Day 6: The Narrows

My only decent picture from the Narrows.

The Narrows, aka one of the toughest hikes of my life, started bright and early (got there at 8am) so that we could avoid the crowds.  It started with a close encounter with a couple of deer, less than 4 feet away, and beautiful if not cold day.  We rented hiking gear from a shop in the town right outside of Zion National Park after doing some research.  We rented neoprene socks, water sneakers, and some waterproof pants. I know we took a picture of it but I can't seem to find them now so here are other people's pictures:

And I'm glad we did since it kept us dry and warm for most of the hike.  It only failed us when we got to a point where the water was higher than the waistline and then the water leaked in (and that's the point we pretty much turned around to go back).  It also included the wood walking stick which looked goofy but was quite a life saver, especially when walking through places with rough currents.

But I'm getting ahead of myself here.  First off, what is the The Narrows?  It's one of the more popular hikes in Zion where you are walking through the Virgin River between large canyons.  Again here are other people's pictures:

On a busy day it can look like this since there are certain "optimal" spots in the river where you can cross from bank to bank, so those places become spots for traffic jams.  Don't they look like ants?

This is how it was like when we went.  Not too bad but pretty deep water, and we encountered places where the water was deeper than this.

You're basically walking in the river for a large part of the hike, especially the further you go (in the beginning you can cross the river and go from bank to bank).  And it's not easy.  First walking through water for hours is a good calorie burner but super exhausting.  Add to that slippery round river stones, freezing water, and mini white water rapids where the current is really strong and it makes me wonder why it's so popular.  Maybe tourists tell other tourists how it's a "must see" and dupe them into perpetuating the popularity of the hike.  Well to be fair it is gorgeous, but I think you get more canyon beauty per unit of energy expenditure with Antelope Canyon (see Day 5).  We went about 4 hours in and another 4 hours back, so about 8 hours of walking through water with a couple breaks in between.  We just turned around when we felt like it since the Narrows pretty much stays the same (same beauty) even if you go a short distance or a long distance.  But the Narrows hike can go for even longer than that!  Some people hike from the other entrance to the river with camping gear, camp overnight, and then get out via the main entrance to the hike (basically hike it in reverse).  2 full days of walking through water!  Eeesh

I only have that one picture up top since I kept most of my gear wrapped up in waterproof bags to keep it safe.  But that meant taking a picture was a 15 minute event of unwrapping everything and then wrapping it back up.  But despite the ordeal, that's pretty much my most favorite picture from the whole trip, or maybe it's because of the ordeal that I love that picture the best.  I had to earn that one.  But yea, if you're ever at Zion National Park you should hike The Narrows.  I promise you won't forget it ;)

Day 4: Angel's Landing at Zion National Park

For our second day at Zion, we decided to tackle one of the most popular and more dangerous hikes in the park: Angel's Landing.  This is one of the toughest hikes I've ever been on.  First it's a long way up just to get to the base of Angel's Landing and then to actually get to Angel's Landing you are scrambling over a narrow pathway of rocks.  The pathway is about a foot or two and there are places on the trail where it's less than a foot so they provide you with some heavy duty chains to hold on to.  On the other side of the path?  A sheer drop off the cliff.  There are many warnings (over the PA system of the shuttle, at the start of the trail and at the base of Angel's Landing) for those with a fear of heights to not do it.  I think one of the signs actually said 9 people have died doing this hike in the last 10 years, so I just hoped I wouldn't be the one for 2014 since the fatality rate seems to average 1 a year.  BUT you are rewarded with some spectacular views!

This is just to get to the base of Angel's Landing.  A ton of switchbacks to get you up the plateau.

Midway up.  What a view!  I wonder if the first people to settle Utah laid eyes on a similar scene.

And from the top.

This is at the top of the plateau and these were the kinds of rocks we were scrambling over.

Our little airstream (keychain) made it up the top too.

Closer look at mini airstream.

Looking right off the side.

And here's a better perspective from the base of Angel's Landing which is straight up at the top.

Day 3: First day at Zion National Park

So to continue to day 3 of our trip (only about 18 more days to write about!), our first national park was Zion in Utah.  We started the day a bit late (past noon) since we wanted to enjoy our first day of no driving and take it easy in the morning.  In the last post I mentioned we stayed at an RV resort, which is basically a really nice trailer park (with a higher price tag) but it's worth it.  There are clean laundry facilities, a pool, and each RV space is a bit bigger, giving you a little bit more privacy.

Anyway, since we started the day late we decided to do some easy hikes around the park.  There's a great shuttle system within the park since parking at different trailheads is limited (also cuts down on traffic through the park and the amount of pollution).  At the Zion lodge stop (which is somewhere I definitely want to stay at in the future), are the trailheads for the Emerald Pool hikes (upper, middle and lower).  I would say that this was one of the best easy hikes in the park.  For a relatively short distance and very little elevation gain, you get some nice views and cool experiences (like walking underneath a waterfall).

Our first hike started at the Zion lodge shuttle stop

Lower Emerald Pool Hike (ok so it doesn't quite look like a waterfall here but there was definitely water falling--just not a lot).  I think during wetter seasons (years?) it's more prominent).

I think this was the middle Emerald Pool?

We wrapped up this hike, which took us about 2 hours or so at a very leisurely pace.  And then headed over to the east side of the park to do the Canyon Overlook trail.  This was an easy half mile hike that gave us amazing views.  The best time is at sunset since it's quite easy to get back down in the fading light and on a clear day you're probably awarded with some spectacular views (unfortunately for us it was a bit cloudy that day).