September 27: The Narrows, Campsite #11   Miles Today : ~23 Total Miles : ~53

Another interesting thing about last night that I didn’t think of - being camped out by a canyon means that there are more than likely little caves nearby as well. Little caves often mean there are bats in there. Just as I was getting ready for bed, about a dozen bats were flying around, a couple that were a bit too close for comfort. Still, all was well and the sunrise was very welcome as it warmed me up in no time.

I got out early once again and headed back along the West Rim Trail and toward Zion Canyon once again. I noticed that the sky was perfectly blue, which was great for the views, but I also knew that it meant it was going to be a hot day. Breathing through my nose caused the membranes in there to burn, and I got at least one nosebleed during the course of the day. Breathing through my mouth worked ok, but it seemed to make my chapped lips even worse if that was possible at this point. The discomfort was annoying but tolerable, since the views today kept my mind off any pain that I was in.

The hike was going really great, and I got a great view of Angel’s Rest as I dropped down to the trail junction. Just like Saturday, this trail was packed with people and I was walking on pavement once again. I stayed on the trail until it dropped down most of the way off the mountain. At this point, I was tired of fighting the crowd, so I bushwhacked off the trail into the bush and headed to the banks of the Virgin River. I didn’t want to walk back to the Grotto, as my destination was Weeping Rock and cutting down the slope at this point put me closer to the latter trailhead. I enjoyed a nice swim in the river, by myself in a remote area, and cooled down my body on this hot day. After a quick air dry, which doesn’t take long, I was walking the road up to Weeping Rock.

The next section of trail that I was doing was the appropriately named East Rim Trail. Instead of hiking most of this trail, like I did the West Rim, I was just hiking it up to Observation Point, which was a four mile, 2000+ foot climb to this supposedly great outlook. It is not a peak so much as a plateau that points out into Zion Canyon. It was still brutally hot, and the trail had no shade, but I was really in the mood for some climbing since I really didn’t do much vertical yesterday.

Once again, the park totally changes character, and the views on the East Rim were very different from the West Rim. Again, it wasn’t as dramatic as Zion Canyon, but it was the views were great and it was very cool to see some different terrain. About halfway up I was traversing a mountain with YELLOW rocks. Until now, red and gray were the only colors. There were even a few piles of some type of yellow dust. I wasn’t sure what it was, but with all the lizards out in this area, I was keeping my eyes open for coal, diamonds and a bamboo shoot just in case. (and if you got that reference, you are a complete dork).

Once I hit the top of the plateau, the climbing was over but there was still a good amount of walking to do. At this point, the trail turned into very deep sand, and I could feel the sun slow-cooking me with every step. It actually reminded me of Cape Cod in the summertime. After about a half mile, I was standing at Observation Point looking north into Zion Canyon. It was an amazing view, probably the best view of the trip, and all the work was suddenly worth it. I lingered on the open summit longer than I should have, hiding in small patches of shade, before heading back down the four miles to the trailhead.

By the time I reached the bottom, I was completely cooked. Fortunately, there was a small brook running through the area, and I just submerged myself in a small pool. It is amazing how water can reinvigorate me so quickly, and after a few minutes of cooling down and washing all of the dried sweat off my body and my clothing, I was ready to get moving once again. I walked down to the road and hopped the shuttle north to the last stop in the park, the Temple of Sinawava.

This trailhead is the start of The Narrows, which starts off as a nice river walk along the Virgin River and up Zion Canyon. The only difference is, at this point, the canyon is too narrow for a road. There is a nice, paved walkway that heads north for about a mile as the canyon gets smaller and the canyon walls get higher. Then, suddenly, the canyon is too small for even the walkway and you are forced to turn around or take to the river. Yes, the “trail” is the river, and you have to walk in the water if you want to keep heading north.

The canyon itself is only about 40-60 feet wide, and while there are some dry places to walk on, for the most part your feet are directly in the water. The campsite that I was heading for was about 5 miles up the river AFTER the river walk, which is a long time to be sloshing around.

Again, the ability of this park to change character was mind-blowing. Just an hour ago, I thought I was going to die from heat and sun exposure. Now, I was calf-deep in water and it was cool because the sun cannot actually get in the canyon because the walls are too high. To say that this was a surreal experience is quite an understatement.

In the beginning, the trail was again a human highway, but after about a mile of wading through the river, I found myself more and more isolated. The canyon walls were something else, as they rose anywhere from 500 to 1000 feet straight up, and are oddly shaped from years of being carved by the river. Walking down here, turning a corner and not knowing what to expect next, I really felt like I was on the set of an Indiana Jones movie. I almost expected a giant stone ball to come rolling down, or a huge wall of water or some ancient temple opening to appear. I am not kidding, I really felt like something huge was going to happen, this place is that incredible.

For the most part, the water level it only about ankle to calf deep, but as the canyon got narrower the depth of the water got deeper. A few times it reached the “lower abdominal” level and caused some mild shrieking on my part. The deepest section, however, came about four miles in. There was a group of six people heading south through the canyon that had actually started at the northern most end. We met up at this deep water section and we were all trying to find a way around. Turns out that this is the deepest section of the river, and there was no way to make it across with my pack on my back.

As they were still looking for a way around, I backed up and remove my pack. Slowly, I approached the blue water with my pack over my head and waded into the water. They watched as the water went from knee level to “junk” level to stomach level. I started to get worried when the water hit mid chest level, but fortunately that was the deepest section and slowly I walked out of this pool like some ancient sea monster. (OK, my imagination was running wild at this point). We all had a good laugh over how deep the water was and I headed north as they started removing their packs to do the same. Good times, good times.

Only about 30 minutes later I happened upon Big Springs. This was amazing, it looking like a mini waterfall coming out from another canyon. However, it was really a very powerful string that was shooting out of the rock with some serious force and volume. Again, it didn’t even look real. From there, I headed to campsite 11, up the river only a short distance, and made camp for the night on the bank of the river.

Just before I walked to dry ground, I saw a couple of catfish in a shallow part of the stream. Not really trying, I stabbed at one of them with my Leki pole. I have done this a million times before and never come close, but it must be something about this place, but this time I speared the fish right through the gills. A perfect shot, I had just speared a fish! I didn’t even think this was possible, yet as I lifted my pole here was this 10” catfish impaled on the tip. After my initial glee, I was a bit upset with myself since I had no good knife to clean him with and no means to make a fire to cook him with. I have no problem with killing an animal or anything like that, but this was just such a waste.

Right now, dinner is cooking and I have set up my bag in the corner of the site up against a very comfortable rock. The canyon walls are a bit lower here, so the sun can sneak in a little bit and warm me up. This is a great spot, and this has been an exceptional day, truly one of the best hiking days I have ever had. I am sorry to have to leave this place so soon tomorrow, but for now I am going to enjoy the moment.

-Chomp

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