Day 77, Take me to the river, walk me in the water

Today, we got up early with the plan of making it into the park before the lots were filled. We got there about 7:30 and were successful.

We had plans for the day to walk part of The Narrows, have lunch and then ride our bikes along the bike path and maybe out to where the shuttles go. Cars aren't allowed on the road, but bikes are.

This is Zion and Zion has been the most crowded of the five Utah parks we've visited.

We need to rent water shoes, neoprene socks, waterproof pants and walking sticks to navigate The Narrows. Zion Outfitters is right outside the park entrance. This took at least 20 minutes. Just a note: If you plan to go, you can reserve online and pick up your gear between 4 and 8 the day before.

Coffee in the Lynch house/RV is a process and since we wanted to get out before sun up, we needed to find coffee and breakfast. Perks is close to the entrance so that was easy.

We went through the park entrance for the second time and started to change into our river hiking gear. By this time it was 8:30 and cars were circling and asking if we were leaving. I guess it's better to ask than miss a space. When I went to put on my pants, there was a hole that wasn't going to keep me dry. So, we walked back out the park to the outfitters to exchange the pants. 

By the time we turned around to go back in, there was a long line of people. And, by the time we were suited up, there was a long line for the shuttle.

Nevertheless, we got to The Narrows and started the journey. It is very beautiful and our great kept us mostly dry (feet do get wet). But walking in the river, navigate the stones and the current can be exhausting.

After a mile, which took over an hour with stopping to look up and enjoy the scenery

I was ready to turn around but the trail is still another three miles and Denis wanted to do more. I found a rock on a sandbar and he went off and came back about an hour later. 

We finished the Narrows hike and the one mile  Riverside Walk back to the shuttle. By then it was nearly 2:30 and we were famished. But on our way out, we got off the shuttle at the Big Bend stop. Zion Park has a small population of California condors and this is a spot that they are best seen. So we took the opportunity to check it out. We were able to see two adult condors and a juvenile. We were told by a volunteer that there is a population of about 15 in the park. We learned a little bit about condors and condor conservation. Definitely worth the time.

We got back to the car, changed our clothes, left the park, and returned the gear to the outfitters. There are just a bunch of boxes that you sort your gear into. There was no check-in process. I thought that was a little bit interesting but one of the people there said that they find that most all  people have no use for river walking equipment and are more than happy to return it at the end of the day.

We still haven't had lunch and it was now about 4:00. The Zion Brewery is on the other side of the park entrance. I'm guessing you know what we did. The interesting thing is the brewery is two separate areas. One area has a license to serve only beer. The other side has a license to serve food and, as long as you're having food, you may also have beer. They had a 30-minute wait but we decided to have a beer on the other side. If you do that, you need to finish your beer purchased on the beer side before going to the food side. You may not carry your beer across into the other side. Crazy huh? The beer was good and we enjoyed sitting on the patio. We had a lovely bison meatloaf lunch/dinner. 

When we finally got it back into the park and to our car it was about 5:30 and, surprise, there were plenty of parking spaces.

We got back to our campsite in time to set up our chairs and watch the sunset over the mountains for one last time. Tomorrow, we head to Las Vegas (only because it's on the way home) and then two stops in California before arriving home.