Overnightin' in the Narrows

Occasionally, I get to stay in the backcountry for work. This rare event was occurring and I was going to be spending the night in the Narrows. The Zion Narrows is one of the most unique places on earth. There are other similar places, but nothing with as amazing of vertical walls with a swift flowing river from wall to wall. I always appreciate my overnight trips in the Narrows and would not even really want to do it as a day hike all the way through because staying in there is half the adventure. This trip would be alone which was fine with me. I left the trailhead around 11am after Andie dropped me off. I talked with some folks there and I knew it was going to be interesting because it was a full house. The first part of the hike, I was able to stay dry out of the water.

 I was making really good time. Having done this many times before actually helped out because I could just move. I ran into some people and I was very pleased because everyone I met so far was enjoyable company. I made it to my campsite which was up in Deep Creek. I had to take an admin campsite since all the other sites were taken. I set up my camp and went down to filter some water. After about half an hour, I gave up on the water filter. Someone had taken it apart and now it was not working. I decided to go check on the condition of the campsites. I was surprised when getting to them that there were not people in camp yet. I questioned whether the Narrows was truly going to fill up. I only found one campfire (bad!) as I hiked all the way down to campsite #9. On the way back up, I began seeing lots of people. I talked to many of them and there were many fun and interesting people. 

I got to my campsite at about 7pm, made myself some dinner, read a book, and then got some extra rest. I awoke early in the morning. I wanted to get going to see the people in camp. The river was very cold! I was chilly most of the morning. The people in camp were very pleasant. The only interesting ones were the group from site #12. They got into camp rather late after following a trail way up the side of the cliffs from site #11. They were in good spirits about it and even helped me disperse the campfire that someone had left in there site. Why do people need to build a campfire in the desert? Just doesn't make sense to me. Past Big Spring, it was slow going. The river was deep and cold. There were a couple of spots of chest deep water to wade through. It was definitely taking me longer than typical this winter. I got to seeing a couple of folks, then a couple more, until finally it was full on busy. It made it slower going as I had to answer lots of questions. In all, it took me six hours to get out, which was a lot longer than normal. In 2011, the typical 12 hours was a rather accurate prediction.

Steven

Steven and his girlfriend Amanda came to visit us. They were up for only a day and a half, so I had to make it worth Steve's while. I decided to take him through Keyhole since that would give him the most bang for his buck. So we got our wetsuits from the cache and headed up to the trailhead. After climbing the hill and dropping into the canyon, we started to do the most difficult part of canyoneering, putting on our wetsuits. I accidentally let Steve put on his entire wetsuit the wrong way. He had to take it off and put it back on and by the time he got it on he was sweating like crazy. He got to take the 6.5 mm wetsuit through, so he had no choice but to sweat it out. Sometimes we get a little overboard with staying warm when it definitely would not be so bad to be at least a little chilly. The 6.5 mm would make him very warm and not a bit cold. We went through the middle part with a bit of water, but not more than waist deep. Soon we were putting on our harnesses and getting ready to go into the canyon. Sweaty Steve was happy to go first. I told him to keep his butt down. He did a great job of that on the first rappel, but his butt kept moving but not his feet. He had to pull himself back up and try again. Second time around, he did great. I could tell he was a bit nervous. This is the friend that called me every name in the book until I sucked it up and rappelled for the first time 11 years earlier. Funny how our lives take us different directions and this day would be a piece of cake for me. We ran into some other folks in the canyon. They let us go around them, even using their rope. I thought that was really kind of them. The wetsuits finally came in handy as we did have the swim. We were both happy to take off the wetsuit when the canyon was over. We went back to the house to a sick child. Three days earlier, our 14 month old was on her hands and knees puking on the kitchen floor. So scary and difficult for a parent to watch. We were up most of the night with her.

 I was a little worried that Steve and Amanda would not come visit us because of the danger of getting sick. They showed some courage and came out to Zion. Zyla had been doing good lately, so we decided to try to go up the KT road and out to Cave Valley. It did not work out so hot. As we were going up the hill, puke comes out. We had nothing left to do but go back home. 

By this time, Jacqueline is not doing so well. She decides to stay home with Z, while Steve, Amanda, and I rode the shuttle to hike the trail between the Court of the Patriarchs. I wanted to hike this because I knew it would be quiet. We saw some turkeys, avoided some mule poop, and made it to the lodge where we got some ice cream and hung out for a while. Steve was happy Amanda was able to do the hike because she had not hiked much. She seemed fine with the entire experience even toughing out the mule poop. We went back to the house to find a rather healthy baby, but an increasingly sickening mommy. We spent the rest of the night hanging out, yet Jacqueline spent a good chunk of it throwing up. I felt horrible for my lovely wife, but I was hoping that the rest of us would not get it. Luckily we did not get sick and we were very happy that my good friend could come out to visit.

Takin' Zyla Camping

We wanted to take Zyla camping, but with so much to do having a 1 year old, we had to wait until July to do it. We definitely wanted to take her to one of our favorite spots in Great Basin National Park. We left after work on Friday knowing that it was at least a three hour drive. It felt longer, though as we had to stop a couple times to break it up for Zyla. By the time that we got into Great Basin, it was already dark. 

So we went to Baker Campground which was the lowest elevation. We drove around the entire campground and found zero available sites. We were pushing 9pm at this point without too much of an option. So I decided to break the rules. We went down to Grey Cliffs which was a group campground. We camped in the A loop with other campers who seemed to be doing the same thing. Jacqueline wasn't sure about it, but with a 1 year old, I was ready to take whatever punishment to get her some sleep. I got the tent set up and the ladies went into the tent. Zyla slept in her pack and play which took up over half of our 3 person tent. Once we were all settled in Zyla, fell fast asleep. Her tired parents followed her quickly. We awoke in the morning to a smiley face who rolled over happy to see her parents there. We were a bit weary from an uncomfortable night crammed in the corner of the tent. Mom got Zyla some food while Dad got us prepared for the day. We drove a short distance up the rest of the road to the parking lot as we wanted to hike to Baker Lake. It was a long trip, though, so we did not know if we were going to be able to make it. Zyla was able to tell us pretty quick that we were not going to make it as she was not enjoying the backpack. She tried really hard to sleep, but could not with the design of the backpack. After a while she got frustrated and was not enjoying the scenery much until we gave her part of a leaf. We were able to make it about 2 miles before we had to turn around, but it was too bad Zyla would not cooperate because the green trees, flowing creek, and perfect temperature was very enjoyable. We got back to the car and drove up the road. This gave Zyla a good chance to sleep. After having lunch at the Wheeler Peak Trailhead, we went up the trail. Jacqueline wanted to go to a lake and Stella Lake was the closest one. Zyla was so much happier this time around, especially when we filled her hands with leaves from trees. The lake was only a mile, so needless to say, we did not have it to ourselves which we would have if we would have made it to Baker Lake. Still Zyla liked playing by the lake, but not getting in the lake water. We had to head back, though, as Jacqueline had to work the following day. This time Z would be able to get a much longer nap as the 3 hour plus ride back to Zion would be ample. We learned some valuable lessons from this trip. The first was that we needed an alternative to the pack and play. We found it with the pea pod. 

The next was that we needed to use the super expensive backpack rather than the Kelty pack so Z could sleep. The transition would be made in the future, but the first time around was definitely a complete success.

Narrows Opens

It had been a heavy snow year for Southern Utah, so it was now the first of July and the Narrows were finally open for the season. The cfs had finally dropped below 140 allowing people to hike up from the bottom. The top down route was still closed. I almost ended up hiking the top down route, but we had decided to just let tomorrow's group go through instead. I was a bit relieved because I had been having some nagging neck pain that would not go away. I was not sure how it would do with the full 16 miles. Instead, I needed to go in from the bottom up. We have trail counters that count the number of people on a certain trail. This year we were putting them up in the Narrows. I got an early start to beat the people traffic. There was barely a soul on the shuttle bus at 7:00am. I got myself moving and into the Narrows with only a couple others. The first counter was put up between the Riverside Walk and Mystery Falls. I found what I thought to be a good spot. It was so peaceful in there during the chilly morning. I even saw a deer come wandering by. Get out while you can buddy, the crowds are coming. The river was both deep and swift. I actually used a stick to help with balance as the current made it a slow, slow trip. It probably took me about double time to get up to
Orderville. I don't usually post videos on the blog, but the Virgin River looked and felt like an actual river. To show that, the only way is to see and hear it. I was hugging the walls with my stick along with many others. I found a spot for the other trail counter just past Orderville. I figured both of these trail counters were in great hiding spots. When I went back a week later, though, one was thrown to the side, the other had disappeared. I guess that is what happens when thousands of people are in there on a single day. It just takes one person to screw with something to ruin it and it is sad that sort of thing goes on in such an amazing spot. I wish people could hike in the river instead of creating social trails, carry out their trash, and keep an eye on the weather too. This is such a unique place and I hope others care enough to protect it. The trip was nearly a full day just to go slightly above Orderville and back. Definitely a different experience from the low days of September in there.