National Park Tour - Zion Narrows - Wednesday 5/30/07

I opened my eyes and thought “This is it!” It’s a day I’ve been waiting for for a little over two years. I’m finally going to hike the Narrows.

I felt a bit nervous. I couldn’t find where the Zion Adventure Company had moved to and was almost convinced that I needed their special gear or else my stuff would get ruined and/or I would die of hypothermia.

However, I got a late start. I slept in to nurse a dehydration headache from the day before, and then had to de-bone and put away last night’s turkey. So I told myself I would just have to tough it up and make do with the gear I brought with me rather than waste time hunting down the rental shop.

Turns out I did not have to worry. Once on the shuttle, I chatted with an older couple (who had the gear) and learned that the Virgin River was near record low. It looked like a creek in many places, in contrast to the raging torrent of muddy water from two years ago. My confidence began to rise.

I eagerly anticipated the last stop as we moved through Zion Canyon. Good old Temple of Sinawava. When we arrived I hopped off and bounded up the Riverside Walk trail.

On the way up there was a male mule deer with new fuzzy antlers and a wild turkey with her chickie. Though tempted, I did not stop to try to get a picture. I was so close to my goal I could taste it.

At the end of the road I zipped the bottoms off my hiking pants to turn them into hiking shorts and took to the river. I wasn’t the only one. Very old to very young were negotiating their way upstream. People wore everything—I saw bare feet, water socks, river sandals, tennis shoes, hiking boots (like mine), and the fancy river boots I wanted to rent. The day was hot and the water was perfectly cool. My only regret is that I did not wear a bikini and board shorts!

The first part of the hike was the rockiest. This is where they speak of walking on “slimy bowling balls.” To me it was the hardest part. The water was relatively deep, about to my thigh, and fast moving. I was also new to hiking up rivers and was still getting used to using my walking stick. It is useful as an underwater eye looking for rocks and gauging water depth and as third leg to help me balance while crossing swift water. Once we made it past the rocks, about 15 minutes upstream, it was a pleasant hike from then on.

The whole hike was amazing. The first highlight we saw was a small waterfall sliding down the canyon wall into the river. Not long after the waterfall, rocks were replaced with white sand, and the river pooled and flowed quietly by in turquoise hues. It became the perfect place to swim and I began to pine for my suit, but I was still on a mission. I was in the Narrows, but my goal was to get to the postcard shot where the canyon walls were a mere 22 ft apart.

I savored every step of the walk at this point, and couldn’t help but smile. People hiking back downstream smiled back. The canyon got more magnificent with every step. I moved in and out of the river, enjoying the cool water on my legs when I got in and then the warm sun as I got out.

Finally, the walls began to close in. The river was completely shaded now, and I was using my walking stick to try to see underwater again. The turquoise pools turned jade green. Looking at them I got the same feeling of perfection at work that I get sometimes when I go to Disneyland.

To my right I saw a very enticing, extra narrow slot canyon. It’s narrower than the canyon I’m in and I almost detour. I figured it must be the one they call the Subway, which means I am close to completing my mission, so I saved the detour for the trip back.

The canyon continued to get narrower and I was in awe. I ran my hands along the smooth and polished walls that felt (and looked) like bumpy glass. I smiled at another human aspect of the hike, because it was here that people for some reason decided to decorate the wall with a dozen muddy handprints. I took a picture.

I looked straight up and saw that the sky had shrunk into a lightning bolt of cobalt blue above. Finally, the canyon opened up again and so I turned around. There it was! My postcard shot. After two years, I made it and what a sight. I stood on the pristine white sand in the middle of turquoise and emerald hued water and took my pictures, this time pining for a better camera with a wide angle lens. I am also dying for a swim, but both will have to wait for a return visit. Maybe that one will also be the backpacking top-down trip with a friend. But for now I was living the dream and feeling completely happy.

I headed downstream until I was out of the other hikers’ postcard shots and ate lunch. Then I made a beeline for the Subway.

The Subway was fun. I got to do a bit of scrambling, and the canyon was awesome. When I made it to the waterfall, I turned around.

Downstream I got to reassure other hikers struggling through the rocky section that it gets much better and they should keep going.

Once I got back out of the canyon, I noticed the wall where people deposited their walking sticks. So on perfect days like today, anyone with a decent pair of shoes on could just grab a stick and hike up the Narrows on a whim.

I put the bottoms back on my pants, traded my soggy socks and boots for some flip flops, and cruised back down the River Walk trail. What a glorious hike. I ranked it up in my top two favorites, along with Panamint City. My friends the deer and turkey were munching whatever it is that they munch on side by side this time, and so I stopped to take a picture. Then on my drive back I saw a grouse and its chickie on the road, but they disappeared before I could get a picture.

Once back at camp, I enjoyed a turkey sandwich and some leftover stuffing for dinner while my dutch oven worked on a cherry crunch dessert. Yum.