It's finally here, the day I've been anticipating and dreading for the past two months. I'm not talking about the Zion Narrows hike, I'm talking about my colonoscopy. Yep, the dreaded day is now here. However, 10 days ago I was given the opportunity to go on a hike down the Virgin River Narrows in Zion National Park. Do I cancel the colonoscopy again? Nope, I can do both.
The morning was preceeded by 1 day of soft foods followed by a day of pure liquid diet. That evening included a liquid prescription with the sole purpose of cleansing the entire intestinal track. So I stayed closed to the white porecelin throne all evening and into the night. Finally getting to sleep sometime after 2:30. At 5:50 a.m. the alarm went off and it was time to roll. Susie and I went to the Davis hospital for my 7:30 appointment. The procedure itself was uneventful. I changed clothes, talked with the doc and staff, fell asleep and woke up 30 minutes later and the dirty dead was complete.
I even got to see some pictures, no problems were identified and I don't need to do it again for 10 years. I woke up in pretty good shape and after the docs post op visit, I got dressed and Susie took me home. I layed around for a few hours, then finished packing and about 2 p.m I said goodbye to Susie and took off.
Curt, Mark and Paul left early and the fifth guy in our little group cancelled out at the last moment so I drove down to Zion solo. I stopped at REI to get a new water filter, Mapleton to buy some food, drink and gas and then in Cedar City to eat and get more gas. I arrived at Springdale at 10:00 p.m. and Curt met me at the check-in. I finally got to bed about 11:00 p.m.
8/26/2011 Friday: Virgin River Narrows
We got up just after 3:00 a.m. and were on the road just after 4. I drove my truck to the Zion Visitor Center and parked it and then climbed in Curt's truck with the others. Curt then drove the hour and half trip to Chamberlain Ranch and the Virgin River Narrows trailhead. After making final preparations, we started on the trail at 6:30. Our first stop was at 7:15 when we arrived at Bullock's cabin. It's an old abandoned cabin that has definitely moved beyond it's prime. Behind the cabin was the remains of an old engine. It looked like it might have powered a generator, but it has also passed it's prime.
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| Old Motor with Bullock's Cabin in background |
The book states that it takes 3:30 hours to get to the beginning of the narrows. We weren't sure where the beginning was, but we thought that we were still a bit ahead to the 12.5 hour schedule.
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| Upper End of Zion Narrows |
The first real obstacle is the waterfall. It is 6.9 miles from the trailhead. The book describes it as a 12 foot waterfall and instructs you to take it on river left. We looked over the edge at river left and 'you've got to be kidding.' However, further to the left, on the other side of a rock wall, was a chute that took us up and over and then back down on the other side. We ended up just downstream from the falls.
We arrived at Deep Creek confluence at 11:25. The Deep Creek doubled the water volume. It made wading the river a bit more dicey. The book suggest 5 hours to get to Deep Creek and we were right on schedule. We ended up swimming in one area and I opted to swim a couple more times just because it was refreshing. Being in the canyon kept the temperature down, but it did get toasty as we were passing by some of the campsites.
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| Confluence of Virgin River and Deep Creek |
The following video is somewhere in the heart of the Virgin River Narrows.
We passed by Orderville canyon at 3:15 which was 8:45 minutes into the hike. The book time was 10 hours so we've gained some time. Orderville canyon is a narrows canyon coming in on river left. It's about 15 feet wide at the entrance and had a small stream coming down. We passed the trailhead of Orderville Canyon as we drove to Chamberlain Ranch this morning. It appears to be a hike that could be fun at some point in the future. It does require a 50 foot rapel at the very beginning of the hike.
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| Mouth of Orderville Canyon |
Yesterday, there was a cloudburst about 5 p.m. and so we were a bit anxious to be out of the canyon by 5 or so. The literature states that the time to hike the narrows varies between 8 and 14 hours. So we hoped to be out 5 which would make a 10.5 hour hike. we were about about an hour up the river when we heard the first sounds of thunder. We still had clear skies overhead and people were still heading up the river, but we were anxious to get out of the canyon.
We arrived at the paved trail at 4:30 which was 10 hours after we started. We arrived at the bus stop 20 minutes later. So it took us 10:20 to make the 15.7 mile trip. We made a number of short stops for pictures and two longer stops for lunch and to pump some water. All in all, it was a good trip. However, for Curt and I it wasn't over. We still had to drive back to the trailhead and pick up Curt's vehicle. The trip will take at least an additional 3 hours.
I shuttled everyone back over to our camp and Zion's Campground and Curt and I changed clothes and then took off. We stoppped at a restaurant and bought some hamburger's to go and then started off. We got stopped at the long tunnel and started eating our dinner. It was a short wait, so I put my sandwich away and drove through the tunnel. We stopped at Pine Creek and finished eating and then drove to the trailhead. In some places the dirt road was muddy and slick. It had already rained and it must have rained hard for a little while, but we didn't have any problems getting through.
At the trailhead, we met up with another group that was getting ready to go through the narrows. They were planning on camping at the trailhead and getting an early start tomorrow. We gave them an overview based on our experience. Hopefully it won't rain a lot more tonight.
We made it back to camp about 10:30 and after showering and cleaning up, I was able to get into bed. It was just after 11:00 when I turned off my flashlight. All in all, it was a very enjoyable day. A long day, but very enjoyable.
8/27/2011 Friday: Angels Landing Hike
Curt and I slept in a little this morning and by the time we got up, Mark and Paul were dressed and ready to go. The plan was to hike Angels Landing because they got rained out when they made the attempt on Thursday. So we drove back to the park and took the shuttle to the grotto area which is the Angels Landing trailhead. We started the hike at 8:55 and I made it to the top at 9:10. It took an hour and 15 minutes to hike 2.5 miles with a 1500 foot vertical. Not to bad. Mark was the only one of group that didn't make it to the top.
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| Chains on the Ridgeline to Angels Landing |
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| On top of Angels Landing |
As we made our way from the Scout Point to Angels, we spotted a bird perched at the top of the tree. I couldn't get a good picture, but could this be a condor?
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| Is this a Condor? |
