Fresno boy explored a river, with the water nearly over his head, but survived
Editor’s note: Nathaniel Ramirez, a 5th grader at Manchester Gate elementary school in Fresno, recently took a trip with his family to Utah. Here is an account of their exploring Zion National Park.
On Sept. 26, I went to Zion National Park in Utah. Zion National Park is made up of canyons, and flowing through them is the Virgin River. There are 12 hiking trails, each with their own unique sightings and destinations. Zion is best known for its trails; for example, the Emerald Pools, which can be in the Upper, Middle, or Lower Emerald Pool trail. There are three difficulties easy, moderate, and difficult. An easy trail would be like the Riverside Walk — this trail is paved and wheelchair accessible, but it may be sandy. A moderate trail would be like the Kayenta Trail, it is an unpaved climb with moderate drop-offs, it even connects to the Emerald Pool trails. A difficult trail would be like The Narrows, this trail is 9.4 miles long and it takes up to eight hours to hike the whole trail.
The Narrows is a trail for people that feel like they’re up for a challenge. The Narrows trail starts out as a twisting, turning, rising, and falling hiking trail. Soon you will come to the end of the land hiking trail, there will be a staircase leading down to the water trail. If you would like to hike through the entire trail, keep in mind that the water levels can rise to 6 feet! The current speeds are usually under 70 CFS (cubic feet per second), but the current speed can raise above 70 CFS. If that seems to difficult, but you still want to walk beside the Virgin River, the Riverside Walk is your best bet. The Riverside Walk is also wheelchair accessible, but the Narrows are not because the sidewalks were damaged recently.
The trail that I hiked on was The Narrows, and here’s my experience. My family and I went to Zion on a chilly morning (65 degrees.) We arrived early to catch the first shuttle. When we got in, it was way warmer in the shuttle than outside, and I felt relieved. As we rode up the canyon, I saw the Virgin River to my left, and there were turkeys and deer roaming around.
When we arrived at the Temple of Sinawava the first thing that I saw were the beautiful canyons that had both bright and dark colors. When I saw the entrance to The Narrows it seemed like fences to a grand field with a river flowing through it. We started stretching outside for a minute, in the cold, then we started on the trail. I was tired of all the hiking up, down, left, and right, it was tiring and confusing. Later, I thought that it had stopped, but no, there was a staircase leading down to the water trail.
Once I set eyes on the water trail, I did not want to step in the water. Then my parents said that we had to keep on hiking and there were many other people, so I followed my parents because I didn’t want to get lost in the crowd. The water was 64 degrees, so my feet were freezing! When we got on one of the little “side islands” my feet felt like pieces of slush, that’s how cold the water was! Soon, we turned around because the water was up to my stomach, and I am 4 feet 6 inches, so the water ahead of us was about 4 feet deep! I was disappointed that we didn’t get to the end, but glad that I didn’t get soaked to my chest.
Currently you do not want to swim in the Virgin River because there are cyanobacteria, which are hazardous to people, and deadly to dogs. If your children are under 4 feet tall, then you won’t want to go into deep water. Also, if you walk in the water, take a good shower after to get all the bacteria off.
Zion is a great place to take a vacation. If you think that you are ready for a challenge, I recommend The Narrows. If you aren’t as daring, then I’d suggest you go on the Riverside Walk. If you want to explore the entire park, then you can reserve a time at Recreation.gov. You should reserve the time one day to two weeks before you want to hike.