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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Days 89 and 90 - Waterton

I started my journey north to Canada today. My plan was to head to Waterton Lakes, just north of Glacier, then to Calgary, then the Canadian Rockies parks of Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Glacier and a few others, then to Vancouver and finally to Seattle, all over the next several weeks. But first I needed the Internet! I drove south out of Many Glacier to a place I remembered having cell reception. I did some emailing and calling back home, did some research for my Canada trip and watched the final three episodes of Game of Thrones--wow, the final two episodes were sensational. This rainy, dreary day was perfect for such activities. I then drove into Canada late in the evening and to a campground set in the cloudy mountains at Waterton. The weather cleared a bit the next day and I was able to do some hiking around this scenic alpine lakes district. Waterton Lakes district from a high hill called Bear's Hump: The chipmunks at Bear's Bump were very interested in the conten...

Day 106 - Seattle

My July 4th started with a drive from Vancover to Seattle, arriving at the Museum of Flight by 11. The museum tour began with a display of the 27 U.S. Flags, made interesting by announcing the history of the states entry into the union. This B-17 is similar to the bomber my grandfather flew in WW2. A former Air Force One plane that Kennedy road on was another highlight. I stayed all day at the museum enjoying the history of aviation exhibits and finally space! I drove into downtown Seattle to checkout the city parks reserved for fireworks watching. These neighborhoods were crawling with people and would make horrible stealth street camping sites. I called several hostels and all were full... but then I found one with one bed left. I reserved the spot and drove to the hostel to find it in walking distance to the fireworks. I joined a group waking down to see the fireworks. We were joined by a few others. Two skydivers with fire flaming behind their path were followed by...

Day 93 - Calgary to Banff

After a very pleasant morning at Dave's house spent photocopying trail and scramble guide routes, enjoying a great breakfast and coffee, meeting some of Dave's extremely kind family members and chatting more about adventures, I set out for downtown Calgary. I thought a walk around a museum would be a nice change of pace, so I toured the Glenbow Museum. Two highlights were a Blackfoot Indian describing the meaning of their Tipi decorations and the Gun Scupture. The history of Alberta section was also quite interesting: fur trappers then cowboys then railroad builders then oil drillers. I then walked down to a nearby waterfront park, along a pedestrian only shopping street where a Christian pride rally was taking place, and then down quiet side streets to the park. Seeing people out jogging and playing on this Sunday afternoon reminded me of the real life I must one day return to. But not yet! Hungry and ready for mountains, I walked back to my van and left Calgary heading wes...

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