Rule of 4 Over 2: Hiking the Narrows

Angel's Landing

Chamberlain Ranch-beginning of Narrows Hike

This past weekend Tom and Miriya and I hiked the Zion Narrows. It has been a trip that Miriya has been trying to pull together since she moved to Utah. When Tom and I were dating we did this trip together. I remember it being a very hard hike but very scenic and rewarding. We got engaged exactly one week later. I guess telling our kids the story inspired Miriya to want to see the area for herself. After trying to find a hiking buddy in Utah without any luck, she finally convinced us to come out for a weekend and do the hike with her. She arranged for the back country permits and the shuttle up to the start of the hike. Tom and I arranged hotel, rental car, plane tickets, babysitting and gear. Hmm, seems like a great trade off, right?

When Tom and I did the hike we did all 16 miles in one day and it was very difficult. You are actually walking in the river for most of the time and the rocks are slippery and the water is cold. We decided that if we were ever going to do the hike again we would camp halfway through so we could go a little slower and actually enjoy the scenery and explore some side canyons. Miriya waited on the internet until the camping tickets were up for reservation then she pounced on any available campsite she could get. We were put in campsite 5. It was approx 7.5 miles into the 16 mile hike, so nearly halfway. Couldn't have planned it better myself.

Yup, those are bags on her feet. We forgot dry socks, making do.

The backpacking was great but I think Tom took most of the weight. Thanks, Tom. We slept in hammocks and warm sleeping bags and ate freeze dried food reconstituted with filtered water. We also brought hiking poles to help navigate the slippery rocks. These are absolutely a must have. The first time we went we did not have poles and after Tom twisted his knee (the first of many knee injuries) we finally found old sticks the we used as make shift hiking poles. Bringing them from the beginning was a much better plan.

Big Springs landmark

One big change from the first time we did the hike was the number of people that we met that were hiking UP the river. I didn't even realize that was possible. Since the number of people starting the hike at the top is tightly controlled by the backcountry permits I was unprepared for the uncontrolled crowd at the bottom. Again, my crowd meter was pegged and we high tailed it out of the canyon at the end. Luckily all the gorgeous scenery is where there are less crowds.