Day 6 - Zion Narrows

Imagine walking in a riverbed up a narrow cascade of red, orange, black, grey, green and black 1000ft tall rock walls and you will imagine Zion Narrows. March is typically too early to hike the narrows but Lady Luck was in our favor and the river flow was low due to a low snowfall year. The water is cold though so we reserved our dry suits, fleece pants, neoprene socks, rubber river boots and hiking poles yesterday in preparation for a 7 hour round trip adventure to the world famous narrows of Zion.

See the first pic of us three in our gear at the start of the narrows. Our plan was the hike out as far as we could with our dry pants-only rentals. Further would require swimming. We would add on a side section of the equally sensational Orderville canyon about half way in and then come back and continue up canyon through the "Wall Street" most photogenic part of the narrows.

Ten minutes after beginning the river walking section out jaws dropped as two mule deer trotted down the river by us, passing a few feet from us. My camera was in a waterproof bag inside a waterproof bag but Roman got a few pics on his gopro (he will send later). After turning up Orderville canyon we reached an obstacle-- a small waterfall with a deep pool. See video of page and roman climbing up this waterfall and wait for the end... http://youtu.be/6LD3MZhX3qk

The second pic shows us at the end of the passable section of Orderville Canyon. The couple that took that picture climbed up the first waterfall following us and then we followed them back down the first waterfall. The descent involved shimmying down a slick rock face, a small step under an overhang, followed by slow step by step along a 70 degree side wall. We ended up throwing our bags down to the other couple and getting a helping pole pull from them to the safe section. We then helped another couple across the obstacle with the final result being all 7 of us dry.

We planned to turn back 3.5 hours in but continued 4.25 hours before turning back because we were loving every moment and feeling good. We ascended and large rock slide at the end of the narrows and enjoyed a sunny reprieve above the crowd before turning back. Pic 3 and 4 show the surreal colors of the canyon walls glowing in the sun on our return trip. This 6 hour 8+ mile hike would be our final one in Zion and it did not dissapoint.

I wore Romans gopro for the most beautiful sections and Roman will edit and send a first person account film in a few weeks hopefully. On to Bryce Friday.

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Day 171 - JMT Guitar Lake

Wow, was it cold this morning. After waking up and eating breakfast, we packed up quickly and found this scenic sunspot to warm our bones. We had a short eight mile hike to Guitar Lake today, the last viable campsite before the five mile hike to the 14,505 foot-high Mount Whitney summit. We stopped at this lovely meadow and looked for bears. We only saw deer but were able to enjoy the incredible peace of the far mountain range. Steady hiker traffic, the most of the entire trip, including one group of twelve elder hikers, passed us as we rested, and jumped! Views of Mount Whitney finally came into view at Timberline Lake, a quaint lake where camping was unfortunately forbidden. We passed a group of twenty Taiwanese hikers. The summit of Mount Whitney looked heavily defended when viewed from below. We were going to wake up tomorrow at 230am and hike up to the summit for sunrise-on-the-top-of-the-world*. The thought of this dark task was a bit foreboding. We made it to Guitar Lake by

Day 172 - JMT Mount Whitney

Our day began in silence, at 315am in pursuit of the summit. We walked carefully, looking for slick, sandy rocks and icy sections--not wanting to fall. Hiking along a cliff edge in total darkness was thrilling, vividly black and white. By 5am, we had reached the three mile marker and the turnoff up to Whitney summit. We removed the heavy items from our bags and set off towards the summit sunrise. The trail was spectacular, a special creation of this nation, winding from one side of the mountain to the other, going down and around one side before coming up to another, creating anticipation with each turn. Looking back, the sloping ridges caught the early sunset delicately. As we hiked along the two mile upper trail, the views east would open up for the narrowest of moments. This opening was my favorite. 14,000 foot cathedrals of nature thrusted towards the heavens at each turn. The summit was almost in sight, the highest peak in the lower 48 states nearly attained, the end of our 2

Day 170 - JMT Forrester Pass

The mountains had a surreal glow this morning as we climbed up towards the 13,200 foot high Forrester Pass. One of the wonderful things about the mountains is that they change appearance as the sun changes height, creating a movie-like experience as you walk. I felt so free and happy this morning--just in love with this light. After sixty minutes of walking, we stopped in the first sunny spot we could find to thaw out and rest. Another hiker came bustling up the trail behind us and stopped at the sunspot to shed a layer of clothing. Sly was a Canadian hiker, just turned 40, who seemed happy to see us. We struck up a conversation about travels and when we pushed off Sly asked if he could join us. We said yes of course. We hiked quickly up the trail, reaching a high plateau with epic alpine views. Selfie time! We skirted around a high alpine lake and then went up a ridge line ever further higher. We were at 12,000+ feet now and the world began to look small yet vast.

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