The Narrows

We were up before the sun again to catch the first bus up the canyon where we got off at the last stop. It was a little chilly in the air with the breeze but I was fine once we got started hiking. The Narrows hike follows the Virgin River upstream and not your typical "trail". There is not a path to follow other than the river itself...that's right, we hiked in the river. At some points, there was sufficient land to walk on and we did because it is faster and slightly less dangerous (esp for me as I tend to be hurting myself a lot lately...oh well). The water temperature was about 50-55 degrees F but I was comfortable in my dry pants (that really do keep you dry) and my neoprene socks and yellow boots. I was surprised that my feet were warm most of the time but that is the miracle (or just great innovation) of neoprene, which keeps a thin layer of water around your feet that your feet warm up and then the warm water ends up keeping your feet warm...unless it gets washed out by a higher flow section of the river of course.

The walking stick came in real handy as it helped me to keep my balance as I traversed and ascended the river. Since we started so early, the canyon was a bit dark to take pictures on our way up but at some points the light came into the canyon and was just soothingly beautiful. Apparently the light was also insufficient on the way down too so my pictures are not that good. Next time I know to bring a tripod (which I need to get) or to find spots where I can safely (*key*) place my camera to get a good photo so the would be amazing photos do not taunt me with their blurriness. Even though I would miss some great shots, at least I would have some good ones. Again, I'm looking forward to seeing Joe's end products. It will be even more interesting as Joe's camera got wet when he slipped while taking a picture. The camera is now en route to being fixed...hopefully it won't be too expensive but I think it will be because this is a high end camera (very similar to Jason's...guy from TX that I was friends w/ in Germany...he got some great shots when we were in Prague). Time will tell....

We made it quite a ways up the Narrows...past the gurgling spring at least. On the way back down, we took the side canyon that has much smaller discharge stream. It was a neat difference from the bigger canyon and river. Most of our hike we were the only ones in the canyon and I reveled in the solitude. We didn't meet anyone else until we were most of the way back down. In fact, I was surprised when I saw a lot of people and realized that we were back to where we started and where the actual "trail" (paved path) ends at the river. I had a guy take a picture of us in our sexy gear before we had to return it...the yellow just seems to highlight everything so well...

All in all I think it only took us about 4.5 hours from start to finish, so we made good time. Before heading out of the park, we stopped at the visitor's center where I was able to get my stamp for my national parks passport (which I, as usual, forgot to bring) as well as some postcard. The store also had a geologic cross-section poster of the area and a geologic map of Zion...I was so excited that I couldn't choose just one and got them both...besides, they were only about $4 each. While browsing in the shop, I noticed some good geology books that I will have to acquire and read so that I can enjoy myself even more the next time I go out in Utah. It's so cool to be able to look at a rock outcrop and know what it is (name and kind of rock) in addition to its relation to other rock layers. I like having that comprehensive idea of areas...and then to add some ecology on top of it...

I had an amazing weekend with the guys and am glad that we did something despite the mass dropout...certainly didn't want to be spending it at the lab doing work as that's what I do most of the time. The break was great and now I need to get some actual work done for this coming week...back to the salt mine...