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  • Mountain of Mystery as seen from upper Mystery Canyon. The summit is well protected by steep, seemingly insurmountable sandstone walls. Local Zion gurus know of only one successful ascent. That ascent required special ropes for a 300 foot rappel on the ASCENT and turned into quite the epic complete with an overnight bivy. Our intended route is quite different but we don't know if it'll pan out. width:640;;height:360
  • This dead tree is our magic key to unlock the Mountain of Mystery; without it upward passage would be impossible and this approach would not work at all. CP found reference to it in a report from some climbers in the late seventies. Who'd believe its still here and in decent climbing shape! width:270;;height:480
  • Kevin hiking up "Monolith Canyon". width:270;;height:480
  • Looking back along the wide ramp used to gain access to the north ridge of the Mountain of Mystery. width:270;;height:480
  • Looking down the canyon that separates the two summit lobes of the Mountain of Mystery. This is the canyon into which the first ascent party (Tom Jones and partner) rapped into. If I remember correctly it was about 700 feet down nearly vertical rock and bolts were installed. width:640;;height:360
  • CP heads across easy but very loose and exposed terrain toward the summit. width:640;;height:360
  • CP & Kevin on the summit. width:640;;height:369
  • Wynopits Mountain, still on the to-do list. width:640;;height:360
  • Kevin scrambles up exposed 3rd class terrain on the way back to the north ridge. width:360;;height:480
  • Kevin raps the extremely dirty low 5th class pitch directly below the large summit mesa. width:371;;height:480
  • Kevin downclimbs exposed, extremely loose terrain on the north ridge. We more or less took the brushiest line because the trees and bushes offered protection! width:640;;height:480
  • Trees often provide the best holds. width:360;;height:480
  • Finally the exposure and immediate threat of death ease off. width:640;;height:480
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  • Descending the ramp back down into "Monolith Canyon". width:360;;height:480
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  • Back in "Monolith Canyon". width:360;;height:480
  • Time to get wet. We climbed a steep, sketchy dirt bank to the right on the way up but none of us want to try to descend it. Best to just get our feet wet now anyway; we're headed for Orderville! Kevin and I rap from CP and then he carefully raps from a tiny tree. width:360;;height:480
  • Making an anchor to rappel the tree wasn't trivial but we managed. width:360;;height:480
  • Wesuited up, CP is pumped to be making a beautiful and speedy descent through Orderville Canyon. width:360;;height:480
  • Kevin uses a pre-existing handline to climb down into a pool. width:360;;height:480
  • CP elevators down a little shaft... with flowing water. Fun! width:360;;height:480
  • According to CP, the canyon has a lot less water than usual. Lucky for us since its mid November and its probably in the forties outside! width:640;;height:480
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  • My first canyon with flowing water. width:360;;height:480
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  • Kevin in the Narrows of Zion Canyon. width:343;;height:480
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