Activities
Zion on a borrowed afternoon
Drove to Zion on a day trip with my dad and my college roommate Brooks. He still had the conference, so we had to return. We hiked toward the Narrows but the flow was super high — a French lady was trying to convince us to go into the water with her, but we didn’t end up going in. We then did a different day hike up the canyon near Angels Landing, maybe three miles, not the one to Angels Landing itself.
Another reason we weren’t doing the Grand Canyon is that I got hit by a car a couple months prior in March, and I didn’t want to commit to such a large endeavor when I was still having trouble with my shoulder.
If you go
The Narrows is the headline hike — wading up the Virgin River through the slot. It only goes when the flow is low enough; the Park Service closes it when the river runs high or muddy or when flash-flood risk climbs, which is exactly what shut us down. Check conditions the morning of.
When to go: the Narrows is best late spring through early fall, once snowmelt drops — but summer carries monsoon flash-flood risk, and spring runoff (when we were there) often has it closed outright. The rest of the canyon hikes year-round.
Getting around: most of the year you can’t drive the scenic canyon; you ride the park shuttle. In peak season Angels Landing itself needs a permit by lottery.