Navigating the Narrows

Got up @ 6:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, laced up my hiking boots and drove off w/the hub to meet w/some SunRiver friends to embark on a hike up the Narrows in Zion. Once we arrived in Zion we took a 35 min. shuttle ride that dropped us off @ what is known as the bottom, or end of the Narrows. We hiked up approx. 1 mile before we stepped into the Virgin River and began our trek up through rushing water, sometimes waste deep .....and maneuvering over every size of rock you can find. From pebbles to mammoth size boulders upon which you could look up 100's of feet of wall on both sides and imagine where it had resided before it split off and fell into the river. They don't call it the Narrows for nothing. You walk through a 'narrow' passage up river surrounded by walls of stone. From deep red, to some that looked almost zebra like with colors of black and brown, the array of color was almost mesmerizing. It was hard to keep from constantly looking up, but I had to be careful while I navigated along the river, thankful that I had hiking poles to help steady my stride. Not everyone enjoys this type of hiking, so to be among peeps who loved it as much as me made it even more thrilling along w/building a sense of camaraderie. It took us over three hours to hike approx. 3 miles up river. We trekked along for some time in the area that is called "Wall Street". The river becomes even more narrow and the walls of rock began to close in even more. Small pockets of light were able to make there way down into the water, making the contrast of colors even more brilliant. We had w/us two men, Walter & Larry, that I would consider quite knowledgeable when it comes to photography. Each carried a large tripod over their back and w/the other hand a pole to help steady them. They took some great pics, I hope they don't mind that I share some of them :) We reached an area w/a nice bank of rocks and stopped to have a snack. We could have stopped there, but I'm telling you....you look up river and you want to keep going further to discover whats around the next bend. Funny story....(always), as we were making our way back down we came across a man in a speedo....why is it that men who have NO BUSINESS wearing a speedo do so anyways. You try not to look...but you just can't help yourself! I thought to myself AYKM....our friend Don mumbled..."He's a European." I'm sure he was....he can take his speedo and hike back to his country....speedos should only be worn by Mark Spitz!! We ended our trip w/dinner (late lunch) @ our favorite place outside of Zion "Oscar's Cafe." Only today have I gotten to last weeks laundry. My utility room floor is gritty w/the sand that came out of our clothes and socks. Anymore and we could have ourselves our own private beach :)