August 2000? The NARROWS!! Total Distance 18 miles; 2 days 1 night.
Chris and his boys, Andrea, and friend Rich and Alex Wigley took 2 cars to shuttle from Zion Visitor Center to Chamberlain Ranch off the North fork Road. This is a 2 day / 1 night trip. Weather seemed perfect when we left, but the Backpack Permit office was telling us there was a 20-30% chance of afternoon storms; and there were slight possibilities of flash flood in The Narrows. We should have called off the trip, but we decided to go. If it was up totally to me, I would have chickened out.
We all piled into my MiniVan and drove up the dirt road that was just east of Zion Nt’s park. The trailhead at Chamberlain Ranch was quite pastoral in setting; some cows grazing along the North Fork of the Virgin River. We would follow this watercourse for the next 17 miles or so. The first 3 miles or so was a quite easy stroll downriver and in the open. But soon it got narrower and narrower. By early afternoon we made it to the 15 or so foot waterfall which we had to climb down to the left. At this point, we were officially in The Narrows.
A month before going on this backpack trip, Andrea read a book named ‘No Way Out’ by one of my good friends in Kayenta, Ivy Ruckman. She is a great author of books that appeal to teens, and she’s well-known in the Utah area. One of her books was turned into a TV movie, The Night of the Twisters. 'No Way Out' is a fiction book, based on true events of another former Kayenta resident back in the 60’s who was involved in a terrible flash flood in The Narrows. Her group of hikers and a couple other groups of backpackers had to spend 2 extra nights in the canyon due to a terrible flood. A few were clinging all night in trees just above the raging water. Some had to be rescued by helicopter.
And here Andrea and I were backpacking in the same exact spot as where that story took place; and sure enough the exact minute we got to the bottom of the waterfall and into the heart of The Narrows, we started to hear thunder. And it was getting darker and louder by the minute. The adults huddled around and discussed if we should just turn back right there and call it off. That would have been my pick; but everyone else wanted to continue. We all were a little frightened, I think Andrea was very scared especially considering what she read in that book.
As we progressed downstream, we all took note of where all the high spots were located, since there were not a whole lot of escapes in this section of the canyon. And it only got worse, more narrow, over the next 10 miles – no escapes from potential deadly flash floods. We got to the confluence of Deep Creek, where 2/3rds of the water in the Virgin River came from. This was a nice spot to rest; it was also the spot in Ivy’s book where the flood was at it’s worse, where a young boy and his dad clung onto one tree hanging from the cliff, just above the water below – for a whole NIGHT!!. But luckily, at this time, the storm was abating and the rain had stopped. It was still overcast but the clouds weren’t as dark.
We continued about 1 more mile to our designated camp spot. It was a nice place just about 10 feet above the Virgin River, a nice sandy spot. At this time, we all felt safer and the storm was gone. After pitching up the tents and getting a snack, Chris and I hiked about ½ mile downriver to the confluence of a side creek coming in from the right – Kolob Creek. We hiked up this little canyon for about 15 minutes. The rocks in the water were slipperier than the Virgin River that we had been walking in all day. But the sights were incredible. It was a real narrow canyon, with red canyon walls. Each turn brought another different scene. We then turned back to where our camp was. That night, all I could think of was more rain that night and who knows what the river would be like the next day. Worried, did I bring my daughter on this trip and into danger?
But waking up the next morning, we saw the brilliant blue skies that Southern Utah is known for. Just a perfect clear day, don’t think the thought of storms or floods even entered any of our thoughts that entire day. The remaining hike down The Narrows was glorious. The whole way was in the water, with great views of Zion cliffs and clear running water. We passed Kolob Creek, and Goose Creek, and a few other small drainages. Right before the real, real narrow section, we came to Big Springs. This is a waterfall (spring) coming right out of the cliff wall. We drank up, filled our water bottles from the spring. It tasted cold and delicious. (See photo aboveof Big Spring).
The next 2-3 miles is in the most narrow part of the The Narrows, where you would be walking in the river and could literally touch the walls on both sides at the same time. There were times when the water was as high as your belly. Next came Orderville Canyon to the left, an incredible side-trip up a number of small waterfalls. I’ve done this a few other times, but not today. This is usually the turn around point for most dayhikers coming from the trailhead at Sinawava trailhead, which was where we were heading. We hadn’t seen too many people on the 2 day trip thus far, only other backpack groups and a few other people below Big Spring. But now we were to run into more dayhikers. But this next 1.8 miles is one of the classic hikes in the world. The river, the cliffs, the blue sky. We finally made it to the paved trail, which is the last mile of this hike back to the trailhead.
The last mile, Andrea really speeded up her walk. She seemed to always start walking real fast on all of our hikes when it was the final mile or two and today she left all the males behind. I had to work to keep up with her. It was pretty crowded the last mile; and we all felt quite proud of our accomplishment; and were feeling that great ‘high’ you feel after spending a night on a classic backpack trip.
We hopped on the shuttle and back to the Visitor Center; Rich and I took the long 1 hour drive back to my van.
Chris and his boys, Andrea, and friend Rich and Alex Wigley took 2 cars to shuttle from Zion Visitor Center to Chamberlain Ranch off the North fork Road. This is a 2 day / 1 night trip. Weather seemed perfect when we left, but the Backpack Permit office was telling us there was a 20-30% chance of afternoon storms; and there were slight possibilities of flash flood in The Narrows. We should have called off the trip, but we decided to go. If it was up totally to me, I would have chickened out.
We all piled into my MiniVan and drove up the dirt road that was just east of Zion Nt’s park. The trailhead at Chamberlain Ranch was quite pastoral in setting; some cows grazing along the North Fork of the Virgin River. We would follow this watercourse for the next 17 miles or so. The first 3 miles or so was a quite easy stroll downriver and in the open. But soon it got narrower and narrower. By early afternoon we made it to the 15 or so foot waterfall which we had to climb down to the left. At this point, we were officially in The Narrows.
A month before going on this backpack trip, Andrea read a book named ‘No Way Out’ by one of my good friends in Kayenta, Ivy Ruckman. She is a great author of books that appeal to teens, and she’s well-known in the Utah area. One of her books was turned into a TV movie, The Night of the Twisters. 'No Way Out' is a fiction book, based on true events of another former Kayenta resident back in the 60’s who was involved in a terrible flash flood in The Narrows. Her group of hikers and a couple other groups of backpackers had to spend 2 extra nights in the canyon due to a terrible flood. A few were clinging all night in trees just above the raging water. Some had to be rescued by helicopter.
And here Andrea and I were backpacking in the same exact spot as where that story took place; and sure enough the exact minute we got to the bottom of the waterfall and into the heart of The Narrows, we started to hear thunder. And it was getting darker and louder by the minute. The adults huddled around and discussed if we should just turn back right there and call it off. That would have been my pick; but everyone else wanted to continue. We all were a little frightened, I think Andrea was very scared especially considering what she read in that book.
As we progressed downstream, we all took note of where all the high spots were located, since there were not a whole lot of escapes in this section of the canyon. And it only got worse, more narrow, over the next 10 miles – no escapes from potential deadly flash floods. We got to the confluence of Deep Creek, where 2/3rds of the water in the Virgin River came from. This was a nice spot to rest; it was also the spot in Ivy’s book where the flood was at it’s worse, where a young boy and his dad clung onto one tree hanging from the cliff, just above the water below – for a whole NIGHT!!. But luckily, at this time, the storm was abating and the rain had stopped. It was still overcast but the clouds weren’t as dark.
We continued about 1 more mile to our designated camp spot. It was a nice place just about 10 feet above the Virgin River, a nice sandy spot. At this time, we all felt safer and the storm was gone. After pitching up the tents and getting a snack, Chris and I hiked about ½ mile downriver to the confluence of a side creek coming in from the right – Kolob Creek. We hiked up this little canyon for about 15 minutes. The rocks in the water were slipperier than the Virgin River that we had been walking in all day. But the sights were incredible. It was a real narrow canyon, with red canyon walls. Each turn brought another different scene. We then turned back to where our camp was. That night, all I could think of was more rain that night and who knows what the river would be like the next day. Worried, did I bring my daughter on this trip and into danger?
But waking up the next morning, we saw the brilliant blue skies that Southern Utah is known for. Just a perfect clear day, don’t think the thought of storms or floods even entered any of our thoughts that entire day. The remaining hike down The Narrows was glorious. The whole way was in the water, with great views of Zion cliffs and clear running water. We passed Kolob Creek, and Goose Creek, and a few other small drainages. Right before the real, real narrow section, we came to Big Springs. This is a waterfall (spring) coming right out of the cliff wall. We drank up, filled our water bottles from the spring. It tasted cold and delicious. (See photo aboveof Big Spring).
The next 2-3 miles is in the most narrow part of the The Narrows, where you would be walking in the river and could literally touch the walls on both sides at the same time. There were times when the water was as high as your belly. Next came Orderville Canyon to the left, an incredible side-trip up a number of small waterfalls. I’ve done this a few other times, but not today. This is usually the turn around point for most dayhikers coming from the trailhead at Sinawava trailhead, which was where we were heading. We hadn’t seen too many people on the 2 day trip thus far, only other backpack groups and a few other people below Big Spring. But now we were to run into more dayhikers. But this next 1.8 miles is one of the classic hikes in the world. The river, the cliffs, the blue sky. We finally made it to the paved trail, which is the last mile of this hike back to the trailhead.
The last mile, Andrea really speeded up her walk. She seemed to always start walking real fast on all of our hikes when it was the final mile or two and today she left all the males behind. I had to work to keep up with her. It was pretty crowded the last mile; and we all felt quite proud of our accomplishment; and were feeling that great ‘high’ you feel after spending a night on a classic backpack trip.
We hopped on the shuttle and back to the Visitor Center; Rich and I took the long 1 hour drive back to my van.
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