Virgin River Narrows

After the Angels Landing hike and fortifying ourselves with a tasty lunch in Springdale, Bobby and I hiked the Virgin River Narrows at Zion National Park. The Narrows is one of the most unusual hikes on the Colorado Plateau. Hiking is down in the river, as the the river runs canyon wall to canyon wall. The walls are vertical and sheer, and often red in color. While water levels change from season to season, most hikers will wade at least waist-deep, and many will swim a few short sections. The farther one goes upstream, the less crowded the canyon becomes.
Hiking in the river is strenuous. The water is often murky and the bottom of the river is covered with round, basalt rocks about the size of bowling balls. This makes foot protection and use of trekking poles or a walking stick essential. During the summer, thunderstorms can cause The Narrows to flash flood. Rain showers upriver can cause flash floods in the canyon without it raining over the canyon itself. Fortunately we had a beautiful afternoon for our hike. We hiked about two hours up the river and then two hours back. It was amazing.