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On a previous trip to Zion National Park, Danielle (Tropigal) and I had the opportunity to hike up canyon alongside the Virgin River until the trail disappears and we had no choice but to hop in. This is the ending point of the Virgin River Narrows, a sixteen mile slot canyon beginning on the private property of Chamberlain's Ranch.

Let me digress for a moment to bring up an important point. The United States is filled with an enormous amount of natural beauty. From seashores controlled by the National Park Service and wild desert canyons controlled by the Bureau of Land Management to private property owners. Maybe at the time the founders of Chamberlain's Ranch knew the start of this majestic hike was on their land (and entry theirs to grant), or maybe they had no idea. First of all, I say thank you to any private land owner who chooses to protect their swath of land (letting it manage itself) and to grant the privilege of entry for the masses. All it takes is one moron to start a fire, destroy some personal property of the land owners (The Chamberlains) to first have access denied to private parties and then guided excursions altogether. At that point, it becomes a much longer hike to the edge of the Narrows and then a long rappel down to the river.

Ok, so Danielle and I secured our permit the day prior to our Narrow's adventure at the visitor's center at the main entrance to Zion National Park. We learned there are twelve designated campsites along the way. Each had their own description like, "Around a left hand turn and about 15 feet above the water line on a shelf is site 6", (that was just an example). We chose site number 12 as it was the last one possible meaning we would be out of the canyon sooner than later, to enjoy a nice steak dinner at the Majestic View Lodge (keep reading and I'll rave about that place in just a bit). One more thing to do now, talk with the folks over at the Zion Adventure Company to lock on our seat in a shuttle that transports backpackers to the trailhead. I forget what price we paid (click on their direct company link below), but we secured the 6:30 shuttle and didn't have to wait until 9:30 to take the two hour ride up top. NOTE: We had to even allot an extra day for the possibility that it would not be possible to start the hike due to the Narrows's campsites being taken or the chance that both shuttles would be full (day hikers completing the Narrows in a day could potentially snatch up available seating as well)

For the rest of that first day, Danielle and I just hopped on the free shuttle into Zion canyon and stopped off at different points. We stayed the night at the South Campground which is on a first come, first serve basis. This campground is right along the Virgin River, so I had to see how cold I was going to get after the "full swims"coming up in two days time. The ranger at the backcountry office informed us that the water levels of the Virgin River were higher than normal. She told us below Big Springs ( below all campsites and on day two) we would encounter spots along the river that would require us to swim alongside our packs. No problem, I did that in the Marine Corps and Danielle was a lifeguard... what's the water temp? 52 degrees? Well, that could be cold after getting out of the river and continuing hiking in wet clothing. Especially inside of a narrow slot canyon where the sun probably isn't going to reach the bottom of it's 1,500 foot walls. So when we reserved our spot on the shuttle from the Zion Adventure Company, we rented Danielle a canyoneering drysuit. I rented the canyoneering boots and a walking stick as well, because hiking in the river is akin to hiking on bowling balls. If I didn't mention it, the Zion Adventure Co. is a full service outfitter, we just chose to rent gear and use their shuttle service on this trip. Someday soon though, I plan to take canyoneering courses and hire their services on a multi-day adventure through some of Zion's many slot canyons.

We woke up bright and early to hop on the shuttle. There was an eclectic crowd on this morning shuttle ride, which as I mentioned earlier, took approximately two hours. Two hours of being in an enclosed area, with numerous people who have had their "morning routine" interrupted and maybe did not get the chance to poop. Someone was lighting them off is all I'll say. Toward the top of the long climb, our shuttle's engine started screaming. Just make it to the trailhead! This is what the shuttle driver potentially gets paid for (being broken and stranded), but this is certainly not what we had all paid for. Luckily, we made it and then the shuttle starts spewing out steam from a broken hose. Right through that gate and follow the road down the driver tells us. I had a different plan though; finish my interrupted morning routine. The only reason I mention this is because natures number two call is not permitted inside of The Narrows. Backcountry etiquette here people (complimentary waste bags are provided by the rangers at the visitor center). So at that little bend where the entry gate to Chamberlains Ranch is, I ventured to the right to explore a little so I would not have to be inconvenienced later.

The hike passes through the gate of Chamberlains Ranch and you will see the residences and other buildings soon enough. I shouldn't have to say it, but be respectful of their privacy. There is a small parking area for the personal vehicles of those choosing to skip the shuttle. Too much hassle for both Danielle and I to drive separately just to be able to start on our own schedule. It would have cost us more in gas, vehicle wear and tear and besides, that's when she sleeps is on long road trips. Continuing past the parking area, the trail travels for a couple miles alongside the North Fork of the Virgin River before you have to get truly comitted and take the plunge in. So it was kinda funny when almost right away we all came upon a small stream crossing (not sure, but it may have actually been the very beginning of the Virgin River). There wasn't any rocks to hop across so some hikers were taking their boots off so they didn't get wet. I did attempt to scout out a way across this 15 foot wide by 12 inch deep flow, but finally decided there was no point. Boots wet, we walked on dirt for the next couple miles until finally coming up to the point of no return. The farther along we went, the higher the canyons wall grew. It was surreal to think that we were seeing the start of canyon walls only twenty feet high that would soon rise 1,500 feet over our heads. My feet went numb after about five minutes of walking in the river. That's Ok, I thought, at least that feeling of pricking needles went away! The canyon's walls and fall foliage of the turning Maple leaves made for some gorgeous contrast. This morning was just overcast with hints of sunlight peeking through, but the different shades of orange and red were still apparent. Danielle and I decided we would not rush and numerous small breaks would be in order. Because of that, we did not keep par with one other group that was dropped off with us and I think some self guided groups (or possible the 9:30 shuttle group) passed us halfway through the day. Basically, there was one word to describe our pace; SLOW. We didn't care though because we were already a campsite number six and it was only mid afternoon. We will get to site twelve and have a ton of time left I thought.

I am grateful to say I have never experienced a flash flood, but I saw the pictures of a flash flood in the Zion visitor center and read the brief narrative. By the very nature of the walk, you have to hear the brief warning given by the rangers. Because of the soil of the high desert, the water from thunderstorms does not properly absorb. The greatest threat is during the summer months when the storms are very heavy downpours but flash floods can occur at any time there is moderate rain falling. So all this water from a large swath of desert runs down to the lowest point (gravity is a funny thing sometimes). The lowest point being river valleys and for us, a slot canyon. The storm that generates a flash flood can be miles away, so you don't even need to be getting rained on. Reality is that slot canyons are not amusement parks and people die every year from being swept away in flash floods. On this day, as we approach the Upper Narrows, the canyon walls come the closest we had seen yet. With my arms outstretched, I could touch the left side wall with my walking stick and almost reach the right side wall. So it is here that we begin to feel raindrops. The overcast sky decided to start letting loose. I think it could have been pouring up high and we are just feeling the last bit of the storm. Then I can't help but wonder if a twenty foot wall of water filled with debris is heading our way. I know, a little paranoid but we were just at the beginning of the narrowest point in the whole slot canyon and it was about 300 feet long. So I stop to take the (required) picture and we hustle on through. Whew! Let's take one more picture looking back, hopefully I don't see a tidal wave approaching. 

Courtesy of the Zion ranger, we had a description of all the campsites of The Narrows and how far away the next campsite would have been. So we have the first couple descriptions memorized and we start seeing what (to us) could have been the possible sites. And that's how it goes up to site number five or six. Then reality comes a knockin... I see a yellow post sticking out of the ground. With no markings we wondered what its purpose was because the rangers didn't mention anything like that. I didn't realize until about an hour later what that yellow post was. Next was a small waterfall. We negotiated this by traversing up a dirt trail to the left side and then dropping back down below the fall about fifty feet down river. That's enough excitement for one day. It was getting late, so we were just about tapped out. Not until we came up to another post with a number two on it (as in campsite number two) did I realize we still had a ways to go! I quickly check out the description of site 2; Deep Creek. What I was reading is what I was seeing. Damn, I realize that we had only been in the park proper for sixty minutes! I have never heard of the park service numbering individual sites before. This was a different kind of hike though. I calculate the timeframe described between each site and then add some due to the slower pace from the higher water level... three more hours of hiking, wading and rock hopping until we reach site 12.

Now it is about 4:30 in the afternoon, we have been in the shadows for hours and the temperature is dropping fast. We made the decision to stop at one of the upcoming sites (either 3 or 4) if nobody else was there. Approximately twenty minutes later we come to site 3; River Bend, and it was unoccupied. We stopped and set up shop for the night. As we are cooking dinner, the party of three that had reserved site number three arrive and they are noticeably perplexed. After humbly explaining our situation and sliding our tent over to make more room do they understand. To those three hikers, I say thank you for not making the situation uncomfortable. And that is how, once again, the outdoors community showed it's sense of togetherness. That night, while answering nature's call, I remember looking up to the canyon rim. There was just a sliver of star filled sky running through the center and the canyon walls became a pitch black void to both sides.

The next morning we tried to set out early (now that we knew what our pace was). Danielle put on the drysuit she had rented but left the top portion tied around her waist, We were told all the full swims were on the second day, below Big Springs (and all designated campsites). I figured I would be ok and didn't rent a drysuit. I have been very cold before and felt I would be able to withstand the brief chill of a 50 foot swim. I would get out, continue hiking and that would be that. So, I wore my polyester (cold weather) pants and a wicking t-shirt. BAD MOVE, but I'll get to that later. The second morning started out perfect. The threat of getting rained on was completely gone with blue skies overhead. We still didn't feel the heat of the suns rays for another couple hours. In a semi-open portion of the canyon, we stopped and had another MRE for lunch. I took the opportunity to fill up water and figured since I was already wet, I would just find a comfortable rock in the river and filter away. Any other time I have filtered has been along the shoreline of a creek, river or lake and there have been some locations where the muck is lining the shore and I have to constantly shift on unsteady boulders or loose soil along the shoreline to prevent falling in. Not in the center of the Virgin River. It was nice to just drop the filter line in and pump away. Our lunch spot was sunny and warm. After moving on, we soon arrived at a location that would require us to get wet again, so it was like re-shocking ourselves to the cold Virgin water :) We soon fell into the same routine of crossing the river, scanning ahead for our next move and fording on. I swear, The Narrows is a 16 mile hike on paper only. With all the zig zagging, the total trip has got to be around 18 miles. In the early afternoon, we had a couple "false" swims. They were false because we got Danielle all zipped up only to have the water be chest or shoulder high. Danielle and I eventually got to the first undisputable full swim.

I remember coming up to a poprtion where the water level just kept getting deeper. Ok, this is the first full swim... lets just see if we can cut down on the floating distance because it curved around to the left and out of sight. On the left side was a rock shelf. So we scrambled up and over to the water line about two feet below. It actually looked like a natural slide into the river from this rock shelf. We planned on just throwing the packs in and then jumping after them (feet first to avoid injury) instead of lowering ourselves gently into the current. Even a sopping wet pack will float (as I learned in the Marines) so you could just hold on for the ride or just meet it across. Just don't let the pack float on by... I would advise anyone taking a full swim with a pack on to not have the straps around your shoulders. If anything, loop one arm through both straps and use your other arm to swim. The reason for this is if you come across an unseen object and get tangled up (or worse pulled under) a semi buoyant pack will not allow you to bend underwater to untangle yourself. On a separate note, when fording (crossing) a swift moving current in a river, even just knee high, it is adviseable to not have your waist or chest strap buckled, but keep your shoulder straps loose to be able to escape it should the current become too much. The first full swim was pretty neat and if we could have gotton back to the shelf, we would have swam across a second time just for funsakes. So once across, I realized another error. No waterproof bag lining. Although we knew it really wouldn't matter if our clothes or the tent got wet on the full swims because we were exiting the canyon for a comfortable bed at the Majestic View, a waterproof backpack liner would have prevented us from carrying an extra ten pounds of waterweight that had now soaked into the clothing and accessories.

This first full swim was mid-afternoon, but the suns trajectory in the sky already meant Danielle and I would no longer enjoy it's warmth. After the second full swim I started to feel that old sensation. What I'm referring to is the coldest I have ever felt. After learning I had grown up in Ohio (with winters in the single digits at times), you might think that is where I would say was my coldest time. If I was ever cold in the wintertime in Ohio or anywhere I have been with snow on the ground, I simply went inside to warm up. Surprisingly, Southern California is the locale that takes the honors. Duing a training exercise on Camp Pendleton, my unit had been getting rained on since we arrived out in the field. The rain sometimes fell hard, but for the most part, it was just a steady drizzle. I was good until that Forrest Gump, "sideways rain" soaked through my flak jacket and finally got my upper body (core) wet. Uh, Sarge... can I go inside now? Not being able to get out of the elements, I started slipping fast. Luckily (in a sick way), others were slipping faster. End result was 19 Marines checking into the hospital for mild hypothermia and the rest of us were shipped back to the barracks. One night of reprieve was all our company commanders would allow because the rain let up the next day and we went right back out, but that's another story! So, while I was on that second full swim in the 52 degree Virgin River, it almost felt warmer being completely submerged than in the air temperature of The Narrows. Danielle, meantime, is toasty as can be in her rented drysuit... and dare I say, she was breaking a sweat from having to lug around the extra pack weight. I don't think she noticed until I started speaking senseless about recognizing the junction of The Narrows with Orderville Canyon. This is where we stopped on our previous walk up river, so I was looking (hoping) for our arrival at that junction because I knew the shivering would soon end. Needless to say, what I thought was that first junction with Orderville was not, and we still had two more full swims. The stretch of canyon between Big Springs and Orderville is the place that you would not want to encounter any problems in The Narrows as it offers no true camping opportunities. "That looks like Orderville", I would say time and time again. Danielle would just simply acknowledge my lunacy as she started getting more and more worried for our safety.

From camp three that second morning, through all the full swims and beyond, Danielle and I saw no other hikers. It was not like we could have stopped for the night to warm up either, because all of our gear from the tent down to our skivvies was soaked from not lining our pack with the waterproof bags. It wasn't until I started to slip hard that I looked ahead and saw two people. I didn't see them carrying backpacks (or any on the ground) and one of them had a camera on a full sized tripod taking pictures. I knew then that these two beacons of hope had walked up river from The Temple of Sinawava. We had finally arrived at Orderville Canyon and Danielle concurred. I somehow warmed up upon knowing we were close (the stairs leading out of the river were still an hour away, and then we still had a mile of paved trail). I can't say I was recognizing any particular portions of the canyon until we reached Mystery Falls. Mystery Falls is around the first left turn in The Narrows proper. This was reverse for us walking down river, so we had one more right hand bend to go. Yip-EEE! I could finally see the stairs out of the Virgin River. Not to add insult to injury, but The Narrows gave us just one more chest high crossing about fifty feet from the stairwell. Carrying the weight of a sixty pound (soaking wet) pack that last mile got the blood flowing once again. At the Temple of Sinawava shuttle stop we only had to wait a couple minutes to finally feel the heater blowing. Did I mention the shuttles run to the end of October... at which time you are free to drive your POV (for some POS) into Zion Canyon. At the Zion visitor center, we hopped on the Springdale shuttle that stops at various shops and hotels in the city of. Our destination was the Majestic View Lodge.

The first time Danielle and I visited Zion National Park, the Majestic View had not been constructed. I know this because the next time I went with a friend in the winter, the huge swath of log structures on the north side of the road jumped out and screamed, "Here I am! Stay with me!" So we booked our one night stay and immediately took warm showers. The rooms are nicely appointed with desert and log decor. The balcony was large enough for us to set out our wet gear (sorry whoever was below us). There are two things that I love about the Majestic View Lodge though... the dining room view (huge picture windows looking out toward Zion Canyon) and the Animal Museum. Unfortunately, it was evening and we couldn't see anything from the picture windows, but the food definitely hit the spot. Now just a warning about the animal museum, it is the most intricate taxidermy exhibit that I have ever seen. I think it is more about the art of the exhibits than it is about the animals on display. And don't jump to conclusions... the animals could have been donated. There is no admission into the animal museum, so it is something not to be missed on any trip to Zion National Park.

As I drifted off to sleep that night, I couldn't stop thinking about my twilight canyon view just twenty-four hours prior.