Hiking the Narrows

I already alluded to this in a previous post, but I didn't have time to post any details. So, several weeks ago Rosey and I hiked the entire length of the Zion Narrows from Chamberlain Ranch down to the Temple of Sinawava in Zion Canyon. The total trip was 16 miles, most of which was hiked in the middle of the Virgin river.

The trip was originally planned as a Birthday trip for my sister M who, like me, had attempted several times to hike the Narrows but always had plans fall through for one reason or another. Unfortunately for her, this weekend ended up being one of those times. She had recently had some surgery, and her doctor, at the last minute, disagreed with her that she was well enough to go on a hike like this. I would have just rescheduled the entire trip but all of this happened two days before we were scheduled for the trip and I already had reservations for everything.

Rosey and I took the day off on Friday and drove down to Zion. We needed to get there before 6PM in order to pick up our backcountry permit and to rent our river hiking gear. The river hiking gear consisted of neoperene socks, special boots that are meant to shed water easily, hiking sticks, fleeces, and a dry bag. Actually we could have just brought our own fleeces but it didn't occur to us how cold it was going to be in the Narrows early in the morning.

The trailhead at the top of the Narrows is an hours drive away. We made arrangements with the rental company to shuttle us up there to start the hike. Even if we had two cars with us, it's just so much more convenient to not have to worry about driving an extra 2 hours at the end of the day to go pick up your car.

Our shuttle left bright and early at 6:30 in the morning. We should have been on the trail by 7:30, but one of the groups on our shuttle was hiking in a different area of the park and we had to drop them off first. So, we didn't get started until sometime after 8AM.

The first three miles of the hike followed a dirt road that ran alongside the virgin river. At this point in the hike there was no canyon and no narrows to speak of... just a river running through a field. It was still a beautiful area though.


The walls of the canyon began to grow around us as we ventured further down the river. It was kind of neat to see the canyon forming like that.

And then, about 4 or 5 miles into the hike, really before we had even gotten int o the Narrows proper, tragedy struck. Rosey had just gotten a brand new digital camera from her Mom for her Birthday a couple of weeks earlier. As Rosey was removing the camera from it's case, it accidentally slipped out of her hand and fell to the ground.

The camera really didn't drop far enough that the impact did any damage. It actually had a pretty soft landing in some really fine sand. However, in the instant that the camera came in contact with that fine sand, the sand somehow infiltrated all of the inner working of the camera and bound them up. We could no longer even get the camera to turn on. So, we were stuck without a camera for the rest of the trip. It was a little sad to be without a camera but I was still just happy to get to do the hike after trying for so long.

I'll spare you the narrative for all sixteen miles of the hike and instead point out a couple of highlights:

• We ate lunch sitting on a log beneath a waterfall. The waterfall was only a 10-15 feet tall but there was a massive amount of water pouring over it.
  
• In the heat of the day we found a nice large boulder to jump off of into a deep pool in the river.
• There were several spots when we were able to take a short swim through some deep parts of the river. We never had to hike in water deeper than our thighs but sometimes we would jump in just to cool off.
• Rosey was pretty excited to spot some fish in the Virgin river. I'll admit that even I was impressed that the fish seemed to be doing so well in such a small and seemingly isolated river. She thought that they were some kind of trout.
  

Sixteen miles is a strenuous hike even on flat ground, but it is all the more so when you have unsturdy footing on the bottom of a rocky river bed. Although Rosey and I were beat by the time we made it back to the Temple of Sinawava, there were no serious injuries or complaints.

Some other people that we passed were not so lucky. There was one guy that we met about 3 miles from the from the end of the hike that was hobbling along because he had blown out both of his knees. I felt bad but there just wasn't much that we could do for him. He was close enough to the end of the hike that I wasn't too worried about him making it back before nightfall. Somehow, I'm guessing that guy didn't do much hiking for the next couple of days.

Rosey and I made it back to the Temple of Sinawava trailhead at about 6PM... nearly 10 hours after we had started earlier that morning. On the one hand it was kind of frustrating to have to take the park Shuttle back to our car, but on the other hand it just felt damned good to sit down :)

The few pictures that we did get before the camera puked are here.

A Visit From Rosey's Mom

This is neglected blog post #1 (and it is really delinquent) :)


The second weekend in December Rosey's Mom came to visit us for a long weekend. I had met her briefly in Alabama in June but we didn't really have a whole lot of time to get to know each other before we packed up all of Rosey's stuff and drove across the country to Utah. I imagine that it must have been awkward for a mother to let her daughter move across the country with an almost complete stranger.

We actually spent an enjoyable and eventful weekend together. We kicked things off on Friday night with a trip to Capitol theatre to see the Ballet West production of "The Nutcracker". The ballet has been on my list of things that I wanted to try for a long time. The nutcracker seemed like a good show to cut my teeth on and was, of course, appropriate to the season :)

I had mixed feelings about this production of the Nutcracker. I enjoyed the dancing when there was dancing but much of the first 45 minutes of the show was just a bunch of kids running around on stage. That just wasn't really all that amusing to me. I think that I would like to try out another ballet before passing judgment on the entire activity.

On Saturday morning, we decided to pack up the car and head to Zion for the weekend. This was a particular treat for Rosey's Mom who hadn't been to scenic Southern Utah since she moved away 27 years earlier. And of course, Rosey and I are always up for a trip down into the red rock.

In Zion, I decided that all three of us would hike to observation point. It's an 8 mile hike that ascends up to the Mesa overlooking the canyon. The view from the top is spectacular and the scenery along the way through the red rock canyons is like nowhere else on earth.


Now that I've been in Utah for several years, I tend to forget what it's like to live at a lower elevation. Especially now that I'm in good shape I forget what it's like to gasp for breath when the air is so much thinner than you are used to. Rosey's Mom is actually in pretty good shape but her Alabama lungs were just no match for the climb to Observation point. Even without making it to the top, it's still a gorgeous hike.


Rosey's Mom decided to slowly meander back down the trail while Rosey and I hightailed it to the top and then back down again. Running up a trail like that is unbelievably good exercise. If you could do that every morning, you would never need to worry about your fitness again. Kinda makes me wish I was a park ranger in Zion. Hmm, maybe when I retire :)

We decided to stay in Zion Saturday night rather than drive all the way back to Spanish Fork tired from the day's activities. We found a pleasant motel just outside the park and then went to Oscars' cafe for dinner. Even though it was probably 40 degrees out, we decided to dine out on the patio beneath several gas heaters. The heat felt wonderful and, well, you know me, I'm all about the open flame :)

Sitting on the patio we were lucky enough to be serenaded by some Christmas carolers that happened by. Sure the people inside could have seen the carolers and might even have been able to hear them a little, but they didn't get to experience them like we did outside. It really is a neat experience to be in Zion at Christmas time.

On Sunday, on our way out of the park, we got another rare and perilous treat: we got to see Zion in the snow. As we ascended up to the Zion - Mt. Carmel tunnel the snow began to fall and steadily progressed as we trekked through the park to the east entrance. If you've never been to Zion before, driving through the east side of the park, is like being on another planet. The red rock is swirled and twisted gnarled in ways that you wouldn't think possible. The light blanket of snow just made it that much more incredible.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long before the light blanket of snow became a heavy blanket of snow. The thing that concerned me most was that we were on a route that was going to take us back to Spanish Fork via back roads. The interstates in Utah are usually kept pretty clear even in heavy snow, but you are really taking your chance driving on the old state highway (hwy 89). It's not traveled nearly as frequently anymore and there's no telling how long it would take before a snow plow would come through.


The drive between Zion and Bryce was formidable. I got behind a semi and just kept a slow even pace. The snow was coming down so hard that you could hardly see 20 feet in front of you. Most of the time I couldn't even see the actual semi in front of me. All I could see was the faint red glow of it's tail lights through the falling snow. Fortunately that was enough to keep me on the road.

When we got to Bryce we had a decision to make: Do we stop in the park for a minute like we originally planned or do we just keep pressing forward? On the one hand, stopping for a minute could give the plows a chance to come through and clean up the roads. On the other hand, stopping for a minute could just give things a chance to get really bad. In the end we decided to stop. If nothing else, I could use the break from the tension of driving in those conditions.


Ironically, there wasn't much to see in Bryce. We drove out to Sunset point and did the short hike up to one of the overlooks. The snow was coming down so hard and the wind was blowing so strong that it was difficult to see anything even when you could manage to hold your gaze long enough to take something in. Nonetheless, it was a fun little detour and I think that the roads did improve slightly on the way home.


Before leaving, Rosey's Mom gave us a really nice Christmas gift. She printed off several black and white photos that Rosey and I had taken over the summer (and some one's that I had taken over the years), and framed them for us. It took several weeks after she left for us to actually get them up on the wall, but they are up now and look wonderful.

The rest of our pictures are here.