Day 82 (8-21-12 - The Narrows)

I have been wanting to hike The Narrows since our visit here last June.  We came to Zion National Park, we were riding the Harley. We took the shuttle from the visitor's center.  We got off at most of the shuttle stops.  The last stop was the Temple of Sinawava.  We got off the bus and walked for over a mile down the Riverside Walk.  It was a great walk along the Virgin River.  We got to the end of the trail and decided we were not prepared to walk any further.  Walking further required that we walk in the river.  We had on jeans and riding boots.  We decided to come back and do this another day.

We had a great trip to Alaska this year.  On the way back, I mentioned to Lauren that I wanted to hike The Narrows on the way home.  Lauren thought this was a good detour on the way home.  We headed here from Seattle.

We got a great deal on a campsite at St. George RV Resort.  We have full hookups cheaper than we had no hookups in Canada.  Not to mention, we have a pool and a hot tub.  Everything fell into place, we thought this must have been a good decision.  Then, we had flood watches and warnings.  I talked to a park ranger a couple of days ago and was told that if you are in the wrong place in the canyon and have a flash flood, you are "Toast."  That put a halt in the plans to hike in a slot canyon.

After a couple of days, of wanting to hike The Narrows and wondering if it was the right thing to do.  We decided it is either now, or never, (or next year).  We took off this morning with our back packs loaded with water, extra clothes, and food.  If we happened to be in a flash flood in this canyon today, we could have survived at least a couple of days, (as long we were not in the toast area).

We took the Shuttle, hiked a little over a mile on ther Riverside Walk and were in the water by 9 a.m.  It was exhilarating.  We had to wade in muddy, shallow, deep, unsteady undertow. and every now and then we had a sandbar on the side of the river.  We did all this while looking up at the gorgeous canyon walls and the blue skies.  

We were glad that we invested in walking sticks yesterday for this hike. There were so many times that I almost slipped and fell in the water. Several times I bobbed back and forth about 8 or 10 times before I got my balance. I bet if someone video taped me, I would have looked like a bobber in the water.

We zig zaged back and forth across the river. Sometimes we had a bank to walk on, sometimes not. I was in waist deep water a time or two. When the water got really swift, it was all I could do wade against the current.

We walked 8 miles today (4.7 miles in the Virgin River) and 47 flights of stairs.  Our hike in The Narrows is minor.  There are a lot of people that hike from the top of The Narrows down.  This is a 16 mile hike that requires a permit. We are so proud that we hiked our little part of The Narrows and did not twist an ankle or fall in the water. 

Once we got back to Riverside Walk we ate our  peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  It don't get any better than this.

Walking in the cool water looking at the gorgeous canyon and the beautiful blue skies is an amazing experience. I am so glad that we took the time on the way home to do this hike. I have another check to check off of my bucket list.

Pictures  https://goo.gl/photos/ZXryR4ku3u3VLiPf9