As we mulled over the likelihood of a safe rappel, we also noted the time. It had been a fairly challenging hike to get here, and already it was 1pm. It had taken us six hours to reach this point, and we had to be back at the car at 5pm at the latest (in order to make time for everything we needed to do before catching our flight). Calculating roughly another hour to climb, visit the arch, and rappel back down to this point, this would leave us just three hours to complete the journey back to the car - if everything went perfectly well. Tight.
The time problem sealed the fate our trip - it made most sense to turn back here. The idea of being stranded because our rappel rope was too short to make it back down didn't appeal either. Reluctantly, we turned around. Bridge Mountain Arch would have to wait for another visit at another time (and with a longer rope).
Back up the East-west canyon
Happily, the way back went very well. We now knew the lay of the land and avoided all of the little traps and inefficiencies that had slowed us on the way in. The day's sun had also dried out all of the slippery, frosty slickrock, and we were much more confident of our footing on steep, smooth slopes. Our overall speed was double our inbound speed and we were arrived at the mouth of Gifford Canyon shortly before 4:30pm. In a few more short minutes, we were back at the car.
courtesy AHyndman
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Interactive trackmap with photo points - Bridge Mtn Arch Route - click map to view
Bridge Mountain Arch Route - Hike Data
Start Time:
7:06a.m.
End Time:
4:31p.m.
Duration:
9h25m
Distance:
13.44 km
(8.35 mi)
Average Speed:
1.4 km/hr
(0.9 mph)
Start Elevation:
5130ft
(1564m)
*
Max Elevation:
6100ft
(1859m)
*
Min Elevation:
5085ft
(1550m)
*
End Elevation:
5157ft
(1572m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
2514ft
(766m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
2482ft
(757m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
Back down in Zion Canyon, I stopped to take a few wistful pictures of Bridge Mountain Arch's delicate blade, clearly visible from the Zion Canyon Road. It is in many ways reminicent of the world's longest arch, Landscape Arch in Arches National Park - long and incredibly slender. I hope it doesn't collapse before we get to visit it at some point.
Our reasonable return time allowed us to get in a quick shower and re-pack at Zion Outfitters, just outside the park. We then drove back to Vegas, managing to successfully retrieve my wallet from the NY-NY security desk (thankfully, because that would have been a royal pain otherwise). A quick fuel-up, return the rental car, take the shuttle bus to the airport, check-in, and finally... relax with a quick dinner before boarding our 11:50pm red-eye back to Ottawa.
I was pretty bagged the next day and just decided to stay home and sleep rather than go in to work. I'd like to thank Arn for sticking around and being a companion to my off-the-beaten path explorations. Much appreciated!
And, thanks to the rest of you - those who chose to read through this trip report. Maybe we can entice you on one of these more adventurous outings one day!
