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.