West Trip 2012: Day 23

Zion National Park

Weather: High 95,

Low 71

Today was one of the best days so far of our trip! Yesterday, when we hiked the first Riverwalk Trail up to the beginning of the Narrows, we got an idea of what we would need to do to attempt part of that hike. The total hike up the narrow canyon is 16 miles, and is usually not completed in one day. So we already knew that we would only be doing a small section of the hike-depending on the difficulty and how the kids were doing.

We all slept in a little this morning-we have found that we all do better if we alternate a few days of rising early and getting moving quickly with a day every once in a while of sleeping in and rising as we want. Breakfast was “get your own” and then we packed lunch and snacks to take with us. Because it is Saturday, the park was super packed with people, which we did expect. Parking was the most difficult thing of the day-all of the parking lots fill quickly in the morning-we found parking along a roadside and had just a small walk to one of the shuttle stops.

For our hike, we had 1 mile on a regular trail before going into the Narrows. For that we knew our feet would get wet, as the hike is all pretty much in the water. So, we took an extra backpack with a towel and dry slip-on shoes for each person to change into after the Narrows for the 1 mile dry hike back to the shuttle stop.

Because we got a later start, the air had already warmed considerably by the time we got to the river. Of course, the water was very cold, but our feet got used to it quickly. Those who had wool socks on with their shoes were warmer than those of us that did not! The hike was spectacular! The canyon walls rise straight up on either side, with trees and other green plants clinging to the sides of the walls in places. The river had a decent current, but was not more than a Class I river (as far as rapids are concerned)-in fact, there were many places that were relatively calm. Basically, the hike consisted of wading through the water in places where the canyon walls narrowed in so that there was no shore, or crossing from one side to the other in places where there was a little bit of sandy shore. There were a few sand bars along the way, that served as nice brief resting areas. Although traversing the water was tricky in some places, and over the knees of the little kids, the hike was not overly strenuous. The main concern was keeping our footing on the rocky areas, and choosing the best path through the water.

What was so fun about the hike for all of us was the element of surprise-we would hike through one section, and a bend in the river would appear, and we wondered in anticipation what view or river rapids might be around the corner. We’re not exactly sure how far up we hiked-we hiked about 1 ½ hours up, but coming back the same distance took us about half that time. We estimate we did only about 1-2 miles-coming back went more quickly because we knew what to expect and had an idea already of which path to take.

The kids thought it was great fun-Bay followed Eric along, and often went up to his waist-but was laughing and having a great time! Leah stuck mostly with me-holding my hand in the deeper spots, but always steadying herself with her walking stick. She was quite a trooper- and only complained once when her skirt got a little wet; but she got over that pretty quickly.

Although at the entrance to the Narrows the crowds were thick, the further up we went, the less people there were. It was very hard for us to turn around and go back-we really wanted to keep going. It was one of those hikes where it would be very easy to lose track of time, and end up stuck far down the trail with the sun sinking behind the canyon walls.

Our original plan for this trip was to leave here on Monday and head over to Lake Powell, Arizona. We had wanted to rent a boat for a day and explore the canyons and shoreline of that lake that we have read and seen so much about. We researched the boat rentals, and found that it was going to be way more than we really wanted to spend-about $800 for a day rental-including boat, fuel, taxes and other fees! As we hiked the Narrows, we realized that we would rather invest in a pair of water hiking shoes for each of us and save the money from Lake Powell and do the Narrows hike again-this time starting much earlier in the day so that we could go much further up into the canyon.

So after we got back, changed our shoes, hiked the mile on dry land to the shuttle, we took a drive into town to look for some shoes. We found a pair for everyone at a place called Bumbleberries-and they were buy one, get one half off! We are going to extend our stay here in Utah one more day and do the hike on Monday-hopefully the crowds will be significantly less after the weekend.

Tomorrow-the North Rim of the Grand Canyon! Stay tuned!

Again, I apologize for the lack of pictures. I am going to have to find a Starbucks or something with better upload speeds-I left the computer today with pictures loading, and after several hours only 6 pictures had loaded!