South Guardian Angel - North Guardian Angel, a Bus Trip -- Oct 8-11 At the outset, let it be said that both South Guardian Angel and North Guardian Angel are beautiful, interesting and challenging peaks to climb. S.G.A. is easier and has superior views. N.G.A. offers better climbing challenges, is highly varied in composition and land forms, and, likewise, has excellent views. Being such a fine peak, many regretted that it was not on the DPS list, and recommended that it be added. Since N.G.A. has been DPS led on two successive years, it seems that the exploratory trip requirement should have been met. * * * * * * * * * * This was a joint Canyon Explorers Club - Desert Peaks Section, led by Henry Heusinkveld and Phil Bruce, respectively. Zoya Beach led a sight-seer contingent. She also doubled as commissary Chef, par excellente. The bus departed L.A. Friday evening and at 5:00 an rolled into the dark woods in an unknown corner of Zion Nat'l Park. Zoya, with several helpers prepared and served a sumptuous breakfast to 35 groggy sleep-walkers. After this those persons blossomed into happy, efficient, optimistic backpackers. Henry and Phil led this group through the woods, then plummeted 500 feet down to the Left Fork River, and hiked upstream 5 miles midst breath-taking scenery. We found a delightful camp spot just before entering the very constricted canyon. We dropped our packs, and most changed to tennis shoes, since there would be wading, until we climbed out of the deep canyon. Three or four canyon obstructions call for the use of ropes and/or other direct aids. One first encounters a waterfall, which can be met head-on if one doesn't mind getting wet to the waist. But this can be circumvented by climbing a steep-angled 30-ft slope to a shelf. This maneuver has been made tame, now that three eye-bolt anchors have been installed. Using carabiners and sling., the leader can scoot up this steep slope, and then attach climbing rope to the highest anchor, allowing the party to easily climb the fixed rope. One then walks and wades several city blocks into a great defile between soaring vertical walls up to the second waterfall. Here the vertical rise of possibly ten feet makes it necessary to use a log for inclined plane. On both of my trips such a log was already in place, bit different logs and placed differently. Since the log is slender and slippery, it may be a struggle for the first one up. That person can then tie a 15-ft long rope or sling into the rock lattice, making it easier for the rest of the climbers. After proceeding several hundred yards upstream, one comes to very deep water in the cleft. This being too deep to wade, one looks for a way around, which materializes in the form of a 45' smooth rock slope. The leader scoots up this and loops a rope around a tree for fixed line for the others to ascend. A fourth obstruction is a cat-walk ensconsed in the cliff face. One's head room diminishes as one proceeds, until one is reduced to a low stoop, squat or crawl. This maneuver can be done without rope, nor is it practical to fix a rope. Up to this point the route for SGA and NGA has been one and the same. Now, immediately after the cat-walk, the SGA party will find a very steep chute on the right. The leader will climb 60 ft (or so) to loop a rope around a tree for the party to use as fixed line. After this point the climb eases, and the party can gain the plateau without trouble. At this point N.G.A. hoves into view as a beautiful peak, but SGA is obscured by intervening mountain rises. A few ducks gets the party moving off in the correct direction, south. One rambles over hill and dale until SGA comes into view. The climb steepens on a red-stone headwall, but if this seems too steep, one can avoid it by circling to the right. Moving from the sub-structure formation to the super-structure formation one is confronted by a soaring whit cone-shaped mountain, which looks formidable, but is not difficult at all owing to the deep horizontal and vertical cracks. A little billy-goat hopping along the ridge, and then a steep little pitch up the very summit.

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