Zion National Park- Narrows

Over the last three days we made a quick visit to Zion National park as we got a permit a few months ago to hike up to Angel’s landing.

If there is one picture that will stay in my head for a long long time after this trip, it is this one.. she did not know I was clicking it. The sunbeam that hit the pole as though it was a magical light saber and the beatific smile of content…

We left early on a Friday morning from San Jose to Las Vegas, rented a car and drove to Zion. Took this photo from the flight while crossing over to Nevada and was worried that we might have to tredge through ice and snow.. Fortunately none of that in Zion.

It took us a little over 2 1/2 hours. We stopped right at Zion Guru to get the rented gear to walk through the Narrows. This process took us 30 plus minutes. We ate a quick packed lunch right after, then parked the car at our hotel and had to take a shuttle into the park visitor center which added 20 minutes. Then another shuttle from Visitor center all the way to the last stop which took another 40 minutes.

Two things threw us off. First, we were very disappointed with Avis. The van they gave us was smelling of cigarette smoke. Apparently a big problem in Vegas these days with returned rentals. There are signs everywhere on the van that say 450$ cleaning fee. Still no one checked. We could wait an hour to go back inside and try another van (minivans are not easy to come by) or start driving. So we called, complained and kept driving in hopes that there would be some other Avis location en route where we could swap cars. Time was precious. While some of the folks were doing the talking, I covered my nose and mouth and kept driving. We stopped at one place to get some chlorox (the van was dirty in the back) and febreeze and sprayed the car with no reprieve. Then we kept windows open and tried everything. This cost us another 30 minutes.

Then the clock changed forward an hour and our heart sank. It was also confusing as where we go through a sliver of Arizona state where the clocks flip back and forth. We had miscalculated the time difference. The extra 30 minutes we took could make a difference on how far we went in the Narrows. When we started hiking from the Temple of Shinawava shuttle stop it was almost 2:30 in the afternoon. The last shuttle back to the visitor center leaves at 7PM and the gear shop closes at 8PM. That meant we had 4 hours to hike up the river and get back with a 30 minute cushion in case of any emergencies.

The plan was to turn back after two hours no matter where we were. We had the gear, so the water being cold was not a problem. Now that we had all resigned to the time limitation, we made the most of it. The plan was to walk fast, but the beauty of the place and the experience made it impossible as we had to stop and take photos. Photographers had to walk faster! Doing this on a hiking trail is one thing. Doing this while wading through water and slippery rocks is a higher level challenge.

Happy wife makes for a happy life. She was smiling all through this trip and that made my day. Haven’t walked this fast anywhere in recent times. Here are photos of us..

and here are the few clicks of the scenery…

and a video highlights reel..

None of the images above or the video do any justice to the actual experience of walking the narrows. We went a little past “wall street” towards Floating rock, which was another 5 minutes away from that point maybe.. but we did not want to take a chance. so we came back. If you visit Zion, see if you can take the extra day to start on this early in the morning so you can spend a good 6 hours and catch everything. 4 hours is too tight.

Do not miss this experience though. Our first visit to Zion was in 2004 December (predates the blog) and our little one wasn’t born yet. With Jr. in a stroller we could only walk across a bridge from Zion lodge to the lower lake and stop by along the road to take photos. There was no shuttle then. You could just drive through the park. To think that 20 years later we could actually do this trip and hike to all these places is a dream come true. Kids are 20 year projects! The last twenty plus years flew by fast with the focus on getting them to be adults. Now we get to see places together with friends. We are lucky to have the energy, means and the one or two days off here and there each year to be able to do this.

Given the blog only goes forward in time and you can trace back from posts that easily I will write a summary of the trip after finishing all the posts with links to all posts.

In spite of the time crunch we made it to the last shuttle and returned gear on time. It was back to our cabins to have a packed dinner and go sleep. I did fall down once within sight of the place where we get out of the water. Had to walk a mile in wet shirt in the cold. A few tylenols later things were fine.

We saw folks walking without any gear. They did not go far but still they are blessed to be able to handle the cold.

Do not miss this experience if you are in Zion. Plan well ahead.

Closing out a trip in style

The previous post in the series is here..

We slept early after the long gruelling hike. Woke up in the morning and after having Chai in our room we were all ready to go to the Vista point on our way back to Phoenix. 

All nine of us had matching T-shirts to wear. It was great to spend almost an hour taking photos at the vista point.

We were delayed by an extra 30 minutes with the "photoshoot" and raced towards Phoenix.

There was a 30 mintue stop for lunch in Flagstaff at a nice Indian place. It was really good food, great ambience, quick service! If we ever visit Flagstaff, will definitely go back to this place!

We made it 20 minutes before boarding time to the gate! 

It took me two days to be able to walk normally again and be able to sit down and stand up. Was mostly standing and walking all of Monday and Tuesday. Did yoga last two days and finally able to do squats again.

All said and done, it was a memorable trip. Will I go back to the south rim again. Definitely not. 

This was one of the most challenging hikes we have done to date. Enjoyed the trip and most of the hiking except for the last three miles!

Glad it is done!

The Grand Canyon's South Rim

The previous post is here..

The cover photo for this post.. (usually it is a "bench photo".. there were no benches on this hike and this was as close as it got)

Here is a video highlight of the entire trip! This time posting the video upfront. . . 

The morning of the hike, we were all ready at 5:15 AM waiting for a ride from the Yavapai lodge to the trailhead. There is a car service that gives large groups rides directly to the trailhead for around 3 to 4 dollars a person. We were 9 of us and it was a full van! It was a 5 minute ride to the trailhead but would have been another 2 plus mile walk! 

Once at the trail head we took photos and started at 6AM. The ground was covered in snow and ice. None of this was in the plan! 

This hike is not for the faint hearted. It is a pretty difficult trail. It is an 18 mile minimum hike starting from the South Kaibab trailhead that goes all the way down to the colorado river.. ~ 8 miles of straight downhill hiking over 5000 feet. The weather goes from cold to warm to hot when we are down at the bottom. 

The portrait format photos are fewer..

The landscape format photos (most of them) are in this slide show! Just amazing views all day..

The first two miles were slow going because it was still dark and the icy ground. We reached Ooh-aah point to catch the sunrise! It was spectacular watching the first rays of the sun hit the canyon!

First photos of us as we went through the hike with some time stamps... just 4 years older than Sangeetha, but when that 4 years is on either side of 50, it seems to make a huge difference when it comes to walking uphill.

6:30 AM : Photos at Ooh_aah point waiting for the sun to come out..

San allowed me to do yoga poses on rocks. Was wondering "is there a catch?" and turns out there was none. She is now a yogi and appreciates me posing with the BYSJ shirt at national parks! 

She did start screaming when I turned to take this selfie on the ledge..there was screaming from multiple ladies!

8:15 AM at Skeleton point

After the first two miles we tried to pick up the pace, but it was hard with all the puddles in the trail. That was an added distraction for me. Have a whole series of photos from puddles which will be posted separately.

We managed to reach Skeleton point after two hours and 15 minutes and Tonto West (Tip off point) at 9 AM. We had made up some distance in the last hour. Then it was time to go through a steeper descent to the river. 

9:00 AM Tip off point

9:30 AM

We can see the colorado river and the green bridge

10:30 AM 

We finally reached the green bridge across the river. At this point the group was split up into two. So two of us went ahead in search of the next restroom which was a mile away! By the time th rest of the group joined it was 10:30. We walked together to Phantom ranch after a break. 

Under side of the green bridge

Then there is a few miles of walking along the river to Phantom ranch. From there it is a crossover the Colorado river again and back to the Bright Angel trailhead at the top. (most folks start at bright angel and end up in South Kaibab).

Hindsight being 20/20 and given we had our own packed food, we should have just got back on the river trail and saved ourselves 2 hours in time and 2 plus miles extra walking. Phantom ranch was overrated. 

Phantom ranch was a let down. There was a canteen there and a few benches to sit and eat lunch. We were told that there is free lemonade for everyone who visits this place. IT IS A MYTH! THERE IS NO FREE LEMONADE! 

There is lemonade for sale at 6$ a cup with 1$ for refills. Some folks in our group were all set on having that lemonade and did! Their verdict? Nothing special ! 

After eating our packed lunches and having lightened our backpacks a bit, we started our hike back. The return was going to be 9 miles with a stop every 1.5 miles.

The silver bridge to get back across the river

The return is longer as it has at least 30+ switchbacks in the last 3 miles of the trail and is just grueling!

12:00 Noon

We see a warning at 2 PM around Tonto East

We walked together as a group for the first 3 miles. We were climbing steadily but slowly. The altitude gain was gradual. Then we split up 4 and 5 and went through the next mile and a half. Once we reached this Indian garden or Havasupai garden (which is a cross point for two trails), three of us decided to move forward as we were already losing steam. 

that is a little too late...

 3:00 PM

We had hot chai and Parle G biscuits and started walking the last 4.5 miles. It was a steep climb and after the first mile it was already sapping.

The stops have a restroom and we can refill water bottles.

4:00 PM

Was taking it literally one step at a time. My legs were burning by then. There was no option but to keep going. The three of us tried to encourage each other with jokes every now and then. 

4:30 PM

The towel came out to keep wiping rain from face.

5:00 PM in bad rain with a Poncho

When there was two miles left, it started drizzling. By then we had climbed up a good deal. We had come up 3500 feet and had 1500 more to go. Then drizzle became rain. The towel around my shoulders had to come off and replaced with a poncho. Was drenched inspite of the poncho. It was also getting colder as we were hiking up. 

5:30 PM Made it back up! Changed clothes and got the jacket back up.. by then the rain had slowed to a drizzle

The idea of hiking up to end a trail is not that great. Usually we hike up mountains and come down to the parking lot. This was brutal to put it mildly.

When we made it back to the top, we were soaked and were not going to wait for the rest of the group. Glad we didn't. They were also hit by the rain and darkness and had to walk with headlamps and ponchos and made it an hour after we did. A 20 minute delay at Indian garden made them an hour late because of the unpredictable weather! We took the cab service and made it back to our rooms a little after 6 PM. Took us a good 30 minutes to sort things out and after a hot shower and some chai, we realized that we had actually made it!

The legs were shaking and sitting down or standing up was a slow process. I had already taken a couple of Ibuprofens every 3 hours all day thanks to my laces jumping the notches in my hiking shoe and hurting my ankle earlier in the day. That still didn't help at the end of the day. 

Once all of us were ready we spent some time at the canteen at the Yavapai lodge. Then it was time to call it a night. 

The next morning we were going to start at 8 AM from the lodge and celebrate!

That and the return back to Phoenix in the next post...