical portion of the canyon over too quickly, we meandered down to the confluence of Kolob Creek and then headed down-stream toward the MIA Trail. Gaining the trail, it was easy going (much easier than any of us had expected) until we hit the maze of dirt roads above the steep sand. With a little trial and error, we found the "correct" road that led us back to our cars waiting at the West Rim Trailhead. A fine day out.

*As if the canyon wasn't good enough, we had the fortune of finding an obsidian arrowhead and a mountain lion skull along the way!

**The big bummer of the day, however, was seeing a man die on the side of Kolob Terrace Road as we were leaving. A motorcycle accident. Very sad.

...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