Zion Narrows

The Fay family, in our ward, invited us to hike the North Fork of the Virgin River, from Chamberlain Ranch, down to the park road to the Temple of Sinawava. It's a 16-mile hike, in the river most of the time, with endless crossings from one side to the other.

They had done the hike once before as a day hike. They wanted to try splitting it up, and camping one night. At their recommendation, we rented canyoneering boots, and trekking poles. (A wise investment for those considering this hike.)

Some photos follow.

Getting ready for the drive to the trailhead.

Adam and Tori Cook came too.

After a long drive to the trailhead, many of us were ready for a short break. Here, Calvin is waiting his turn.

Celeste was particularly excited about the rental boots.

Laura practicing with her trekking pole.

Jack, waiting..

Off we go. From left to right, Calvin, Stephanie, Derek, Celeste, and Zach Fay; Laura, Jann, Jack, and Sam Johson; and Tori and Adam Cook.

At the start, the terrain was open and dry.

But soon, we entered a small gorge.

Sam, thinking about sleeping on a thin pad.

The river was pretty small for most of the first half.

We crossed the river every 50 ft or so.

And those trekking poles were exceedingly useful.

It was much easier to walk on dry ground than in water.

Break time.

The Fays praying?

Me trying to separate my snacks from the toilet paper.

    

Heading out from our first break.

    

Concentrating on your feet was necessary.

    

Thank goodness for those poles.

    

Adam found a nice little spot for himself.

I was a bit tired the first day, as usual.

Green.

Lunch time. I don't think he ate it.

The lunch spot.

Zack, wanting to get going.

Hiking around the waterfall.

I guess we could have slid down it.

The cliffs on both sides were spectacular. Some of them over 1000 ft tall.

Zach and Jack swimming.

Almost to camp. It was a very long slog (12 mi) the first day, with full packs on. We all were a bit antsy to hit campsite 12. We counted the campsites as we passed them. 1, 2, 3, 4.... Unfortunately, it was almost two miles between campsite 10 and 11. It was disheartening.

But we finally made it. Here's dinner being fixed.

Jack's feet were pretty sore. But he made it. Derek asked him how he got so tough, and Jack said "Soccer?".

Sam in front of our six-man tent.

The Fay boys slept in hammocks. Here, Zach is getting his blisters taped up.

Ready to go on day 2. After some Advil, even the previous day's blisters didn't hurt too bad.

Sometimes the water was literally wall to wall.

The Wall Street section of the Narrows.

One last break before the end.

And some swimming.

By this time, it was getting hard to get a photo without tons of other people in it. By the end, there hundreds and hundreds of people milling around. Maybe I should have taken a picture of that. Finally, we left the river, had about a 3/4 mile hike on a paved trail, and arrived at the parking lot and the shuttle busses. People everywhere.

We took the shuttle to the visitors center, and said goodbye to the Fays. Jill met us with a nice lunch. Thanks Jill! Afterwards, Jill drove Jann and the Cooks back up to the trailhead to get the cars. Jann and Laura getting into Auntie Jill's coffee bean.