Okey dokey.  Let’s just get right into our final day in Zion.  When I last left you all, I told you we were going to get up early to get a head start on our day and to avoid standing in line for an hour to catch the shuttle.  Since you’re all just dying to know if it worked, I’ll tell you.  No.  No it did not work.  First off, the Springdale shuttle doesn’t begin running until 7 and the park shuttle starts at 6.  Right from the get-go things aren’t meshing.  So, we started off walking to the visitor’s center at 6 and got there at 6:20.  The line today was 1/3rd as long as it was yesterday but it still took us just over an hour to board.  For the first hour the park shuttles only pickup very 15 minutes.  To us, this was inefficient and created a logjam of folks at the entrance that takes hours to work through.  Maybe the rationale is to spread people out in the park a bit or maybe they’re just dumb.  I’m not sure which.  At any rate, we boarded and set off for the Temple of Sinawava.  People on the bus seemed to be heading to one of 3 stops.  The Lodge, The Grotto (home of Angel’s Landing), and ours, which was the very last stop.  Finally, just after 8, 2 hours since leaving our room, we were ready.

At the shuttle stop we donned our river shoes and began the Riverside Walk heading to the Narrows.  This is technically a trail, though it is paved and really easy.  There were a few uphills and downhills, but mostly it was relatively flat.  The mile walk got us going and soon enough the path ended and there were stairs down to the Virgin River.  The Narrows hike is a walk mostly through the river into a slot canyon.  In Fact, it is often noted to be one of the best slot canyon hikes in the worlds.  And for us, this is where the fun began.  From almost the first steps, there was no avoiding walking in the river.  Those first steps, I’m sure we all resembled Bambi learning how to walk.  The shoes took a bit of getting used to, but boy were they awesome.  The neoprene socks allowed for our feet to warm the water in the shoes a bit making it a bit more comfortable and the ankle support was key.  We all agreed that had we attempted this in tennis shoes, we would not have gone as far or had as good of a time.  Plus, somebody would have fallen or tweaked an ankle.  Since we got a fairly early start the river wasn’t all that crowded and the further in we went the less crowded it became.  At times, it felt as if we were the only people hiking the Narrows.  We hiked two hours up the river until we came to a fork.  We went left a bit and turned around.  As it were, this is the turnaround point for most.  Those two hours in were blissful.  The air was cool as the sun only shines in the canyon when it is directly overhead.  The girls had a blast deciding what routes to take, plunging in chest deep, and laughing.  Just laughing.  Everyone had a smile on their faces.  Since it’s not a loop trail, we did have to head back downstream to get out.  It took us about 1.5 hours to get out as we weren’t fighting a current.  The closer we got back to the beginning the more and more crowded it became.  Thus proving, that getting an early start is critical.

Still grinning from our walk, and now in our dry shoes, we headed to the Lodge for smoothies and a bit of souvenir shopping.  That done, it was back to the shuttle for one last ride to the visitor’s center.  We returned our river supplies, still patting ourselves on the back for having rented it, and shuttled back to the hotel.  We all had a snack and while the girls rested a bit, the boss and I headed to Sol’s Market to stock up on some provisions for our days in Bryce.  We spent some time at the pool cooling off a bit, then showered, and went back to Oscar’s for dinner.  And just like that, our time in Zion came to an end.

A few takeaways.  When here in the summer, you must start early and break midday.  It’s friggin’ hot here.  Also, even if the line for the shuttle is long, the park itself will still feel uncrowded.  Fill up your water bottle lots.  That way, you know you’re staying hydrated, ’cause as stated-it’s friggin’ hot here.  Make sure to build in some downtime.  You probably won’t be able to get to it all, and that’s ok.  I didn’t make it to Angel’s Landing and that’s fine.  The memories I have of hiking the Narrows and seeing my kids smile and hearing them laugh while proclaiming this the best hike of their lives more than made up for it.  I’ll look at a picture of the Landing and that’ll be good.  But when I look at a picture of the Narrows, I’ll hear their laughter.  Now-off to Bryce!!!