Trip report
Apr 6, 2019 — November 2021 Update: While this route is a nice out-and-back for reaching the area, we redid much of this route as a much bigger day, including Cougar Mountain and others near The Bishoprics. The page you're on might be helpful in ascending Trail Canyon, but the newer report outlines alternative routes and peak add-ons that might be worth checking out.
I love these long Zion backcountry adventures. They've consistently taken me to some of the most gorgeous desert spots I've ever experienced. This route was no exception. Although the approach to the mesatop was tedious and sometimes unpleasant, the work was worth it. The views of the major Zion monoliths to the south, the incredible slickrock approach to our summit, and the seasonal waterfall made this a pretty unforgettable adventure.
We followed the Right Fork Trail through a meadow and down to the North Creek. A social trail led us on the north bank to a confluence with the Left and Right Fork. Left Fork goes to the subway, while The Right Fork was the start our route for today. We passed a recent large mudslide that looked like solid rock, but according to my muddy leg, was apparently not. Otherwise, just a bunch of boulder hopping and attempting to avoid getting wet. We would have saved a ton of time if we had just walked through the creek, since we got wet anyway.
Eventually, Trail Canyon appears on the right, which we followed south. It's not a pleasant drainage: it's muddy and boulder-choked and the views are not the normal exception Zion wonders. On the way up we kept to the main drainage the whole time. While this is likely the best option for the first half, the latter half has social/animal trails on either side of the drainage, depending on where you are within Trail Canyon. There were two major obstacles along the way worth mentioning. The first was a 20-foot dryfall that can be avoided by keeping to the right slope. Almost directly after this fall, there was a much larger dryfall. You'll need to avoid this once completely by trudging up the slope on its right. On our ascent, we did some awful maneuvering to get up and around this dryfall, but found a rough social trail that took us down the slope on the descent (my map reflects the better option). Eventually Trail Canyon eases up (still kind of not great, though), and we took pretty much the first opportunity to leave it and scramble up a dirty Class 2+ slope to the east, a few obstacles slowing progress. As soon as we got to the top of the slope, the beauty began in full force. A later 2021 trip gave me the insight to let you know it's better to just ascend all the way to the head of Trail Canyon and then ascend from there rather than leaving Trail Canyon as soon as you can.
To the east was Cougar Mountain, a mostly brushy-looking approach but still interesting and not like other areas I've seen in Zion. To the southwest were the Zion monoliths near the main Virgin River Canyon. To the west was a spectacular seasonal waterfall nestled between Elephant Head and the slickrock wonderland. Everyone was happy to hear that we would be passing right by the waterfall on our route to The Bishopric West, our summit, which was now also visible. Though not as impressive-looking as its neighbors, we were sure the views would be pretty incredible from its summit. A long walk through the mesa's meadows led down into slickrock and hoodoos via a pretty little canyon, where some route-finding led us to an overlook of the waterfall, and then more route-finding led out of the hoodoo maze and down into Terry Wash. There are at least two options to get out of the canyon and into Terry Wash, Class 3. Terry Wash was the source of the waterfall. We took a short detour to get to the top of the waterfall and all its majesty. It was probably the highlight of the day for all of us. A later trip left us upset because the fall was dry.
We worked our way up the sometimes tedious Terry Wash until we got to a big orange slickrock bowl. This was the spot where we determined we wanted to bag The Bishopric West rather than The Hamster (north of The Bishopric West). I'll have to come back for it at some point, since likely only Yoshi would have wanted to repeat this long approach just to bag a few peaks. I was hesitant at first because beta I read stated The Bishopric West was Class 5, but hopefully we'd be successful with five people. Right? Anyway, we worked our way up the slickrock southwest ridge of The Bishopric West and encountered a crumbly obstacle just below the summit, where we kept to the right and located the Class 5 section, a 10-foot slab that I was personally not psyched to do. I hate slab. I located a Class 4 dihedral just left of the slab and climbed that instead, happy for an alternative. On a 2021 trip, we found that sticking to the ridge crest was Class 3/4 via a single move (see other trip report for this move). The summit views were incredible, and we hung out for a bit before starting the long return trip. I would have liked to grab a few more peaks while we were way out here, but it was a good scouting mission for my next visit, which will absolutely be happening as soon as possible.