Hello all,

I'm planning to do the narrows march 14th-15th, and the trans zion trek march 17th to 22nd. I've been doing my research but just had a few clarifying questions. Any help/comments would be greatly appreciated!

1) I'd love to do the narrows top down, but have found disagreeing information on whether or not the road to chamberlain's ranch will actually be open or not. Is it weather dependent or is it just plain closed in the winter? From what I've heard it's been a relatively light winter in Zion so far, but of course that could change in the next two weeks.

2) I've also been doing a lot of reading about the trans zion trek and think it would be a great backpacking trip. Again, it seems highly weather dependent with the snow pack up on the west rim trail. Is this something I could safely do with snowshoes and/or crampons?

3) Lastly, in a lot of guides I've read for the trek they so to connect through echo canyon. However, I talked to a ranger and they said that it would require ropes and technical equipment. Can I do this trek without going through echo canyon, or should I just avoid the east rim trail altogether this time of year?

Thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it!

Matt

ZAC (Zion Adventure Company) will know about the status of the road.
http://www.zionadventures.com/

Virgin River is usually very cold in March, and may have prohibitive flow rates; most people rent dry suits if any immersion will be involved.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ut/nwis/uv?site_no=09405500

Note the log scale:


I suggest joining the yahoo Zion group:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Zio ... iking/info

Okay thanks, I will give them a call. I was planning on renting their dry suit package too.

I've been eyeing the cfs graphs too for awhile, hoping that we just get lucky with no precipitation that weekend.

Still wondering about if the west rim trail is safe/manageable with some snow gear or if it's not worth the risk. I'll check out the zion hiking group and see if they have any input!

also http://bogley.com/

West Rim is fine in March in warm, low-snow conditions