[You may view a map of Zion National Park in PDF format.]

We got up a little earlier than usual and I had my usual breakfast. Then I downselected images from last night. We ran the generator for about half an hour after the inverter started complaining about low voltage, and I had to jump our house batteries using the coach battery to get the generator started. :( Our friend RB stopped by around 9:55, and we (J and I) left in the Jeep and RB left in his truck around 10:00.

We stopped at the Zion Lodge so I could drop off something to mail.

We reached the trailhead for The Narrows at the head of the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive and met up with RB. J and I put on our new hip waders, courtesy of Ken and Chris Day, for the first time. (You may read more about the hip waders on the blog entry for September 13, 2009.) My left foot felt tight in the hip waders, but I didn't think too much of it.

We started hiking down the Riverside Walk trail which stays on dry ground and leads to the North Fork of the Virgin River where The Narrows trail starts, and is basically the river. J and I each picked up a communal hiking stick when we reached the river, then we started heading upstream. The water was mostly ankle to mid-calf deep, but occasionally it got up above my knees. Let me tell you, hiking upstream through fast-moving mid-calf-deep water is tiring!

The image to the left shows how the river flows right up against the steep canyon walls. Usually there is a strip of sandy beach on the opposite side of the canyon, but in several long straight sections, the river covers then entire canyon floor.

Our informal destination was the Orderville Canyon, but we had only reached the beginning of The Narrows by about 2:15 so we turned around and headed back. It was so much easier walking downstream through the water! Well, it would have been really nice except for that tight fit on my left foot. My left toe had been rubbing the top/front of the boot the whole way upstream, and I couldn't take it anymore. So, on one of the sandy beaches, I sat down on a rock and took off the pair of mid-weight wool socks that I had been wearing between my Gobi sock liners and a pair of heavy-weight wool socks. That gave my feet some extra room, but it also reduced the padding and insulation, so my feet took more of a beating and tended to get cold if I stayed in the water too long.

One of my favorite images, even as I was taking it, was of a cluster of rocks up against the wall of the canyon (left). I just love the way the bright rock in the upper right mirrors the bright water in the lower left, almost like a yin-yang of solid and liquid.
After getting back on the Riverside Walk, we stopped to photograph a small waterfall and some cascades, and I captured a fantastic image (left). I love the juxtaposition of the moving water against the solid rocks in the river, and the diagonal line of the water joins an opposing diagonal line of the yellow trees.

We returned to the trailhead around 6:10 and we were pooped from the long day of hiking and photographing. It felt really good to sit down in the Jeep when we left around 6:30.

We returned to the RV around 6:55, and it wasn't very pleasant to get out of the Jeep because we were so sore. I downloaded the images I took then showered while J started dinner. My left foot was killing me from wearing the tight boot on the hike. I took over watching the pots while J took a shower. RB came over around 7:30 to join us for dinner.

We had dinner around 7:40 of pasta, with a veggie-tomato sauce, and broccoli in a queso sauce. The food and conversation was good, and I enjoyed the Alsakan Amber that RB brought. I like his taste in beers!

RB left around 9:10 then I did the dishes. I processed four images for the blog before going to bed.