explore utah: part 2

As much as we loved Bryce Canyon, our second day is our absolute favorite from the trip. We drove to Zion National Park and spent the day hiking The Narrows.

We fell in love with Zion as soon as we entered the East Gate of the park. It's stunning. So majestic. Absolutely impossible to capture with a camera.

 We were in a bit of a hurry to start our hike, so I had to snap photos out the window of the car while we drove through the park. We really wished we would've scheduled a second day in Zion so we could soak up more of the sights and hike some of the other trails (like Angel's Landing).

Note to self: 2 days in Zion. Done.

But, the main event for us was The Narrows, so we headed straight there! Aaaaand we promptly tried to land a spot as extras for Star Trek.

Sweet outfits!

Not really. We actually rented dry suits, since the water was a balmy 47* while we were there. We were surprised by how comfortable we stayed inside those suits, even after 6 hours in the river. If you're a freeze baby like me, or are planning on hiking far into the canyon we definitely recommend the dry suits! We rented them from Zion Adventure Co, and they were worth every penny.

Here we are - the gateway to the Narrows. Ready or not, this adventure is about to begin! The whole hike happens inside a canyon that ranges from 4-22 feet wide. The entire floor of the canyon is the Virgin River, so in order to explore the canyon you've got to be ready to get wet.

 Ten minutes past the gateway there's a pool that came up over my waist, and it stretches from wall to wall. That's the point where you've got to be ready to commit!

This picture of Nick is actually a little further into the hike. The water is anywhere from ankle to neck deep, and the riverbed is entirely made up of rocks. The cliffs stretch 1,500 feet above your head. It's incredible.

We hiked past Orderville Canyon, through Wall Street and ended up somewhere around Sipping Turtle (we think - there are no signs in the canyon!). Not sure why all the parks have their own version of Wall Street, but once again it was a really stunning portion of the hike.

 Once we passed Orderville the hike got much harder. The water was deeper (typically well above the knees), the current was faster and there was no shoreline to rest on. The majority of the hikers turned around at Orderville, but our favorite parts of the day were past Orderville.

There are several very deep pools after Wall Street, which I loved. I mean, seriously, what an experience.

Eventually the setting sun chased us out of the canyon and we turned around to start the trek back. The last mile or so was tough. We were in the water for 6 hours and only stopped once for a snack break. Turns out that's a lot of hiking in a river. We wish we would've started a little earlier in the day to give ourselves more time (and possibly have gone a little further up river!). But in the end we had no regrets - this was such an amazing day.

By the time we got out the sun was dipping below the cliffs, bringing out their true colors.

Zion was truly stunning and awe inspiring. Someday we'd love to go back and explore more of it!