5/28/11 – Zion National Park

In the morning, as our two parties breakfasted, we said our goodbyes and exchanged contact information. Because Aurora was with them, in nearly every park, Brad and Courtney were extremely limited as to which trails they could explore. We, on the other hand had nothing holding us back from setting our sights on the most ambitious trails in the park. The Virgin River Narrows is a section of trail that winds down through one of the most alien canyon landscapes in the park. These long hidden corridors of carved red rock are the most frequently depicted in imagery of Zion National Park.

As we rushed to beat out the herds of other humans for one of the few permits to hike through the Narrows, we had forgotten to generate our plan B. I reached the permitting desk in such a hurry that I failed to notice the sign behind the counter explaining that the “Narrows” would be closed for another few months due to flood stage water.

With no idea what would make a good second best place to visit in the park, we jumped on the shuttle and headed for a trail labeled “Hidden Canyon” near the end of the line. The trial was only listed as one mile long, so we had planned on seeing what lie at the other stops on the bus route after exploring here. The hike as it turned out was quite steep, and Sam was keeping a surprisingly quick pace for having short legs. Whether it was from pent up energy after days of sitting in a car or the fact that I was experiencing the reverse effect of sitting in a car for too long, we soon reached the final section of the trail leading to the mouth of the canyon.
The last few hundred feet were worn and slanting steps hewn out of soft sandstone (more sand than stone it seemed) with lengths of heavy metal chain pinned to the cliff side with pieces of rebar to hold onto.

The narrow walls of the shady canyon were brimming with lush green plant life, swaying in the warm breeze that blew up from the sun-baked rocks below. The delicate ferns and mosses seemed to thrive everywhere the water filtered out of the sandstone to collect in clear cold pools around the boulders along the canyon. As we proceeded upward through the canyon, the types of rock to either side of us changed from soft sandstone to harder types of sedimentary rock and patches of volcanic rock as well. The canyon walls seemed to beacon those with the inclination to climb rocks. After lunch, we reached the second of two free standing arches that were found in the canyon. There still seemed to be no end to how deeply the canyon went.

Invigorated by the endless scrambling and kept fresh by the cool breezy temperatures, it was hard to convince ourselves to turn around before we had to, but the remaining daylight was fast becoming our biggest enemy.  

Exhausted by the time we reached the bus stop, the ride back down to the visitors center gave us time to both relax as well as bask in the glory of having seen such wonderfully remote and intimate landscapes as the inside of that canyon without having to hike for days and days off trail.

After leaving the park to seek out our campsite, we wound our way up to the reservoir finding an incredibly unique landscape that few likely knew existed as a part of Zion National Park.
At this higher elevation, we found breathtaking alpine meadows nearly flooded with the amount of snow-melt from the previous winter. The hillsides up here were mostly private ranches, but when we reached the small campsite, the wind and temperature had us both glad that there were no available spaces. As we descended the plateau back down beside the Virgin River, we were blessed with one of the most fantastic sunsets of the trip to date. With the Zion peaks in the background, the thin clouds lit up in a symphony of oranges pinks and purples, bringing perfect closure to such a majestic day.