It was getting quite hot by that point, but I didn't want to spend the afternoon doing nothing. Although I hadn't planned to do it, I'd been told that the hike through The Narrows was nifty. Since that involved wading through the river, I figured it wouldn't be as hot. Unfortunately, since it involved wading through the river, it also meant that I had to take the shuttle to the car where I dropped off everything not waterproof. That included my camera, so there is no photographic evidence that I was ever at The Narrows.
The hike starts with a mile of paved trail that everybody and their grandmother can hike. Where the pavement leaves off, you're on your own to figure out how to follow either the riverbank or, where necessary, the river.
I'd traded my shoes for aquasocks, so I had no reservations about getting my feet wet. Of course, then I realized that I'd forgotten to take off my watch. Luckily, the aquasocks had good grip on the underwater rocks, and my balance was good, so I never had to put my hand down in the water. In fact, I didn't really get anything wet higher than my thighs, which was how deep the water was in spots.
I stopped at a place where the walls were so close and undercut that it was easy to find a spot where no sky at all was visible. My knee was starting to pinch, so I decided to turn around there. On the way back, lots of people wanted to know how far it was. Of course, none of them really knew what "it" was, since The Narrows is just a place where you hike until you're satisfied, then turn around. The most amusing, though, was when I told a group that to get to a good spot, they'd have to go about three times as far as they'd gone so far. Just after telling them that, I turned the corner to find that I was already back to the paved section. Ha!
While walking back along the pavement to the shuttle stop, I discovered that being in shape doesn't prevent blisters from forming on wet feet. Oops. Fortunately, they weren't too bad and never ended up bothering me for any other hikes.
I should point out that any narrow canyon in Utah is subject to flash flood danger. That was never a worry for me, though, as there was no possibility of rain in the forecast the whole time I was there.
Another piece of trivia is that The Narrows is part of the Virgin River, the same one that I'd been following through the gorge in Arizona.
The Narrows
Time: ~2.5 hours
Distance: ~4.0 miles
Ascent: ~60 feet
Water: 0.5 liters
I had to take the shuttle back to my car in order to retrieve my wallet, then shuttle back up to the lodge for dinner, and finally shuttle back down.
I'd reserved a campsite near the visitor's center, and I was allowed to drive my car to the campsite. I'd checked in and set up my tent before going to The Narrows. All that was left was to get out my sleeping bag, pad, and pillow, and make myself comfortable. You'd think that wouldn't be an easy task at 8:40pm, with the sun still up, the other campers still noisy, and the tent still hot. But I was asleep almost instantly.
