The Narrows & Orderville Canyon: Zion National Park

After hiking Observation Point in full sun we were ready for another water hike since the day was supposed to hit 96 degrees. The Narrows is a really famous hike in Zions, and we could definitely see that at the start of the hike. The trail starts out paved as we made our way down to the water. There are a collection of free walking sticks people have left behind if you feel so inclined. I started out with one; sometimes it was helpful, and sometimes it was more of a hindrance.

The hike starts out walking directly up the river. Then you criss cross the river to sand bars on either side as you go up.The water felt really nice on such a hot day. It may not look like it from these pictures, but The Narrows was SO crowded. There was just a steady stream of people coming down and going up. School groups, families, it felt like everyone and their sister was there.

We made our way up to where a side canyon joins up with The Narrows. it's called Orderville Canyon. We didn't really know what it was at the time and decided to explore and break away from the crowds. I'm SO glad we did. This ended up being one of my favorite hikes during the entire trip. There was way less people, and there were fun obstacles to overcome.

At this point I had to stop and clean out my socks and shoes. They were so full of little pebbles from walking up the river. The water in Orderville Canyon was much warmer, and less strong than in the Narrows.

                        

This Canyon was way less crowded, and the people that were in it, seemed more adventurous hikers. So we took our picture on a log and headed up the canyon.

We made our way to this large pool of water. Which finally didn't have a way of getting around it. We held our camelbacks above our head and swam through the pool.  We made our way through another large pool of water and were able to avoid getting wet before ending up at the area in the video below. Charles found that someone had carved out some hand and foot holes into the rock. With his long legs he popped right to the top. Meagan and I possibly needed a literal butt push to make it to the top. The video is us on the way back.

                                       

We then shortly made it to the picture above. This waterfall at the back of the picture was impassable without repelling gear, so we had to turn around. We did meet this really cool group of young men and their leader who was probably the best hiker I've ever seen. He helped us navigate some paths to prevent from getting our bags fully submerged.

On the way back Meagan and I finally jumped in the big pool of water together. It was a little frightening to think I might not jump far enough and hit rock, but when Meagan counted down I finally jumped.

I wish I had pulled my camera back out on the way back down The Narrows. There was almost no one around us and I finally got why people love The Narrows. It was just stunning. The height of the cliffs was so impressive, and with the sun coming down, it lit up areas and illuminated the canyon.

I can't recommend enough going up Orderville Canyon, and the group we met actually hiked it from the top down, which would be really fun. And definitely try to be in The Narrows in the early morning, or early evening when the big crowds are gone, it makes it all so much more magical.