December 28 – December 29
Zion wasted no time reminding us that it is both wildly popular and wildly demanding. By mid-morning, lines wrapped the visitor center, shuttle waits rivaled theme parks, and every decision from parking to permits required patience. But beneath the logistics and the crowds, the canyon still held its gravity. This leg of the trip became less about how far we could go and more about how carefully we moved forward choosing which challenges to accept, and which to leave for another day.
We drove straight to the Zion Visitor Center when we got up. Arriving at the park just before 9am and cars were already lined up at the entrance gate. I started worrying that we would not be able to park at the visitor center, but there was still plenty of space in the oversized vehicle lot. Revel Rose just made the cut to be included at 19 feet long. Later in the day we saw regular cars ticketed in the lot, so do not park here if you are not oversized!
After our visitor center visit, we got in line for the bus to go hike the West Rim trail to Scout Lookout. It took about an hour and a half to get on a bus! I felt like I was at Disney World. We enjoyed the hike though and took a break as we watched some people coming and going from the chain section to Angel’s Landing. Originally, we planned to try for permits. But since I was keeping Dan pretty tired out and I am a bit scared of it, we decided to pass on it this time.
After returning down we walked the Kayenta Trail over to the Emerald Pools. The pools were a more muddy than emerald, but it was still a nice hike.
After that we checked into our site at the Watchman Campground which is conveniently located right next to the visitor center and then we walked to Zion Outfitter which is right outside the park in Zion Canyon Village.
We picked up our rental gear for The Narrows which I had already reserved online. You can pick up rental gear the day before from 3-5pm. They were pretty much the coolest outfits ever. After dropping our sweet outfits at the van we walked to Whiptail Grill for a yummy Mexican dinner. The queso was super yummy.
We started the next day at Perks (a coffee shop in Zion Canyon Village) right after they opened at 7am to get coffee and breakfast sandwiches to go. We were in line for the shuttle by 7:30 am even though it did not start running until 8 am. And there was already quite a line waiting! We were on the first shuttle to the Temple of Sinawava shuttle stop where the Bottoms Up Narrows hike starts. You can hike The Narrows from the bottom up without a permit. It started with a paved Riverside Walk.
The furthest spot you can hike to without a permit is called Big Spring and is about a 10 mile journey if you make it all the way out and back. We were hoping to make it to Big Springs, but it was slow moving through the canyon. Not only did we take lots of pictures, but the water was pretty high, very cold, and swift. We got to one point where we had to tiptoe as close as we could to the wall of the canyon after dropping in off a rock along the side of the canyon. I had to pass my bag to Dan to keep it dry. Luckily he had a dry bag and everything in my bag would have been fine if it got wet. But I would have been extra freezing wearing a wet pack.
Not long after we passed this point I realized we only had about 30 minutes more before I thought we should turn around to make sure we got back before dark. I knew we could make it back faster without stopping for pictures, but I did not want to take any chances to get stuck down there in the dark in the freezing temperatures and some deep crossings very close to the start of the water trail. Then the one person from our morning shuttle who was still ahead of us passed us coming back and said there were even deeper water crossings up ahead a short way. I would have been completely fine with swimming if we had wet suits or it wasn’t freezing. Water above our armpits would get in our sweet coveralls and temperatures were already dropping with little sun hitting the bottom of the canyon. I had already taken one spill in the swift water and got water down my trousers and soaked one arm of my puffy. So we decided to go ahead and turn around at this point and get out of the canyon earlier. I was surprised how well the outfits did work though. Other than getting water down my coveralls and needing to warm up after taking a break in some short lived sunlight in the canyon, I really was pretty comfortable. If I were to go back in the winter I would want a wetsuit under the coveralls and a life jacket to make swims easier – and keep me warm. Even though the temperature and limited daylight was a struggle, it was absolutely amazing and stunning. I am so glad we did not dismiss The Narrows due to the water conditions.
Turning around in The Narrows felt less like giving up and more like listening—to the water, the cold, and the narrowing margin for error. The canyon had already given us plenty: swift current, deep crossings, brief sunlight, and the quiet satisfaction of moving through a place on its own terms. Warm showers, clean clothes, and a good meal waited on the other side. We quickly regrouped at the van before heading to Zion Outfitters to return the gear and take a much needed warm shower. There were token operated showers at the outfitters (none at the campground) and the water was HOT! It was $4 for a 10 minute shower. We stayed close to camp that night and had dinner at the brewery in the Village. It looked busy but we got a table right away. We ordered the onion rings as an appetizer and they did not disappoint.