The hike to Hidden Canyon was strikingly similar to the my trip to Angel's Landing the day prior. A series of long, steep switchbacks up a cliff wall leading to a plateau where the trail continued on to Hidden Canyon. But, the last portion of the trail was unique in its own right. The trail became a well worn path along the sandstone jutting out into the valley below with about 3ft within which to maneuver and 300ft drops to one side. Successfully traversed, I made it to the entrance to Hidden Canyon after about a 45 minute climb.
Hidden Canyon is essentially a chasm between two portions of mountain that goes back into the mountains before climbing out into the middle of the range. The canyon is 10-20ft wide at most - at least for the portion I hiked. The path is a dry riverbed, with sheer 100ft walls to either side, that I followed for about a mile until I came to an arch carved out of the rock by wind and water that I used as shelter from the drizzling rain while I ate lunch. Making it back to the entrance of the Canyon, I was treated to fantastic view of Angel's Landing where I'd climbed the day before.
Next, I retraced my steps about halfway down the mountain to find a trail that split off in the other direction toward Echo Canyon. About a half hour later, I came to the a place where the trail widened to about 100ft and a rock outcropping curled over the top of the trail. This was Echo Canyon with its red-rock tunnel of a canyon. It wasn't as big as the other canyons I'd found, but impressive in it's own right for the way the rock 'roof' balanced atop the trail and the picturesque variety of colors of red and white rock all around. After a while, I headed back down to the shuttle stop to catch a ride to the end of the paved are of Zion National Park where The Narrows began.
The full Narrows trail is about 16 miles long and you start from the opposite end of where I was, camping overnight along the way. Still getting my hiking feet in shape, I opted for a day trip. I began at the end, were the Virgin River enters the main portion of Zion National Park. The Narrows gets its namesake as the canyon surrounding the river narrows to 4-10ft in many places and you have to wade through the river to get through. The same is true even in the wider sections of The Narrows where patches of land are separated by long stretches of water that was snow not so long ago. I found myself immediately initiated into this with my first step on the trail right into the river.
My first ten steps into the water were the last ten my feet remember as the freezing water quickly cut off all feeling. I later found out that the water temperature was a toasty 57F...yikes! I alternated between trekking over land and through chilly river waters as I made my way around the first bend. Here, I
came upon the first section of the trail where there was no land to be found and water was the only way forward. Halfway to the next piece of land, the riverbed dropped 5ft and just my head was above the hypothermia-inducing waters. I continued on with the land and water trek taking in the array of astounding natural beauty of the canyon around me.
Along the way I periodically came across other hikers (most heading south to complete their multi-day hikes) and we acknowledged each other with a simple head nod almost so as not to disturb the peace, quiet and beauty surrounding us. The chill in my body faded away as each bend of the canyon revealed yet another awe-inspiring scene. It was the exclamation point to my time spent at Zion and the first leg of my trip. It also reminded me that while I'm eager to see new lands throughout this trip, there are still plenty of treasures right in my own backyard that await my return.
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