Day 25

The Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah

Weather: High 85, Low 50

Today we were able to hike into the Narrows of Zion Canyon. It was all we hoped it would be, and we were so sad to have to turn around and come back! We were praying for no rain in the forecast, so that there would be little to no chance of flash floods in the canyons. We checked at the ranger station to be sure, and indeed, there was a low chance of flash floods, even with a 10-20% chance of thunderstorms later in the day.

After a hearty breakfast (eggs, sausage and English muffins) we donned our new water shoes, shorts and a some layers of shirts, since it was a bit chilly first thing this morning. We took the shuttle up to the Temple of Sinawava stop, hiked the 1 mile up the Riverwalk, and then entered into the Narrows at 11:00 am. We hiked for one hour and made it further than we had 2 days ago, after hiking an hour and a half! We stopped for a quick lunch, and the continued on up the canyon, wading in and out of the water, crossing rapids and calm areas, and traversing a couple of small waterfalls. Everyone did a great job-Leah was a good sport, and even gained enough confidence to do some water crossings on her own! The water was initially VERY cold to our feet and legs, but we quickly numbed up or got used to it, and very soon the water temperature felt good and no one was cold at all. We continued up the canyon, as it narrowed and there was less dry land and more and more of the Virgin River. Eventually, we came to a fork-the Virgin River continued straight, and another, narrower canyon veered off to the right. We went up this canyon a ways, as the river flowing down it was a bit more shallow, and the canyon was temptingly narrow! We continued on until about 2:00 and then decided to turn around and start our hike back.

The hike back was just as nice as on the way up-of course today there were only a fraction of the people that there were this past weekend, which was nice. We talked to a few people along the way who were coming down from the top of the canyon and had overnighted along the way. To do the whole Narrows hike, you must get a backcountry permit and arrange a shuttle to take you up to a private ranch at the beginning of the Narrows canyon. From there, you hike 28 miles down canyon to where we started our day-hikes. There are 12 camping spots about half way down, and hikers must pack in and pack out everything they need for the trip. It is a 2-day trip, and the people we talked to completed it in about 16 hours over 2 days. This is something that I would love to come back out here and do one day-especially once I found out from a park ranger that we only hiked about 7/10 of a mile up the canyon! Of course we were going “little-kid” pace, but the solitude of the hike is so peaceful and calming. I could have continued on for many more hours without stopping easily. We noticed several times as we were hiking that even though there were a good amount of people, the noise of the river, the height of the canyon and the filtering light over the canyon walls was such a soothing, quiet and peaceful environment. Despite the fact that we were walking for about 5 hours, it was very restful. So sad to have to leave.

Another thing about the parks out here-the animals are so tame! The chipmunks, the mule deer, the squirrels, even the flies are tame! So many people, I guess, feed the animals and they get so used to people that they just stand right there as you walk by, and some even come up to people, looking for food. It is actually very dangerous-even for the small animals. You can imagine why it  is dangerous for bears and other large, vicious animals to be unafraid of people, and approach them for food; it is the same for the smaller animals and rodents. Evidently, many people are bitten each year or kicked by deer who are trying to get food from people because they have been fed in the past. Here in Zion, it is sad to see so many obese red squirrels-fattened and unafraid of the people hiking by them. In fact, we were very cautious around them as we did not want one to bite us because we did not feed it.

After our hike, we headed into town. We have not been grocery shopping in a while and needed to stock up on several items to get us through meals for the next 5 or 6 days. Before going grocery shopping, we stopped in at a restaurant to get burgers for dinner-we have been craving a good burger for some time now, and tonight seemed like the perfect night to have one. We were at Wild Willy’s, and the burgers were excellent. Attached to the restaurant is the store where we bought our shoes, and also a local pie place called Bumbleberry’s. This is their own invention, and they have created a silly story to go along with it. We got a pie to take back to the RV, and basically, the bumbleberry pie is just a conglomeration of several different berries-huckleberry, raspberry, and who knows what else.

Tonight we have had some high winds and pretty strong thunderstorms-the first rain or anything like it since we left Kentucky! We spent some time on the computer planning out our next few stops and will be leaving here in the morning. We have been at Zion Ponderosa Ranch the longest of any stay so far on this trip-5 nights! It’s beginning to feel too much like home-we must be moving on J