A few months ago, a friend of mine posted a link to my Facebook and said, "Here ya go, little traveler." It was a link to an article about the Kanarra Creek Narrows, near Zion. I thought, "How have I never even heard of this??" and added it to my list of places to go.
This weekend, I had my chance; a few hours to hike before meeting up with my parents at Zion. It was just as beautiful as the pictures in the article.
You hike along a creek, then through the creek up a beautiful set of narrows. There is a sturdy ladder going up the first waterfall, which is much scarier going down than up. I had heard the water could be waist deep and brought a wetsuit, but everyone I ran into said it was only ankle deep. I felt like a dorky over-prepared hiker, but soon realized what was going on. Most people were turning around after the first set of narrows, not realizing there was a second set. This is where the water got deeper, and it was SO cold. I turned around at the third (and final) ladder, which was totally falling apart and didn't seem safe to climb when I was alone.
This was the perfect solo hike. Navigation was simple. The scenery was oh-so-Zion-y. It had just enough scrambling and obstacles to keep it interesting, but not enough to be scary since I was hiking alone. (Although, the other hikers I saw all seemed surprised/impressed that I was alone. So my idea of scary might be different from other people's.) I was overwhelmed with joy in this canyon, to the point where I had to stop and just sing and dance. (Katy Perry. Dark Horse. Gets me every time.)
I would highly recommend this hike to EVERYONE.
This weekend, I had my chance; a few hours to hike before meeting up with my parents at Zion. It was just as beautiful as the pictures in the article.
You hike along a creek, then through the creek up a beautiful set of narrows. There is a sturdy ladder going up the first waterfall, which is much scarier going down than up. I had heard the water could be waist deep and brought a wetsuit, but everyone I ran into said it was only ankle deep. I felt like a dorky over-prepared hiker, but soon realized what was going on. Most people were turning around after the first set of narrows, not realizing there was a second set. This is where the water got deeper, and it was SO cold. I turned around at the third (and final) ladder, which was totally falling apart and didn't seem safe to climb when I was alone.
This was the perfect solo hike. Navigation was simple. The scenery was oh-so-Zion-y. It had just enough scrambling and obstacles to keep it interesting, but not enough to be scary since I was hiking alone. (Although, the other hikers I saw all seemed surprised/impressed that I was alone. So my idea of scary might be different from other people's.) I was overwhelmed with joy in this canyon, to the point where I had to stop and just sing and dance. (Katy Perry. Dark Horse. Gets me every time.)
I would highly recommend this hike to EVERYONE.
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