Directions: Shuttle bus from visitor center to last stop, Temple of Shinawava trailhead
Trail Notes: Trail? What trail? You will be walking / wading / maybe swimming / climbing up the river

 Cameron and I had spent a week and a half road tripping through Utah. This was the second year in a row that we had made this our summer vacation. We just can't seem to get enough of the unique beauty and adventure you can find there. Being from Seattle, the hot dry desert is a welcome change.

The highlight of our trip, The Grand Finale, was a canyoneering trip down Orderville Gulch and through the Zion Narrows. Unfortunately, due to the record snow pack and three days of uncharacteristic thunderstorms, the Virgin River flow rate was higher than the allowable limit and the park service was not issuing the required backcountry pass we needed to make the hike down Orderville Gulch.

Luckily, the Ranger informed us that even though we could not have a backcountry pass to go down the canyon,  there was no restriction on how far we could go up canyon. So it was settled, we would see how far we could make it going upstream instead of down.

The Narrows is a classic slot canyon hike and one of the most popular hikes in Zion NP. If you don't mind the crowds at the beginning, you can continue as far up stream as you desire and find beauty and solitude.  Zion National park is not open to vehicles during peak months and this hike begins by catching the shuttle bus from any of the parking areas within the park. Ride the shuttle to the end of the line, The Temple of Shiniwava, and follow the paved trail to its ending at the river's edge. (Straight Canyon, Clear Creek Mountain and Temple of Sinawava are the USGS 7.5 minute topographical maps that show Zion Narrows.) Navigation for this adventure is easy, but there is no real trail. You will be walking and wading in a canyon bottom. This section of the river flows through a narrow, winding sandstone canyon with walls ranging in height to close to 1000 feet. Every bend in the river leads you to more beauty and excitement. Deeply sculpted sandstone walls, grottos and secluded beaches and pools.  Wading is the name of the game here and you spend much of the time in ankle to waist deep water, occasionally chest deep and, depending on the time of year, even short (10 to 20 foot+) swims. On this 80 degree plus day the river could not have been more refreshing. At 2.5 miles we turned off into Orderville Gulch, an even more narrow and deep side canyon. Did I mention that the canyon was more beautiful and exciting around every bend?

We climbed numerous waterfalls and bouldering problems as we proceeded up canyon. Some got a little sketchy and I was glad that I had brought along a 30m rope. Climbing up canyon was never too difficult, we were able to defeat most problems with a variety of boosts, shoulder stands or a couple of times even using the rope  lasso style to hook some feature above and use the rope to climb up. We followed this routine up 17 waterfalls/boulder piles until the GPS said that we had traveled 6 miles. It was at this point that we ran into an insurmountable waterfall. I guess that means lunch and our turnaround spot. We backtracked to a nice beach beside a pool and ate followed by a nice swim.  On the way back down, the rope  was even more useful to lower Cameron, then loop  it around a stable boulder or log and use it to climb down the often wet and slippery sandstone. We finally made it back to the shuttle bus at 6pm, ten and a half hours after we had left the parking lot. What a day! Even though it was not what we had planned, I highly recommend it.