THE "SURPRISE": Day 1: at a B&B 1/2 mile away from the entrance to Zion National Park. It was right in the middle of everything. We walked to the park, the restaurants, and rental shops.
Day 2: hiking the Narrows "top down" vs. "bottom up" which is just the day hike. We've wanted to do this for a long time and even went once but chickened out due to the weather forecast. But, nothing was going to stop us this time. :) I was so excited! This was the perfect surprise for me. Well, the only thing that could have made it better was the hike first THEN a night at a relaxing B&B. :)
Day 1: One thing you have to love about B&B's is that they make use of every inch and this one was no exception. It was a big, beautiful home but, our toilet was LITERALLY in a closet. We took these pics messing around and thinking it was hilarious. And, no that is not a real picture of Ryan going to the bathroom, he never would have let me take a picture of that. :) It was just for fun. We had a blast though. We got there early in the afternoon which left a lot of time to walk around town and hang out. We walked down to the visitor's center inside the park to get our back-country permits. Then we checked out the gift shops. We went to this GREAT restaurant for dinner, Oscar's Cafe. We had HUGE yummy hamburgers. Then we returned to the room for a little R&R before the big hike. Breakfast was very good and we met 2 very nice couples one from Italy and the other from Virgina Beach. People are so interesting!
Day 2: Here we are waiting for the shuttle to take us to the top. Our driver was AWESOME! Other than his driving almost made me puke but he was the classic "national park" worker. He was probably in his 50's, has a short haircut that was a little curly but then had a pony tail/mullet in the back. He wore old school, worn out TEVA's and grungy clothes. He was super sun tanned and laid back. He was a funny guy.
The adventure starts. It was hard to initially get in the water but once we were in there was no getting out or turning back. The first day didn't have too many DEEP spots. I got in about waist deep so Ryan wasn't even that deep. But the water was super murky which made it very difficult to maneuver the rocks when crossing or walking in the river. You just had to dig your stick in and try to get your footing so you wouldn't fall. Sometime we were in pretty fast water, it was really hard. I think I "almost fell" about 100 times. It's like when you "almost fall" on ice but you catch yourself last minute but then your whole body hurts from the "jerk". Yeah, it was like that over and over and over again!
We finally got to camp after about 10 hours of hiking. Yes, I was "crabby" by the time we got there because we had this map that had times on it to help you pace yourself but the times were TOTALLY OFF!!! We thought we were keeping a good steady pace. We only stopped every few times to have a snack and take our packs off for a few minutes but after 5 hours of hiking we looked at the map and we were only at the spot that should have taken us 2 hours!!! Our map said we should have only hiked 7 hours on the first day...we did TEN! I was just frustrated because it was very unpredictable and I was HUNGRY AND TIRED! Not a good combination for me. I tried to keep my crabbiness to myself and not be too much of a downer. But, I should write those map makers and tell them to take the time off their maps. I'm pretty sure they did that at "Ranger" pace but I guess we did it a "Junior Ranger" pace. It just gets your hopes up just to be dashed!! :)
I was pretty tired so I set up camp while Ryan made dinner...fettuchini Alfredo (yes it was made from a dehydrated dinner). It was actually really good. I was just happy I got in a few bites before falling asleep! I was exhausted! It rained on us during the night so we had to get up and over the tent with the rain cover. But, overall it was a toasty night!
Breakfast was another dehydrated meal...granola, bananas, with milk. Again, surprisingly good. We packed up camp, put back on our wet socks and shoes, and headed back into the river.
Day 2: The best scenery and picture opts came in the last day but it also brought with it more DEEP areas which means the camera was put away and also just a general laziness. We had to take "mental pictures" :). Although, the Narrows are a photographers paradise. No wonder people make a living just off of picture taken here. It is truly amazing. We were so far out there I felt like we were on uncharted territory and that we were seeing things few people do. Seriously, you can't see this kind of stuff without a lot of work! It was hard but well worth it!
The second day was a blast. The water was much clearer which made the rocks easier to see. This also gave you a false sense of security and I used my stick less which set me up for more "almost" falls, and eventually a real fall. It also came with 5-6 sections where we literally had to swim with our packs on till we could touch again. The picture above was when I had to get in up to my chin. Ryan got the picture too late. The water was a great temperature but when I got in that far it really took my breath away. Usually I just kept the pack on but that time I took it off and pushed it as it floated across.
There was this one part where we had to slide down a rock to a 3 foot drop into the river and then swim. It was nerve racking but so much fun. We laughed so much! :)
This was the natural spring that we got water from on the second day. It was so beautiful. These pictures don't even capture a little bit of its full beauty!
Here was one spot, Ryan was just starting, but it got up to my chest. It was funny how our bags worked as floatation devises. :)
The pictures can't even get a glimpse of how tall these walls were and just how truly beautiful it was. The closer we got the bottom the more people that were around and made pictures hard to get. Although, these people were so frustrating. The first people we saw we asked how close we were to the end they said, "oh, about 2 1/2 hours, 3 AT THE MAX!" Well, 2 hours later we saw more people and asked them how close we were and they said, "about 2 hours", then again more than an hour later we asked another group and, you betcha, their answer was, "2 hours". I was going to FLIP OUT! I was at that point where I felt we were so close but still "2 hours" away! It never ended. I just wanted some flat terrain so give my ankles a break! BUT FINALLY, finally after "2 hours" we made it! :) This was our "WE DID IT" picture! We were so proud of ourselves, as we should have been. We did something really amazing. This was far more physically challenging/demanding than I'd ever imagined. Every muscle in my body hurt and I still can't walk without looking like an 99 year old women. My legs are in a lot of pain. My chins and muscles I had long forgotten about hurt from fighting to stay standing against the flow of the river. The front of my legs hurt because when I fell I fell forward on to a bed of large rocks. It messed up my legs pretty bad. I think the only reason they don't look worse is because they were being iced in water for another 5 hours. Please, have it be said that I DID NOT CRY! I thought I was going to and so did Ryan but I held it in and pressed on! :)
Once we were on the shuttle we pulled out all the food we had left and ate till we got off 7 miles later! :) We were famished. We got off the shuttle called home to check on Wes, who we missed like crazy, and then walked across the street to a restaurant! We couldn't wait another minute! :)
It was just an amazing weekend! I was so happy I did it and even though it may have been one of the most physically demanding things I have ever done in my life I can say I did it!
BUCKET LIST: THE NARROWS=check!
I will most likely never do this ever again but like I said I'm so happy I did it once. I will forever be able to have these memories and remember the miraculous things that I saw. The best part about it was that I got to do it with my best friend. I know that's cheesy and Ryan will probably say, "why did you put that in there?" but it's true. He planned this entire weekend FOR ME!!! He knew this was something I wanted to do and made it happen. It was so kind and loving. He makes me feel very special! It was a great weekend together, something that we will always share. I'm super proud of us for this accomplishment and it's one more thing that makes me realize that I can do hard things!!!
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