Today I did some more canyoning by doing a well known hike in
Zion National Park called
The Subway. When I was picking up my permit, which I had to reserve three months prior, at the office, I started talking to a few others that were getting their paperwork, including a scouting group. I was able to convince them to give me a ride from the parking are at the exit to the entrance trail and I would then help them after the hike was over. Apparently this scout group, as I would find out later, really had no idea what to expect.
The top-down approach to the Subway is a technical approach such that it requires the use of ropes and a harness. I had already purchased rope earlier in the trip and had borrowed other gear from my local friend Jon, so I was ready. There are three main spots where rope is needed which are also places where people have attempted to manually down-climb without any support whom subsequently fell, got severely injured, and had to be evacuated. Something as simple as an ankle sprain would require one to be carried out through some tough terrain and uphill at the end. I knew there were anchors there and were able to use them to easily repel myself wherever needed.
It was a great hike and somewhat fun talking to the scouts about hiking and camping, but at the first technical spot it was obvious how they had nothing. I ended up having to spend most of my time at each spot helping them by belaying everyone as they climbed down each spot. Outside of that, the experience was great.
The water was cold, but it was fun to do the trail and experience these slot canyons. At the parking lot, once finished, there were park rangers waiting checking permits. I gave them mine and even though the group was quite a ways behind me, they waited. apparently the scout leader had taken an additional person than the permit allowed and ended up getting a citation for over a hundred dollars. I gave them my contact info and was promised they wound forward some pictures, but I never heard anything. After the hike I spent the rest of the daylight hours walking some of the highlights around the park that are relatively close to the shuttle buses. I attended one of the evening ranger presentations before parking in Springfield overnight just outside the park. After these experiences, I'd someday like to come back to the area just to do some canyoneering.
Today saw an early start to do another well known hike in Zion National Park, Angel's Landing. this is a fairly tough hike that takes much of the day to do and has a few precarious spots. On knife edge, the path is about 4 feet wide and has a 800 foot drop on one side with a 1200 foot drop on the other. At least once every few years someone takes a fatal trip with another person (the 6th since 1983) having died there in June of this year. It was a tough walk up, but the views once reaching the end were spectacular. After finishing the hike, I headed up to the Virgin Narrows. 
I was originally scheduled to hike from the top of the narrows downriver over a couple of days, however my plans had to be changed when the area was shut down due to a forest fire. So all I could do at this point was hike up-river and back, which still ended up being a lot of fun. Hiking poles and wet-wear shoes made all the difference. It was all slow going since the water was absolutely opaque due to runoff from the scorched areas. I just went a couple of miles up before I decided to turn around and come back. Overall, it was a great day and I was quite fortunate to see such beautiful things.
