Utah – A Clash of Coasts

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

Our first full day in Zion we get an early start on one of the parks most iconic hikes. Angel’s landing, climbing up dozens of switchbacks to walk over a narrow ridge with cliffs on both side hanging on to an anchored chain for dear life. A challenging hike, but the view of the valley as the sun came up was completely worth it.