Second day in Zion we got up early to rent some dry pants and wet shoes, to keep up warm and grippy for Zion’s most unique hike. The Narrows is a ‘trail’ which is really just hiking up the Virgin river with 1000 ft rock walls on either side. At any time of the year this is a difficult and dangerous hike, as its mostly wading through freezing cold water hopping to avoid a flash flood. In October the waters are low and the chance of a flood is near zero, the journey through the river was still fantastic.
We wrapped our feet in insulating neoprene socks, to insulate our feet even tough the will be submerged in cold water for a few hours. We put on our dry pants to keep our legs dry and warm. We wrapped up phones and cameras, hopping to keep them dry and unharmed. Grabbed our walking sticks and headed out.
The Narrows is unlike any hike, there was no mountain to climb and no overlook points to reach. The trail was almost completely flat and there was less to see the deeper you go. The ‘trail’ goes for 20 miles, but the farther bits need a permit. I recommend going as far as you can as its spectacular. We were sharing the river with many other people at the beginning, but miles upstream people turn around or stop and when we reached Wall Street we almost were alone.
Fording the river
Not very narrow yet
Jonny, surrounded by virgins (river)
Knee deep in fresh mountain spring water
No more banks to stand on
Looks like its getting deeper
Emerging from the waters
Action shot with our dry pants and wet shoes
Continuing up the river
I can’t count the number of time we crossed this river
Jonny is getting a little far ahead
We were not the only ones in the water
Jonny, be careful the water is deep
Ohh no, they are drowning
Feeling like hobbits with our walking sticks
Still some dry land to walk on
This canyon has been in the making for millions of years
The walls are getting so tall its hard to find sunlight
A little grotto off to the side
Climbing over rocks
Trying out a long exposure
Stay very still guys
Its get difficult to capture how deep this canyon is
Jonathan waiting for us slow pokes
Justin seem to be avoiding the easier route
Stop for lunch and more long exposures
Its like painting with water colors
A big rock, and a decent place to turn around
A small bank for a little rest
Hanging gardens with a little water fall
The neon shoes that kept us from slipping on the wet rocks
A sign of civilization
The river is widening up again
We can now go from bank to bank again
Group photo
My favorite of the long exposures
The waters are very low, but some places still have a bit of current
Justin’s in the deep end
A Clash of Coasts 