I recently published two new videos from my autumn trip to The Barracks east of Zion. Taking place immediately after my Capitol Reef trip, this was another great relatively short trip with friends. We began the trip heading down Meadow Creek and into Mineral Gulch. I’ve done the bottom part of Mineral Gulch before and it’s great, but it was cool to see the entire drainage from the top (and it makes for an easier car shuttle.) We’d hoped to get to the East Virgin River to camp on night one, but instead were slowed by an unexpected logjam/dryfall obstacle late in the evening (this obstacle wasn’t there on my previous trip.) The next morning with better light we were able to climb down and get to the river and then head downstream into the Barracks. The upper Barracks is nice, but not nearly as scenic as the lower canyon. There are some cool rock art sites and side canyons which are worth checking out though. Below Poverty Wash the canyon really becomes dramatic. We were met with another unexpected obstacle just above the known waterfall obstacle. Here a new channel has formed around some massive boulders creating a deep pool with a strong current. We managed to find a bypass and then had to do the normal waterfall bypass as well. All this took until after dark and we camped not far below the waterfall. Next morning we enjoyed the lower canyon before making the grueling climb out and into Zion. Check out all the details in the videos:
Click either thumbnail to open on YouTube:
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