The Narrows - Zion National Park

"The granddaddy of desert slot canyons, The Zion Narrows has been rated one of the top ten hikes on Earth, and rightfully so. After 1-mile of warm-up on the pavement of the Riverside Walk, the Virgin River becomes the path, drawing hikers up into its towering walls and a sinuous path along river banks and knee-deep waters into the narrowest section of Wall Street where 18 million years of river erosion has cut 1500-foot walls into the earth." [4Feet]: With little to zero experience in wading, we dared ourselves to accept the challenge of the Narrows in winter. We arrived at the trailhead (end of Zion Canyon Scenic Drive) around 6:50 with an air temperature of 20*F. We put on our rental gears which include hydro canyoneering boots, water socks, and waders. When everything still remained frozen and quiet, we departed for this exciting yet challenging hike. Bottom-up Narrows started from the Temple of Sinawava. The first mile is the paved Riverside Walk. At the end of the path, we began our trek through the river. The canyon is wider at first, providing many beaches and areas of high ground. 2.5 miles from the trailhead, a fork in the river is encountered. To the right, Orderville Canyon feeds into the Narrows which is continued by keeping left. This is where the canyon walls narrow, and the especially iconic section of the hike begins. With proper gears, our feet were still soaking wet but definitely not as painfully freezing as our first try yesterday. Though we were warmer and dry inside, the freezing and moist air from the Virgin River still had our bodies shiver and noses run. The wind blowing through the slot canyon was so chilly, that literally kept everything frozen except the running river. The water dripping on the outside of our Gore-Tex wader was also crystalized when we spent time walking on some of the river banks. The farther up the river we went, the fewer people there were. As we reached the narrow section of the Narrows, the depth of river water seemed unpredictable. It ranged from a puddle to a 3-feet depth, which was about our high-hip level. And don't forget! We were wading upstream. Our turning point was near Imlay Temple, where the depth of the North Fork Virgin River was near 5 feet. By that time (11:00 a.m.), the water temperature was not as cold, but we did still not dare to get wet by any means. The whole journey was quite a unique experience for a total of 6.5 miles. Not only the challenge of hiking against the river current with 63+ CFS in cold temperature but also hiking with walls a thousand feet tall were undoubtedly memorable. Particularly while reaching the "narrow" section (aka Wall Street), we were amazed by the stunning Navajo sandstone rise on both sides and centuries of erosion have sculpted the rock into surreal fluted and whorled forms. One of the safety concerns when doing canyoneering is flash flooding. Fortunately, in a dry winter, a flash flood is extremely unlikely. The water was crystal clear and no big logs or branches on the river surface. 12/20/20