The 30th Anniversary Tour, 9.19.22 - 10.15.22, Part 10 of 12: Zion National Park/The Zion Narrows
The trek through the Zion Narrows is one of those iconic hikes that the term “bucket list” was coined for. It is a stunning piece of nature’s architecture. Its walls rise as high as fifteen hundred feet above the waters of the Virgin River all the while separated by a mere twenty-two feet in spots. In certain conditions, the light coming down into the depths of the Narrows can make it seem other-worldly. The hike through the Narrows is probably the single most popular thing to do at Zion National Park and for good reason. It is truly spectacular.
On our final day in the park, Gina and Bridgit opted for a rest day and Sandy decided to take a bike ride up to the end of the canyon road and back. This left Mike and me to explore the Zion Narrows on our own. Knowing that the hike would be crowded, we once again made sure we were on the first shuttle heading up the canyon. This was my first time going all the way to the end of the road. Each new bend revealed new sights. Bright green cottonwood trees lined the river, the waters of the Virgin rippled over the rocks and huge cliffs towered overhead.
The last shuttle stop and the end of the road is at a spot called The Temple of Sinawava. It has a gigantic amphitheater of rock walls with a large single pinnacle rising from the valley floor. Much of this hike involves walking directly in the Virgin River. The depth and temperature of the water can vary greatly depending on rains and the time of the year. If a rainstorm is pending, they will often close the Narrows to hiking as there is no escape from the narrow canyon in the event of a flash flood. Earlier this season a woman drowned when caught up in a flash flood so it is very wise to check the weather and flood predictions before venturing out to do this hike.
Much debate rages about the temperature of the water. There are numerous places in the town of Springdale just outside the park boundary that rent packages for hiking the Narrows. These include a pair of neoprene socks, a sturdy pair of hiking boots designed for water and a thick hiking staff for stability. I have read that hiking in the Virgin River is like hiking on greased bowling balls. I ended up renting the package while Mike opted to wear an old pair of trail runners and socks. In hindsight, I found the water to be totally comfortable and could have easily done it without the fancy gear. With that said, since I had it anyway, the socks and boots were quite comfortable and provided great grip and stability.
I put them on at the Temple of Sinawava before we started the hike. From there, we followed the Riverside Walk Trail one mile. At the one mile point the trail ends and steps lead down to a gravel bar by the river. At this spot you simply plunge in and head upriver. In the early stages of the hike, the water was just over ankle deep. The deepest it ever got was about thigh deep. There were deeper sections but they were easily avoided by using your hiking staff as a depth gauge. Being in the first group of the day was beneficial. There were quite a few people hiking up the river but in short order they all found their own pace and spread out, so we even had times briefly where we could get views up or down canyon with no people in the picture.
Most of the time we would hike on a gravel bar on one side of the river and then ford over to the other side and continue up on a different gravel bar. As we progressed further up the canyon there were more spots where you simply had to hike straight up in the water. The current was very mild so I never felt like it was going to knock me over. The bottom of the river was indeed like hiking on bowling balls but I didn’t think they were slippery and my boots kept a firm grip on the rocks. Partially out of concern for slipping and falling into the water and partially because everything is geared towards ultra wide-angle viewing, I left my Canon DSLR back at camp and relied on my iPhone for photos. I think that was a good decision and the iPhone camera performed admirably.
Around three miles from the start of the hike at the Temple of Sinawava we came to a large side canyon called Orderville Canyon. I had read that this is a very worthwhile side trip of about a half mile up and then turn around and head back into the Virgin River. It is supposed to be narrower and darker than the Narrows, but very picturesque. Mike and I were totally game to explore Orderville Canyon but less than twenty yards in we came to a pool that was clearly over our heads. Not really wanting to go for a swim, we opted out, turned around and continued up the Narrows.
Just past the junction with Orderville Canyon is the best part of the entire hike. It is a mile long stretch of canyon known as Wall Street. This is where the walls get to their narrowest point and rise over a thousand feet above the river. It is really an amazing stretch and we were blown away by how beautiful it was. Cameras just can not capture the awesomeness of the canyon in this section. We tried vertical panorama shots with the iPhones but even that didn’t cut it.
As for photography, I found the Zion Narrows to be a challenge. In the early morning when we started out the entire deep canyon was in dark shadow. Later on where the canyon opened up, the harsh direct sunlight contrasted with the shadows and made photography difficult at best. But for a very short period of time around 10:30AM while we were in Wall Street, in certain spots the sun would filter down into the canyon and bathe the walls with golden light. We didn’t get a lot of that but enough to see how beautiful the canyon can get.
Beyond Wall Street the canyon begins to open up a bit and we had our first direct sunlight of the day. It felt good to be out in the sun after a chilly start to the morning. We hiked up about another mile past Wall Street to the end of where you are allowed to hike without a permit. There is plenty more canyon going further up but it is rougher travel and more for backpackers and canyoneers.
Even though we had a relatively uncrowded hike up to our turnaround point, the hike back down was total insanity. Literally hundreds of people were coming up the canyon and it was so incredibly crowded that we couldn’t even enjoy the hike down. We hardly took any photos on the way back and just tried to get down and out of the canyon as fast as possible. I can usually put up with people on trails but this was so overwhelming it really took some of the wow factor out of the entire hike. I’ve seen mezzanines at football stadiums at halftime less crowded than the Narrows that day.
The end of the Riverside Walk where you enter the Virgin River
Mike fording the raging waters of the Virgin River
One of the deeper pockets (Mike pic)
Zion Narrows
Zion Narrows. Walls getting higher.
Zion Narrows. Wall Street section.
Zion Narrows. Wall Street section.
The intrepid explorers
Zion Narrows. Wall Street section.
Zion Narrows. Wall Street section.
Zion Narrows. Wall Street section.
Zion Narrows. Wall Street section.
Coming out of Wall Street
Magic light on Wall Street
Wall Street
Adventure #12,947 for Mike and Jon (although I may have missed one or two)
The hike ended up being about ten miles round trip. Since this was our last full day together, we all went out to dinner at a great Mexican place in Springdale. Since the town of Virgin is only twenty minutes away, Gary and his wife Wanda joined us. Gary and I have been communicating via email for months and months exchanging information. He picked my brain about places they were going on their fall trip while I sought his advice on spots along our route. We seemed to be the same person in different states so it was a real pleasure to finally meet Gary and Wanda in person. I’m sure our paths will cross again as we plan future trips. Kinda kicking myself for not getting a pic but I was distracted by my chorizo burrito.
Our drive from Zion National Park to our next destination was only an hour so I figured I had plenty of time to squeeze in one more sunrise before we packed up and headed out. Mike and Bridgit were game to go with me so the three of us met at the shuttle stop at 6AM. Hopping on the first shuttle, we headed up the canyon to stop number four which is The Court of the Patriarchs. Only one other couple got off here and we headed up a short walkway to a viewpoint above the road. The Court of the Patriarchs are a series of roughly 6,800’ jagged yellow and white pinnacles that tower over the Virgin River. The moon was also setting and was still close to ninety percent full. As we waited for sunrise, the moon slowly sank right in between two of the towers with great effect. Once the sun began to hit the towers we watched in awe for a bit. Then we headed back to the road, crossed it and went right down to the edge of the river for a few more photos before hopping on a down canyon shuttle back to our Jeep. It was a great way to wrap up our first visit to this wonderful park. We left so much on the table that I have no doubt we will plan another visit.
Pre dawn glow on the Court of the Patriarchs
The Court of the Patriarchs
Moonset at dawn
Dawn’s first light at the Court of the Patriarchs
Moonset at the Court of the Patriarchs
Court of the Patriarchs sunrise over the Virgin River
To read about the next leg of our adventure, move on to Part 11!