UTAZ Day 4: Zion NP - The Narrows

On Day 4 we woke up in our gorgeous room at Cable Mountain Lodge. While the kids wish we could live in our Yurt now and forever, Cable Mountain was James and my favorite lodging. We were in a Judy-Ann suite, which was fabulous for our family of five with its separate bedroom, huge bathroom, and full kitchen. There was a beautiful pool, food market, cafe, gift store, washer/dryer, and brewery all on site- and, the very best part, you can WALK directly into the national park from the grounds.

Zion's parking lot fills up around 6 a.m., so this was a HUGE advantage, particularly given our screwed up travel schedule that had us up late the night we arrived instead of going to bed and getting up early like we planned and then on the phone trying to reschedule planned tours. But everything was settled by 9:30, we ate a great breakfast cooked in our little kitchen, checked the water flow rate of the Virgin River (more on that below) and decided that TODAY WAS THE DAY to check off one of my biggest bucket list items - The Narrows.

And luckily, despite what I'd read about huge crowds and 2-3 hour shuttle lines, we walked right into the park at 10 a.m. and right onto a shuttle by 10:15. To reach the Narrows trailhead you ride the shuttle to the very last stop- the Temple of Sinewava. The shuttle is mandatory, as the road into the canyon is closed to personal vehicles, but it's free and the ride is beautiful. Shuttles come by every 10 minutes, but we rarely waited more than 5. Masks are required and it takes about 35 minutes to get to the last stop.

I did a LOT of reading about the Narrows. There are a lot of great blog posts and articles and reviews about gear, planning, and more that got me far more concerned about prep than I really needed to be. At the end of the day, it's just a walk through water and it's the most amazing walk I've ever taken.

Not that you don't need some gear. If you're hiking in the Spring or late Fall when the water is colder you may want to rent canyonering shoes and rent or buy neoprene socks (and even a full dry suit) from Zion Outfitters (on site at the park entrance) or other outfitters in town. We were hiking in summer when the water is warmer (I mean, it's still freezing, but it's not FREEZING) so we didn't feel we needed to rent anything.

For your footwear you want something with a light, with a very solid and supportive sole, and without any openings in the side (aqua socks and hiking sandals are both huge no's and anyone wearing them in the river looked miserable). This past spring when we bought the kids new athletic shoes for school I had them save their old ones for this one hike and it worked out perfectly. You're walking across a riverbed of rough, mobile, occasionally pointy rocks so you need a firm base, plus there's a million tiny rocks moving with the current, so you don't want shoes that will let them in on the sides. I'd say roughly 50% of the people on our shuttle bus were wearing the red rental shoes and while I'm sure they were great, we were also completely comfortable (and $250 richer) in our old-running-shoe options.

For clothing we all wore quick-dry athletic clothes, with the girls and I in leggings, and Landon wore a swimsuit with a regular athletic shirt on top. Everyone had a pair of wool socks to use on this hike (and others, but they were mandatory for this one) because wool dries quickly and doesn't chafe. We were all completely comfortable. You have to walk a mile to get to the river and then back to the shuttle stop, so you don't want something that only works in water, nor do you want smoething that will stay heavy and wet for that walk back. The hike alternates between the sun and shade, so you still want your hat, sunscreen, and sun glasses, but know you'll be pulling them off and on along the way.

For gear, we all wore our hiking backpacks. We put anything that couldn't get wet (like our sandwiches, snacks, phones, etc.) in our reusable gallon bags inside our packs, but as it turns out, none of us ever fell and the water was never high enough to get into the adult packs. Still, I'm glad we were prepared if it did. The most necessary piece of gear is a hiking pole. You really absolutely have to have one. I've never used hiking poles before or since, but on that hike, with the uneven river trail, opaque water, very sudden changes in depth, occasionally strong current, and the inability to grab onto anything if you stumble, you need a pole. It also takes some of the pressure off your feet as you make your way through the current. You can rent the big wood ones, but we spent the same amount to buy three sets of collapsible poles so everyone could have one and they worked out great, plus we'll have them to use in the future.

For The Narrows, you can get a permit to hike it Top-Down in one very long day or an overnight with primitive camping, or you can take it Bottom-Up (as we did; primitive is not my thing) which means you start and finish at the same spot, turning around anywhere you like along the way. The furthest you can go is Big Springs, which is 3.6 miles up the river (so 4.6 miles total one way, because you start with a 1 mile hike to the river itself), and while that doesn't sound long- when you're walking through an uneven riverbed, against a current of water, slowly making your way from bank to bank, a mile takes 2-3x longer than your normal pace.

You need to check the water flow rate before you start- anything above 50 will be a challenge, and if it's above 120 the hike will be closed. You also can't hike The Narrows on a day forecasting rain as you are hiking in a slot canyon and a flash flood can happen quickly. We were lucky enough to have a gorgeous clear day with a water flow rate of 24 and it was PERFECT.

So, with that background, now I can get to the magic.

Because you guys, this was the most beautiful, most awesome, most magical hike of my life.

It was 105 degrees at the top of the canyon that day, but down in the river it was a cool 78 with water temperatures in a very brisk mid-60's. The combination was perfection.

As warned, it was pretty crowded at the start.

We plunged in and started walking and eventually, turn after turn, foot after foot, the crowd began to thin.

Soon, we were alone in the canyon and there are just no words for the majesty of walking in the river between the sky-high cliff walls.

After a few hours, we stopped to eat our packed lunch on a big rock. At this point we were about 3 miles in and only saw one other group of people walk by.

It was tough going and deep at times, but the golden canyon walls are so high they seem to touch the sky and you just can’t believe you get to be part of it.

For the last mile we often found ourselves completely alone.

The kids were amazing. I’m so glad we waited until now because we were able to do 8 miles, 6 of them in the river, with joy and without complaint.

We got back to the start, rinsed our shoes and socks out in the quick moving water to remove about a pound of sand each, and then put them back on and walked back to the bus stop to ride up and out of the canyon and then walk back to the hotel. The kids were swimming in the hotel pool minutes after we returned. I read in the shade and then James and I made spaghetti in our little kitchen.

We went to bed excited for more Zion magic, but for me, nothing will ever beat the gorgeous scene of my children hiking through the Virgin River with tall golden cliffs on either side.

I’ll simply never forget it.