Tuesday, July 10, 2007

For the Gate is Narrow, and the Road is Hard that Leads to Life...

How else could we introduce our post on Zion National Park but by quoting the Bible. (Quick History Lesson!!) Some of the first Europeans who entered the area now known as Zion were Methodists who proceeded to name many of the natural formations after Biblical people and themes. There is the Virgin River, the Patriarchs, and Angel Landing. Because Beth and I only had one day is this crazy fantastic park we decided to take a hike up the Virgin River into what is known as the Narrows. Most of Zion Park is one big canyon that you can drive up, admiring the scenery on the way. At some point though, the canyon gets to narrow and the road ends - the Narrows begin here. The Narrows are basically the continuation of the canyon and the only way to hike them is by hiking through the Virgin River.

Beth and I had been excited about this hike since we read about it in Backpacker Magazine. What we were not prepared for was the number of other people who thought hiking the narrows would be a good idea. The lower part of the narrows is therefore more like a natural waterpark then it is any sort of hike. People in every sort of scantly clad swim wear are in the river, with and without shoes and sandals. It is ever amazing to us as to what people think is ok to wear while hiking. One man we saw wore nothing but a speedo (or underwear, we didn't look too close) while another women was dressed from head to toe in black athletic wear. She really truly honestly looked just like a ninja! What you begin to realize when you are on the road for so long is that people are absolutely amazing in their uniqueness.

Anyways, we hiked for about 2 hours and although we never really got away from all the people, the numbers thinned out and we saw some of the most amazing scenery ever. The canyon walls were sheer at most places and the rock was decorated with swirls and gouges of different color and size. The water was never above mid thigh and so the whole experience was just really awesome. I am not eloquent enough to describe the beauty of the entire thing but I will say that if you are ever remotely close to Zion, you must do this hike!!! Check out the pictures below to see what I cannot put in words!!

Morning Glories along side the road.

The patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Betsy in the Narrows.



Holy cow that cavern is big!!

This part of the Narrows is called the Subways. If you look close you can see a person sitting in the shadows of the overhang!


3 comments:

msaaadhj said...

Nice photos. An adventure indeed. Thought I might mention, though....those are Datura stramonium by the roadside, rather than morning glories.

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