In Zion: The Narrows!

Friday, 8/31

At the beginning of a wet-footed hike in majestic surroundings--The Narrows

"The Narrows" is an iconic Zion hike....you are hiking in/around/through the Virgin River in the upper reaches of the Zion Canyon.  It is 16 miles long all together, and as narrow as 20-30 feet wide in some spots.  About 3/4ths of our time was spent wading and walking in the river...the water was not too cold, but the current was quite strong and the rocks were slippery; we kept ourselves upright only with superior balance, cat-like grace and the judicious use of our wooden walking sticks.  It was actually a lot of fun.

The water was often much deeper than this

We got an early-ish start (around 8:30am), which landed us at the trailhead at almost the same time as a big group of noisy teenagers.  We let them pass us to avoid the worst of the shrieking and screaming.  And then we hiked through the water, which was almost as high as my legs are long, in some spots.  The canyon is high and majestic and beautiful, even as overcast as it was for the majority of our hike.  We were told more than once that the biggest danger in a flash flood would not be from the mass of the rushing water itself, but rather from all the rocks (and boulders!!) that are swept along with it.  Supposedly 1 million TONS of debris are moved by that unassuming river annually, and mostly during about 21 days of higher water per year.  We were constantly on the lookout for easy access to higher ground along the way in case we could hear a wall of water/debris in the distance (there was a moderate chance of flash flooding today and we were taking it seriously).  

We had to be constantly on the lookout for the best footing (note cat-like grace)

Nils in Orderville Canyon, where the water was much shallower

Teensy Nils in the enormous Canyon....it was awe-inspiring

We made it as far as Orderville Canyon (about 1-1/2 hours to go ~4 miles total) and then turned around to come back.  Now, I have to spend a little time talking about Orderville, which is a town that we passed through between Bryce and here and from which Orderville Canyon gets its name.  It was the epitome of Mormon ideals in the 1870s and 1880s and based on a revelation of founder Joseph Smith, which he called the United Order of Enoch.  Essentially, it was Utopian Christian Communism.  To live in Orderville, families had to agree to pool ALL of their resources (down to their pots and pans and furniture) and to work for the common good--in return for which they received housing, furniture, clothing and food for the rest of their lives.  There were three communal meals per day for the whole town (called to the dining hall by a trumpeter) before which they would pray, sing a hymn, and then eat together.   The town was self-sufficient (except for guns and ammunition and some machinery); they tanned their own leather, sheared their sheep and carded and spun the wool (and then wove it into cloth), grew their own cotton and made cloth out of it too.  They grew their own fruits and vegetables and wheat and corn, had herds of cows and pigs and sheep,  mills to grind the grain and sawmills to cut the wood for furniture.  There were men and women who sewed everyone's clothing, braided the wheat straw for the hats, who cooked and served the big meals and baked the bread in the communal ovens.  There were quite a few polygamous families (the town elders and leaders were all "polygs") and everyone seemed to get along.  Outside pressures, however, proved to be too difficult for the young people, especially, to ignore.  They all wanted the fancy clothes of their neighbors, to fit in and not be ridiculed.  And surrounding "Gentile" towns sent in the law to rout out the polygamists.  So gradually, Orderville became a normal-ish town. We stopped there on Wednesday (it still exists!), to buy a few groceries and to check out a little "Antique" store on the main street.  I asked the owner if Mormons still lived here. He said yes and stated that even though he himself was a Mormon, the larger community did not really accept him because he was not a tithing (giving 10% of his income to the church), regular Church-goer.   So the conservative, older ways persist.  

As we came back on the shuttle bus to our campsite, it sprinkled briefly---our timing was perfect.  The rest of the afternoon we just relaxed.  Planning to stay for one more day and then leave for the Grand Canyon on Sunday morning.    

Oh, and FYI:  It's still the case that about 80% of our fellow Zion-istas are from ze Vaterland (i.e. German).  Unglaublich!