During my visit to Zion National Park, one of the days was designated specifically for hiking into a slot canyon called The Narrows.  This is considered a strenuous hike because 5 of the 7 miles are done while navigating the Virgin River that runs through the canyon, often walking in the river that got near waist deep at times.  As such, hiking The Narrows starts the day before when you rent proper gear, since the water is cold year round - 47 degrees, specifically, for my trip.  The gear consists of dry pants, neoprene socks, special water shoes, a large wooden pole, and dry bags if you're carrying electronic gear.  There are a lot more safety checks you will need to do before determining whether or not to do the hike.  The day of, you take the Zion shuttle to the last stop, Temple of Sinawava, where you hike one mile on a paved trail to the Gateway to the Narrows. From that point, you're hiking upstream.  Our trip went halfway into the area called Wall Street, with our turnaround point being a large boulder in the middle of the canyon before Wall Street bent sharp to the right, spending over 7 hours hiking, technically canyoneering, and stopping.  Since this was a photography-based hike, we spent a lot of time shooting on our tripods right in the middle of the river.  I'm very happy with the resulting photographs, and here are a few I wanted to share with you...





You have to shoot where you have to shoot!

Fantastic display of plant oil from decaying leaves