The Narrows

Jen and Ken

Long before I started my crazy outdoor adventures, long before the notion of living in St. George ever crossed my mind and long before I knew slot canyons existed Jenni asked me if I wanted to do a Narrows trip with her. This was sometime after we moved back from Tennessee but before Kaylee my littlest niece was born.  I think she told me it was a long hike through a canyon down in Zion. At that time I had only been to Zion once when I was about 10. It sounded interesting enough and I agreed to go. Kaylee is now 5, I seem to have some high adventure trip planned once a month, I have been living in Southern Utah a little over a year now, I am addicted to seeing slot canyons, and have bought two annual National Parks passes that have mostly been used to traipse through Zion. 

Allen and Michelle

We started planning this trip back in January. Originally we were going to go in May but this did not work out. This turned out to be a good thing because the spring weather in Zion was extremely wet and the Narrows route was closed anyway. 

Jenni wanted to do an overnight trip meaning this would be my first backpack trip. I have been on one other backpack trip with Erin when we were little girls but we didn’t plan any of it so I count this as my first. I have been working up to a backpack trip for some time now. Buying sleeping bags and camp gear that works for car camping and backpacking. I had all the items but still hesitated to actually plan a trip. 

Spencer, Chere' and Jenni

We did our research and booked camp 4 & 6 for August 19. I learned to pack as light as humanly possible, bought a few more dry bags, dug out the ski poles, and rented Spencer and I 5’10 canyoneering shoes from Zion Adventure Company. 

Chris

Kerry

I love my in-laws dearly but I know them very well. Jenni had a goal of being to the trail head by 7:00 AM  but 18 years of experience has taught me that no matter how hard they try and they do try, I need to be ready on the off chance the day’s events start on time but to factor a cushion into the equation. Don’t ask me how this equation works but I have it roughly figured out in my head and usually have my arrival times synced with the true schedule. I estimated we would be at the trail head by 11:00 AM given the fact we still needed to stop by the back country desk and pick up one of the permits. In actuality we were deposited at the start by 1:30 PM.  

 

Spencer and I ate an early breakfast leaving us very hungry by the time we started the hike. This made for a grumbly tummy as we headed out but I was chomping at the bit to get going. We made it to Behuinin Cabin about 45 minutes later.

Spencer demanded food before we started hiking in the river. I suppose it is not in my best interest to starve a 5’11" 200 lb 15 year old so I gave in. 

Roughly two hours into the trip Ken developed one hell of a blister from his shoes plus his ankle, that was recovering from an injury, rebelled from hiking over the rocks in the river. 

Ken, Me and Jenni 

This slowed our pace down a bit. We made the National Parks boundary by 6:00 PM. Spencer and I both had 3 liter of water in our packs and it was about here that he ran out. I still had plenty but he kept drinking my water. The back country desk told us not to filter water until the confluence of Deep Creek and the North Fork.  This was a much debated topic amongst our group. I chose to listen to the rangers and did not stop to filter water until we reached the confluence at 7:45 PM. 

After 7 hours of hiking we finally made it camp site 4, unsure of how much further it was to Camp site 6 and we made the decision to all camp at site 4 because we were losing daylight fast. 

Everyone started throwing their sleeping gear out on the shore of the river and making dinner. I hate to admit this but I was mildly freaking out every time I saw a spider.  I really hate them, I know that they will not hurt me (for the most part) and I try to reason this out in my head. It just was not working for me. Everywhere I looked or stepped or tried to sit down to cook our mac-n-cheese there were at the very least 6 daddy-long legs. Honest to god I didn’t know how I was going to lay my head down and sleep. It is so irrational and stupid to be afraid of a spider but I can’t help it and the fear is worse when I am tired or stressed.  I managed to get dinner cooked and eaten but as soon as dinner was cleaned up I ran up the trail in the dark to get a break from the spiders. You just don’t see as many in the trees. I know they are there you just don’t see them. I am glad I ran off because I found a much better place to lay my head for the night. The ground was flat instead of slanting towards the river and psychologically I can’t see the spiders there so they don’t exist. Right?

It wasn’t long before the whole crew followed my lead and we were all settled in for the night. My mummy bag was cinched up around my face and I felt semi safe from the eight legged freaks. That was until it became too hot to stay safe.  I finally gave in pulled my arms out and lay awake starring at the night sky.  Lighting? Did I just see lighting? I asked Spencer and he replied rather annoyed “Mom, stop it!” But I know I saw what I saw. I laid there for quite some time watching the dark night through the trees wondering how long it would take for my sleeping back to be soaked through and that I really I didn’t need an epic first backpacking trip. The storm must have been pretty far away as I never heard any thunder and the lighting strikes were pretty far apart. For the record I wasn’t the only one who noticed. At least the worry of getting dumped on took my mind off the spiders because eventually I drifted off to sleep. 

Well we all have to do it unless you are good at holding it for two days.

We woke up at 7:30 and started getting ready for the day. All the morning duties and I do mean ALL  were accomplished.  We started hiking about 8:30 AM. Travel was slow for some in our group do to blisters, previously injured ankles and bad backs. Sounds like a bunch of old people on a hike. Wahahaha!  All laughing aside I did feel for those in pain.   

We made Big Springs by 11:30 AM. Spencer, Jen and I were pretty far ahead of the pack so Spencer and I took a little swim. It was COLD and extremely refreshing.   

Watching the rest of the group walk through the river Spencer and I were glad we had rented our 5’10” shoes and had walking poles. For the most part the shoes keep all the little annoying rocks out, support your ankles and grip the rocks.

Chere', Jen, Jenni

I think we stopped for lunch around 1:00 PM. The last picture I took was at 12:30 I get tired of pulling the camera out. And it was about that time we started running into the droves of people hiking up the canyon.  I also started floating through the river any chance I got to give my tired muscles a break from walking over all the rocks. Spencer followed suit. We had a blast! Later we learned a hole was worn into the dry bag that held his sleeping bag. Good thing they are machine washable. The sleeping bag wasn’t soaked but it wasn’t dry either.

Jen, Spencer and I were the first three out of the canyon around 4:00 PM. Jen and I dropped our packs and left them with Spencer while we hiked back up the river to find the rest of our group.

I was really proud of Spencer. The two of us kept an excellent pace, packed exactly enough food, and created one hell of a mother/son memory.

Looking forward to our next trip!