Zion was a surprise! It was so dramatic to see the mountains and steep canyons rise up and tower above us!
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The steep cliffs, narrow canyons and wild weather made this national park quite the adventure. When we first arrived, we noticed there was an extra $15 folks had to pay for an “escort”. We didn’t know what that meant (we didn’t have to pay it, but the RV in front of us did). When we saw the tunnels!
The Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel connects Zion Canyon to the east side of the part, and it was built 100 years ago when vehicles were much smaller! This means that large vehicles need an “escort”, which means they stop traffic in one direction and allow you to go through, using the entire tunnel. You do get two trips per paid escort, though.
They had daily programs nearly every other hour, and most of them were so interesting! The one that really caught my attention wasn’t a program, though. it was all the shoes people were wearing. They were all the same!
I could not figure out why everyone had the exact same red (sometimes green, but same exact style) on. I mean, I really shouldn’t be bothered looking and people’s shoes when we’re at such a spectacular national park, right?
Well, I couldn’t help it.
And good thing, too! I learned all about hiking “The Narrows”.
The Narrows are 16 miles of 2000′ deep, and at times only 20 feet wide, canyon trail that has soaring walls, sandstone grottos, natural springs, and hanging gardens that you can opt to hike! The only thing is, summertime is prime monsoon weather, and flash floods come up with little to no warning. More than half of the hike is spend swimming or wading in a cold, swift current river, so don’t expect a maintained trail to follow. And that’s what the shoes are for!
We got back in the car (no, we didn’t hike it – we had a 6 year old with us, and they don’t allow kids on the trail)… and headed out for our next stop.
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