The cool water flowing over my feet and lover calves was sweet relief. Thank heavens for my trekking poles, without which it would have been a tortuously slow day. As it was, using the poles allowed me to make pretty good time in the river bed, although I struggled along the rocky dry areas.
Maybe I should clarify that I really am a slow hiker. Again, I do not have the brute strength ability to hike very fast, but I'm pretty good at figuring out where and when to cross over, and what areas will be the best for trudging up through.
The Narrows really is an amazing hike. The canyon slot walls rise steeply up from the river bed, allowing only a sliver of blue sky to peep through the crevice. Even during the hottest parts of the day, the canyon was cool and shady for the most part. Didn't even need the hat and sunglasses that I'd brought along.
One of the things I was so impressed with was the lack of trash. I didn't see any wrappers or bottle lying around, which made me very happy. Sometimes I get very enthusiastic, and pick up trash as I'm walking around, but those times seem less and less frequent. Must try harder when I get back.
The path is really easy to follow. You just follow the river up, and back. You'd have to try really hard to get lost, and even then I'm not sure you'd succeed. However, I did come across a couple redundant cairns, which made me laugh.
Many people passed me on the way up. However, most of them came back pretty quickly. One couple had decided that the rocks had become too slippery, and were off to find drier paths to tread. However, I forged on. I'd decided to reach the campsites before turning around. At least that would give me a definitive end point.
My amphib shoes were doing pretty well. A couple times I had to stop and empty the little rocks out of them. Couldn't imagine those who came in Tevas ... made me wince just to think of it. Saw some fish. Most smaller than the distance from the base of my palm to the tip of my middle finger, though I saw a few that were a bit longer. Wondering what their view of me would be, I took this picture.
In a couple of the places, the water was very deep. Most of the time I could extend my poles to their longest and use them to propell me across a lagoon, but there were a couple places that were so deep that I couldn't touch bottom at all. In some of the pools, the current made getting across very difficult. In one particular place, I tried three times before making it across, losing a bottle of sunscreen and a tube of lip stuff. They just floated out of the pocket of my pack, and couldn't get to them in time. So much for no trash. I hope some person finds them, and is able to use them.
Passed two side canyons on the way up. They looked pretty, but I was a woman with a mission, and wasn't to be detoured. Maybe on another trip. Also passed by a fern laced grotto that had two small waterfalls that reminded me of Hawaii. There wasn't a good place to stop and take a photo, so I trudged on. Thought about turning around, but the idea of not knowing exactly how far I'd come was so unappealing that I continued onward.
Around 1300, I ran into a boy scout troop on the way down from the top. Talked a few minutes with the leaders, who said that the campsites were just around the corner. What a relief! The first site marker I spotted was for campsite 12. I took a picture (aka: getting my t-shirt and kebab, per T Diddy) and turned around. Ran into the stragglers of the scpit troop, and we kept company for most of the way back. So it was that I had companions to help support and urge me onwards on the way back. At one point, one of the boys got a touch of hypothermia (with maybe a twinge of anxiety) after crossing one of the deep grottoes. We stopped to dry him off, rub him warm with hugs and warm packs, until he calmed down and stopped shivering.
Truth be told, I was relieved to have some company on the way back. It's one thing to hike up the river with the knowledge that someone would be along sooner or later. It's another thing to risk getting injured on the way down and be alone until the morning. So, it was nice to have company who, in case I turned an ankle, could help me down river, or at least alert park rangers.
Finally made it back to the Riverside trail by 1900. Sat down one last time to empty my shoes of the sand and pebbles that I'd let stow-away in my shoes in order to keep up with the group. As I trudged the one mile back to the shuttle stop, I wondered why they'd put the trailhead so far from the stop. And as I listened to the squish of water from my shoes, decided that maybe it had been intentional, to allow sodden hikers to dry out a bit before boarding the shuttle.
Once on the shuttle, I witnessed a tender reunion. A man and his son from North Carolina were discussing the hikes they'd done with some visitors from Florida. All of a sudden, the NC father looked at the hiking pole the Floridian daughter was holding, and asked where she'd gotten it. Apparently she'd found it at a shuttle stop the day before, had been using it yesterday and today, and was planning on leaving it at a trailhead to aid another. Apparently the NC had lost one just like the day before when his son had left it at a trailhead. And apparently, it was the NC's, even down to the duct tape at the top, just under the handle. And so, the forlorn trekking pole was reunited with its mate, ending a day and a half's lonely existence.
Back at the car, got changed and settled in for the long ride home. Stopped at the internet cafe in Springdale to post my biweekly Exponent II blog piece, which I'd neglected to do in the morning, eventhough I'd finished it Tuesday night. Also made a quick stop at Oscar's Cafe again, for a portobello muchroom burger that was just divine.
Drove through the night. Stopped a couple times for a short nap to stay revived. Made it back by 0500 on Friday morning. Glad to be back before traffic got nasty. Got my tired body showered and collapsed into bed. It was a fine birthday present to myself.
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