We got ourselves out of bed pretty early and finished the drive into Zion, heading directly for the campgrounds. A couple of people were pulling up stakes so we pounced on a nice empty site while the getting was good. After we claimed our spot, we headed back out to town so I could rent my water shoes and big stick. I was reluctant to carry the big stick, labeling me as a tourist that didn't know what he was doing. But then I realized that's what I am. Maybe with just a little edge over some people there.
We took the Zion bus up to the Temple of Sinawava where we had a short walk down a paved trail to get to the entry point for the Virgin River and the Narrows hike. We hopped right in like we had been there before. Crossing the water was awkward at first, walking on big rocks under rushing water and stumbling as we found the best method for walking.
We got the hang of walking in the current without falling. That's not to say there weren't a few close calls. I tried to get some unique foot shots in the water and I'm pretty happy with the results. We didn't see a whole lot of people heading in our direction, and we assumed most people started earlier. It was fun walking down the middle of a river.
The path had some areas where we walked on sandy, rocky shores, crossing smaller sections of the river to the next shore. It actually ended up being easier to just stay in the river most of the time. I became comfortable enough with that so walking on the shores just seemed annoying with the rocks.
We took a couple of short breaks for snacks and checked our map to see how far we had gone. It was hard to recognize landmarks back there. We encountered a couple of areas with really deep water that went above our waists so that was a little precarious. We came out with mostly dry packs though.
We got to the famous "Wall Street" section, named for the tall, narrow walls, and it was pretty awesome. It started to rain and we took cover under some rocks, laughing at the fact that we are walking in knee deep water but hiding from rain. Rain is not a good thing in a slot canyon though, considering it could cause flash floods, so we turned around at this point and walked back out. It was a long walk out, but the beautiful scenery helped. It was definitely a fun time and the most unique hike I've done.
When we got back to our campsite we changed into some dry clothes and then went to the hotel pool for a refreshing swim. Can't beat the view either. Unfortunately we couldn't do a lot of actual swimming with the guests and their kids all over. It was better than a shower, but we used the pool shower to rinse off after swimming.
I stopped to check out a brewery in town, but it was super touristy and expensive for samples so we didn't go there. We went back to camp and played Phase 10 for a while at the picnic table until it was too dark. Then we ate and watched Breaking Bad for a long time until we got into our tent for the night.
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