On Friday, we loaded up the bikes on Ken & Bonnie's CRV and headed back into Zion. There were two lines of cars going into the park and Ken asked Chuck which line he thought we should choose. Chuck told him it really didn't matter because since we (Chuck and I) were in the car, whichever line he chose would take the longest. Ken chose the slightly shorter line to the right and just like Chuck had predicted, that line ended up taking forever. The truck that was at the entrance must have been buying something pretty special because they kept passing papers back and forth for him to sign while we watched car after car after car speed right on through the left line. We were laughing so hard we were nearly crying! :)
Well, all the waiting in line must have played to our favor because we found a parking spot fairly easily, unloaded the bikes, and were able to get on a shuttle almost immediately! Because the shuttles could only carry three bikes at a time, Chuck and I caught the first shuttle and Ken & Bonnie caught the next one.
We got off at the last stop at the back of the canyon, unloaded the bikes, locked them up, and then walked the paved Riverside Walk back to the entrance of the Narrows.
There were a lot of families with young kids on the trails and even some of the little kids had their own hiking sticks. :)
The Riverside Walk takes you beside the tall canyon walls.
One of the beautiful aspects of Zion is all the green plants and trees like these that grow along streams of water weeping out of the walls.
We walked all the way to the entrance to the Narrows. The water in the river was lower than when Chuck and I had walked this trail in 2013 and we could see further back into the Narrows.
The Narrows goes back for several miles and involves crossing the river and wading through the river for much of the trail. It is definitely something we would like to try the next time we are at Zion particularly if the weather is warm. There are outfitters where you can rent shoes and poles that make it easier walking through the river. They even rent wetsuits for when the weather and water temperatures are cooler.
After watching people heading up into the Narrows for a few minutes, we turned around and headed back out of the canyon.
Notice all the lushness of all the green trees and plants along the river.
When we got back to the shuttle stop, we unlocked our bikes and began riding back down the canyon.
This bike ride is probably one my favorite bike rides we have ever done because there was no car traffic to contend with, there was a gradual descent except for one small part on the way back, and the views were AWESOME!!!!!
We stopped at a pull-off when we got closer to Angels Landing.
We could see people who had hiked way up to the top. Ken took this picture of people sitting at the top of Angels Landing...where we are headed tomorrow!
We continued making our way down the road pulling off occasionally when a shuttle would be passing by or to just pause for a few minutes and say...WOW!!!!
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| The "White Throne" |
Some storm clouds were starting to build off in the distance and we even heard some thunder.
We took one more look at Angels Landing...
...and then began peddling a little faster back out of the canyon.
When we reached Canyon Junction, we got on the Pa'rus Trail back to the parking lot.
The thunder started getting louder and closer and we began to feel a few sprinkles so we began peddling even faster which was kind of a shame because the trail was very nice with lots of bridges and beautiful views. We would have biked it much slower had the storm not been approaching.
We got back to the parking lot and the guys got the bikes loaded onto the bike rack just in time because when they jumped in the car, it really started raining. When we drove around the Watchmen Campground looking for a shelter where we might eat our picnic lunch, it started hailing too! Ken found a place to pull off under a tree that protected us from the hail a little better. Fortunately, the hail was not "car-damage" size.
We ended up eating our picnic lunch in the car while watching the rain and hail fall around us. Boy, we made it back just in time!!!
As we drove out of Zion, the rain stopped and when we got back to the campground in Hurricane, it appeared it had not even rained here. Some friends of Ken and Bonnie's, Allen and his son Jackson, met us at the campground and we enjoyed a grilled dinner together outside. They brought a favorite local dessert, Swig cookies, that were so delicious plus we had made some homemade orange-pineapple sherbet.
Tomorrow, we take off on the biggest hiking challenge any of us has ever experienced: Angels Landing!!!
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