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| Following the chains up the ledge trail | The Hidden Canyon |
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Wild Turkeys on the trail |
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We decided to look for a morning hike on the shady side of the canyon and found Hidden Canyon trail. We shuttled up to the Weeping Wall stop and began our way up the Hidden Canyon trail. This trail began to climb pretty quickly and turned steep and narrow after a mile or so. When I saw the chains I knew the trail was going to be a bit more challenging. We had several sections of bare ledges with chains before coming out onto a small rocky area at the head of the Hidden Canyon, aptly named, We hung out briefly and headed back down the ledge system to the real trail where we ran into a family of wild turkeys.
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| Following the chains up the ledge trail | The Hidden Canyon |
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Wild Turkeys on the trail |
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We took the shuttle up to the final stop and the beginning of the Riverwalk trail, the gateway to the Narrows. We hiked up the paved trail with a huge crowd of other strollers and after a mile came to the end of the trail and the start of the river. The river was pretty crowded too but we decided to at least start up river so we removed socks, readied hiking poles and waded in.
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| Catherine heading up river | A rare site - Tim in a river without a fly rod |
Luckily the further we went up river the lighter the crowds got and finally after a few miles we were pretty much on our own or with a few other fast hikers. We arrived at the first side canyon with was our planned turn-around point but were encouraged to go further up river by a family heading back out. We kept going another 1/2 to 3/4 mile and got to the Narrows proper, the river was about 25' wide with cliffs on both sides. We found a good lunch spot and watched as backpackers waded by on their way downstream after a night of camping above. We headed back out, working our way downstream and back out of the river.
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| Getting narrower | The real Narrows |
We arrived at camp to find our awning looking a bit odd and upon closer examination found it had been ripped by the wind off the side of the van. I spent the next hour disassembling the awning so the van was drivable again. For the rest of the trip we stowed the awning in the back when moving and under the van when camping.
Later in the evening we hiked the Pa'rus trail following the river from the campground to the new museum site under the Towers of the Virgin. There we caught the shuttle into town where we stopped at the Bit 'n Spur for excellent southwestern food.
On to Day 5...
...Back to Day 3
