Flashback Friday!
First, I know Zion is in Utah, but for the most part, I was living out of my car in Nevada, so that's what I refer to events in my life as while I was in the conservation corps out there.
The weekend before fourth of July, my crew from Great Basin NP met another crew that was employed by the forest service in Ely, Nevada at a Redneck Bathtub Boat Racing Festival at Cave Lake State Park. The Ely crew invited us to go backpacking with them in Zion over fourth of July weekend, three from the Ely crew, and three from my crew went.
The next weekend we met the other crew out there and they, along with one from my crew went backpacking while (let's call her Amy) and I hung out separately around the park because our job was hard labor in the mountains for 10 hours a day and we wanted a break.
Saturday I explored and found just how beautiful the park was. Around 2ish I was about to bite into this giant burger I got from the lodge cafe on some nice soft grass when I got a text from Amy. Essentially, the other people were backpacking up the 7-mile trail to the campsite Saturday and then going the rest of the three miles the next day and Amy was like hey why don't we just go up the three miles to meet them at the campsite, I agreed three miles seemed reasonable. I wrapped the rest of my burger in a bandanna and headed to meet up with Amy.
We packed enough supplies for one night and decided to cowboy camp it, leaving our tents in the car. Amy and I thought we were prepared for a nice quick hike, except that we accidentally went five miles instead of three. The biting flies were horrendous, and I had never seen cheerful, happy Amy so pissed off when she was at these flies. We were on the trail for probably the first mile, but then we saw the first backpacking campsite that was not on the trail but a little ways off. We, having difficulty following the trail and not knowing that the campsite wasn't actually on the trail walked straight up an old dried up riverbed, hauling ourselves over boulders, and desperately following the footprints of some unfortunate souls who had apparently made the same mistake. It was a hard hike/climb with our packs in the unrelenting heat of 5pm.
At one point I hear the rattle of a snake ahead where Amy is and her scream "SHIT!" Followed by the sound of her scrambling away and she called back to me "don't come here there's a rattlesnake!" I then proceeded to go exactly where the rattlesnake was and she screamed at me to move, she could see it under a rock. I hastily hauled myself up the side of the gully to get away, acquiring many more impressive scratches and bruises in the process.
Eventually, the canyon walls got higher and we decided it might be best to find a way out. The footprints agreed and led us to a spot where we could climb up the wall without too much difficulty. Once on top of the canyon, the view was amazing, we also saw some people on the opposite canyon wall and together we screamed "MARCO!" They replied with POLO echoing across the canyon. We yelled that we were lost, and they replied that they had found the trail, apparently they were the footprints we had been following. We hurried up to the next empty backpacking campsite to meet up with one from their group who showed us where we needed to go.
We finally made it to the campsite as everyone else was settling down to boil water on a tiny camp stove for instant Spanish rice and ramen. we sat in a circle and talked, I pulled out my giant hamburger to finally chow down and everyone looked at me with envy. As if I had a comical gag bag they asked if I had more when I did not. The angry jerk (as I later learned) of the Ely crew pulled out a board game from his pack called 'Who's Hitler?' It was actually more fun than it sounds. It was essentially Mafia or Werewolf, but with more strategy and less random lynching...And with slightly more Hitler.
As the sun started to set, we sat on some boulders along a canyon wall and watched the breathtaking colors of the earth be illuminated one last time as the stars slowly came out. Someone on the Ely crew pulled out an Orange Fanta bottle filled with an odd brownish liquid. They passed it around all taking a sip and when it came to me I remember thinking wow this is really weird ice tea. Then I took my sip and thought wow, this is not ice tea. That was the first time I tried fireball whiskey. We each had just a bit before it was gone, and we each found a spot to fall asleep on the warm desert ground, wrapped in our blankets under the bright stars.
I slowly opened my eyes the next morning, for once enjoying the cool, peace and quiet of the desert instead of struggling in the sweltering heat. I heard the loud helicopter sound of a humming bird nearby who came into sight, hovered over the girl from the Ely crew, Dylan, for a moment and flew away. I had seen a lot of humming birds out here, often in the morning or when I was board they'd show up and I'd wander off after them, always leading me to something interesting. After it flew off, the girl woke up and I said, "Hey you just had a hummingbird above your head." She replied, "really? I had always wondered if they were my spirit animal." This struck a chord with me, and I tucked it away for later.
The rest of the camp was starting to get up now and roll up their bed mats. I reached in my pack to find my breakfast and the other guy from the Ely crew gave me a warning glare and said, "I swear if you pull out a fucking breakfast burrito..." I pulled out a small packet of oatmeal before he finished the sentence and he nodded before looking away.
I laughed internally.
We all hiked down the correct trail that Amy and I were supposed to originally go up, and I have to say, it was a great trail! beautiful views, less biting flies, no rattlesnakes, and an actual trail. We got back to the cars then headed to the tourist town of Zion for coffee and a real breakfast. The same group headed off to go on another longer backpacking trip, and Amy and I did our own thing. She hung out in the tourist town, and I went to go hike the Narrows.
The Narrows are a narrow canyon bottom carved by the Virgin River. It was insanely crowded and I wanted to make it at least as far up as it would take to leave the large crowds behind. It was absolutely thrilling, and the water reminded me of my home in Michigan which I sorely missed.
The park had made some money renting out weird socks, special hiking shoes and walking sticks to people to help them navigate the river. I had plenty of confidence, using my Merrell Minimalist shoes in place of water shoes, and my whole childhood of experience wading up rocky rivers. It was some of the most fun I had had out west, and it reminded me of the lower Tahquamenon Falls and Pictured Rocks back home.
I laughed to myself at the pleasure of feeling cool water on a hot day once again, and at everyone else who was out of their element when I for once felt at home. Big strong guys with their shirts off complained that it was like walking on
bowling balls before falling in as I confidently strode by them. Seeing this an older guy with biker tattoos nodded at me as I went passed and I felt like a badass.
The Narrows was one of the most beautiful places that I had the pleasure of visiting out west, and I hope that I will get back to explore again someday. I think in all I spent about four hours in the Narrows, and still it seemed to short a time before I had to march back.
The weekend before fourth of July, my crew from Great Basin NP met another crew that was employed by the forest service in Ely, Nevada at a Redneck Bathtub Boat Racing Festival at Cave Lake State Park. The Ely crew invited us to go backpacking with them in Zion over fourth of July weekend, three from the Ely crew, and three from my crew went.
The next weekend we met the other crew out there and they, along with one from my crew went backpacking while (let's call her Amy) and I hung out separately around the park because our job was hard labor in the mountains for 10 hours a day and we wanted a break.
Saturday I explored and found just how beautiful the park was. Around 2ish I was about to bite into this giant burger I got from the lodge cafe on some nice soft grass when I got a text from Amy. Essentially, the other people were backpacking up the 7-mile trail to the campsite Saturday and then going the rest of the three miles the next day and Amy was like hey why don't we just go up the three miles to meet them at the campsite, I agreed three miles seemed reasonable. I wrapped the rest of my burger in a bandanna and headed to meet up with Amy.
We packed enough supplies for one night and decided to cowboy camp it, leaving our tents in the car. Amy and I thought we were prepared for a nice quick hike, except that we accidentally went five miles instead of three. The biting flies were horrendous, and I had never seen cheerful, happy Amy so pissed off when she was at these flies. We were on the trail for probably the first mile, but then we saw the first backpacking campsite that was not on the trail but a little ways off. We, having difficulty following the trail and not knowing that the campsite wasn't actually on the trail walked straight up an old dried up riverbed, hauling ourselves over boulders, and desperately following the footprints of some unfortunate souls who had apparently made the same mistake. It was a hard hike/climb with our packs in the unrelenting heat of 5pm.
At one point I hear the rattle of a snake ahead where Amy is and her scream "SHIT!" Followed by the sound of her scrambling away and she called back to me "don't come here there's a rattlesnake!" I then proceeded to go exactly where the rattlesnake was and she screamed at me to move, she could see it under a rock. I hastily hauled myself up the side of the gully to get away, acquiring many more impressive scratches and bruises in the process.
Eventually, the canyon walls got higher and we decided it might be best to find a way out. The footprints agreed and led us to a spot where we could climb up the wall without too much difficulty. Once on top of the canyon, the view was amazing, we also saw some people on the opposite canyon wall and together we screamed "MARCO!" They replied with POLO echoing across the canyon. We yelled that we were lost, and they replied that they had found the trail, apparently they were the footprints we had been following. We hurried up to the next empty backpacking campsite to meet up with one from their group who showed us where we needed to go.
We finally made it to the campsite as everyone else was settling down to boil water on a tiny camp stove for instant Spanish rice and ramen. we sat in a circle and talked, I pulled out my giant hamburger to finally chow down and everyone looked at me with envy. As if I had a comical gag bag they asked if I had more when I did not. The angry jerk (as I later learned) of the Ely crew pulled out a board game from his pack called 'Who's Hitler?' It was actually more fun than it sounds. It was essentially Mafia or Werewolf, but with more strategy and less random lynching...And with slightly more Hitler.
As the sun started to set, we sat on some boulders along a canyon wall and watched the breathtaking colors of the earth be illuminated one last time as the stars slowly came out. Someone on the Ely crew pulled out an Orange Fanta bottle filled with an odd brownish liquid. They passed it around all taking a sip and when it came to me I remember thinking wow this is really weird ice tea. Then I took my sip and thought wow, this is not ice tea. That was the first time I tried fireball whiskey. We each had just a bit before it was gone, and we each found a spot to fall asleep on the warm desert ground, wrapped in our blankets under the bright stars.
I slowly opened my eyes the next morning, for once enjoying the cool, peace and quiet of the desert instead of struggling in the sweltering heat. I heard the loud helicopter sound of a humming bird nearby who came into sight, hovered over the girl from the Ely crew, Dylan, for a moment and flew away. I had seen a lot of humming birds out here, often in the morning or when I was board they'd show up and I'd wander off after them, always leading me to something interesting. After it flew off, the girl woke up and I said, "Hey you just had a hummingbird above your head." She replied, "really? I had always wondered if they were my spirit animal." This struck a chord with me, and I tucked it away for later.
The rest of the camp was starting to get up now and roll up their bed mats. I reached in my pack to find my breakfast and the other guy from the Ely crew gave me a warning glare and said, "I swear if you pull out a fucking breakfast burrito..." I pulled out a small packet of oatmeal before he finished the sentence and he nodded before looking away.
I laughed internally.
We all hiked down the correct trail that Amy and I were supposed to originally go up, and I have to say, it was a great trail! beautiful views, less biting flies, no rattlesnakes, and an actual trail. We got back to the cars then headed to the tourist town of Zion for coffee and a real breakfast. The same group headed off to go on another longer backpacking trip, and Amy and I did our own thing. She hung out in the tourist town, and I went to go hike the Narrows.The Narrows are a narrow canyon bottom carved by the Virgin River. It was insanely crowded and I wanted to make it at least as far up as it would take to leave the large crowds behind. It was absolutely thrilling, and the water reminded me of my home in Michigan which I sorely missed.
The park had made some money renting out weird socks, special hiking shoes and walking sticks to people to help them navigate the river. I had plenty of confidence, using my Merrell Minimalist shoes in place of water shoes, and my whole childhood of experience wading up rocky rivers. It was some of the most fun I had had out west, and it reminded me of the lower Tahquamenon Falls and Pictured Rocks back home.
I laughed to myself at the pleasure of feeling cool water on a hot day once again, and at everyone else who was out of their element when I for once felt at home. Big strong guys with their shirts off complained that it was like walking on
The Narrows was one of the most beautiful places that I had the pleasure of visiting out west, and I hope that I will get back to explore again someday. I think in all I spent about four hours in the Narrows, and still it seemed to short a time before I had to march back.
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