Hiking the Narrows

Over Labor Day weekend, our friends the Derricks invited us, our friends the Mulliners and another family to spend the long weekend playing in Zion National Park. The deal was that half of the couples would hike The Narrows on Saturday and the other half would hike on Monday, leaving our kids behind to be baby sat by the non-hiking couples.

It was Shelley's first time hiking the Narrows, while it was my third time. It had been a while since I'd hiked this, so it's easy to forget that it's 17 miles of traversing down a river, oftentimes not being able to see the bottom and the ankle-breaking, slick rocks that await the feet of weary hikers.

To me, the best part of the hike is the upper 10+ miles that are really only accessible if you hike from the trialhead downstream. This is where you can really get through some narrow canyons. We had the trail pretty much all to ourselves until we got a few miles from the bottom. Then we ran into day hikers who had made their way upstream. We knew we were getting close when we could see "hikers" in skirts or walking barefeet.

The day before, I had been inspired by a few local photographers who had galleries of their shots from Zion's and in particular The Narrows. So that inspired me to shove my tripod into my backpack and lug it down river. There were a few tense moments when the current, combined with a lack of sure footing, submerged my bag. But luckily no moisture made it in into my bag. While I don't think these pictures are professional quality, the gallery does contain some shots that give you a sense of the color and beauty found on the hike.

Here's a picture of the group. As you can see, the backyard of the vacation home has quite the view!