Zion - the Narrows

We continued on the shuttle to the last hike on the route - and the starting point of the Narrows. In this part of Zion the river cuts a deep path through the mountains, which loom very high above on both sides.

For a long time we walked along beside the river, appreciating it immensely every time we got in the shade of the mountain sides.

Even though the heat had really started to wear me down, it was a pleasurable walk and the landscape was stunning.

The light sent back from the cliffs was soft and pleasant, but the direct light was blindingly sharp, making the greyish stones and pieces of dead wood by the riverbank looked like giant piles of bleached bone.


At last we came to the point where the trail stopped and the river-hike into the Narrows began. To move beyond this point one had to walk in the river itself. Ivan climbed on top of a boulder sticking out over the river and made a heroic speech of his intentions to go forth into the watery depths.

On a rock just below him sat a cute little forest critter. It didnt care about us at all.

It even climbed up on Ivans speach-rock while we were still there. Complete disregard.


We descended into the river. The view down along the Narrows was breathtaking and getting into the water was vastly enjoyable.

As I have mentioned, the day was horrifically hot and the shade and the coolness of the water was just magnificent. Never have I been so happy about the feeling of water running into my boots!


Getting our body temperatures down like this was very refreshing and we felt energized enough to hike trough the water in the Narrows for a while.

Of course the river bottom was very rocky and the going was slow and something of a balancing act. After a few near falls we ventured on holding hands to steady each other, a rare and for our friends Im sure highly comical sight.





After wading and splashing along happily like this for a good while, we turned back and enjoyed the soft color-change as the sun sank lower behind the cliffs.

Zion - the hanging gardens

The day after Bryce we tumbled our sore muscles out of bed, stepped back in to our dusty hiking boots and headed for Zion. The road north took us through the mountainous landscape around Zion, completely and surprisingly different from Bryce.

The cliff sides where sheer, somewhere in sharp layers and somewhere in odd swirls and the curving and steep mountain road was a series of deadly accidents waiting to happen!




We arrived at the visitors center and parked the car, since all traffic through the park was limited to park shuttles. After a while of gazing out of shuttle windows we came to our first hike starting point. This was a short and relatively easy hike to a beautiful cliff side and gentle waterfall.

Cool drops were trickling down the entire cliff surface, dazzling in the sharp light. I was wonderfully cooling which was much needed, since the day was brutally hot and the sun seemed to beat down on me much harder than it had in Bryce.

There was a cool and shadowy space, beneath an outcrop in the cliff side. We sat there for a while, looking at the drops sparkeling down in front and the beautiful valley we had just walked along.


The sheer cliffs where adorned in patches with brush and little trees, and these are referred to as the hanging gardens of Zion. This we found out, has to do with layers of chalk in the mountains, and the way this effected the water flow. Even though the heat was murderous and the climate generally dry, there were broad strips of swamp plants, ferns, flowers and trees, because of the water running off the mountains and gathering in these patches.

It was really quite lovely.

Evening

After finishing our hike of the Queens Court we were badly in need of food, so we drove down to the park Lodge to eat at the restaurant. It was a lovely place and our waitress was a funny and extremely nice young woman. We both had a wonderfully spiced steak, with excellent vegetables and the most delicious sauce made from local cherries. It was .. just ... so GOOD!!!! When eating that cherry sauce with a piece of beef the pleasure just blocked out all other senses and all ability to think. A sauce so good it makes you go temporarily blind. I have not the words.

After this we went back to the Queens Court to see the sunset from Sunset Point. The light fading from one row of pinnacles and then the next was an oddly delicate thing, making the rocks seem suddenly fragile and distant.



When we finally left we were both tired and had experienced more sensations than we could fathom. Despite this, Ivan suggested we go for one last evening walk, on a trail we past on our way back to Carmel Junction. So we went.


It was lovely walking in the evening light as the colors were softening.

The trail became narrow and increasingly challenging. After a while I started to worry, that we wouldn't make it down before full dark. Trying to hike that trail in the dark would have been ridiculously dangerous.


we did make it down though, just as the darkness became complete. And went home and slept like dead things.