Day 2!! In the morning everyone was chipper- at least at first lol. We were ready to get to the best part of the hike, and finish the hike!
Soon we passed the marker Eric left with his timestamp 8:20pm from the night before- just in case he missed us somehow and we went too far as well. And me and Owen selfie!
Whitney, and Kate and then Owen, by some Hanging Gardens.
Our group. As we saw more and more people, they were always amazed we had so many kids with us!
This picture is crazy because of the way we are standing- Owen seems about as tall as the rest of us. Such big kids we have!!
So glad we could do this adventure together.
Aaaand then we hit like 6 swimming spots in a row! Here's me almost swimming, and looking back to make sure the kids were swimming it okay!
Whitney, and then me going down into a deep part, twice
Whitney coming through and Kate about to go down into it too. And the whole group wading through a waist deep part.
So proud of the kids in this moment. This was one of the coldest deep spots. after it Owen and Lydia were almost crying because they were so cold and had no more dry clothes- they had already changed once. But they DID it! They kept going, because there was no other choice. They kept stepping in to the deep water over and over again.
So pretty! By this point, Whitney was absolutely joyful. I'm talking, singing at the top of her lungs as she walked through such a beautiful place!
Katelyn appreciated it too.
Eric went first to test the depth. Also we blew up an inner tube to maybe float a bit- but didn't end up doing it because you would get even wetter doing that!
Brave Owen, with a wet jacket on, going into the deep again! This was the worst stretch for him. After this it got warmer.
This stretch was pretty crazy, and fun! We had to climb over and under these big piles of logs several times!
It's kind of fun and adventurous and distracted Owen from the cold.
At one point we had lost Phillip and Lydia, so Eric went back to the last bend and stood on a big rock to wait for them. He just looked so tiny compared to the mighty canyon!
Later after lunch when the sun was high overhead and spirits were higher, I got this great photo.
A couple more great pictures of the amazing explorers. I really felt like we had to channel our pioneer ancestors to complete this! The water was the deepest we have had in the 3 times we've hiked the Narrows. And we had so many short people this time! It was really difficult and exhausting for them to walk through that the whole time. On the giant wet bowling ball rocks.
One more amazing picture of us in this beautiful place.
By early afternoon we reached the major Narrows that all the people hike up to from the bottom. There were SO MANY PEOPLE! I was actually impressed so many people came 4 miles up from the bottom! But it IS gorgeous. I just didn't take any more pictures from that point on apparently! 1. there were too many people to get good pictures, 2. everyone was tired of my picture taking haha, 3. My battery was getting low, and 4. we were just trying to power through and finish those last few miles to the end!
Some beautiful Narrows sections from the morning. The bad thing about them was, it was FREEZING in there! And taking a picture in a sunny spot.
Whitney, and then me going down into a deep part, twice
Me and Eric back at Big Spring- compare to the picture from 12 years ago!
So proud of the kids in this moment. This was one of the coldest deep spots. after it Owen and Lydia were almost crying because they were so cold and had no more dry clothes- they had already changed once. But they DID it! They kept going, because there was no other choice. They kept stepping in to the deep water over and over again.
It's kind of fun and adventurous and distracted Owen from the cold.
At one point we had lost Phillip and Lydia, so Eric went back to the last bend and stood on a big rock to wait for them. He just looked so tiny compared to the mighty canyon!
One more amazing picture of us in this beautiful place.
And a me and Kate selfie for Day 2.
I love this picture though because you can see a kid staring at us- we got LOTS of stares! Everyone is always amazed to discover that you went the whole 16 miles and camped overnight. But with kids it was even more incredible to people.
Also, you can see lots of people didn't even have poles! I was astounded by that. How could you do this hike and not bring at least one stick or pole per person?? I just felt like a Pro gliding along with my 2 poles, while people were wobbling or picking their way along- for several miles?? That's Crazy.
ALSO- the kids were dying because I saw my friend Laura Pryzbyla (Ford) from Nauvoo!! That's her husband and daughter on the side of this picture! We stopped and talked for a minute and then I had to go catch my family, who were like "seriously mom?? Even out here you find someone you know??" and she lives in Indiana!! So awesome haha.
Even the last mile was hard, among the one billion people. Owen kept falling, he was so tired he couldn't keep his balance well. It was hot, so being wet wasn't the problem any more, it was just the physical exertion of getting back up with your pack on, and while still on slippery rocks, that was the problem. BUT we made it!!!! Here's Owen and Whitney at the end of the River part of the Narrows, with their soccer balls for the "summer soccer picture challenge".
And then we had to walk the last excruciating mile on the trail with all the people and our giant packs and soaked shoes. Luckily we really appreciated how easy it was to lift our feet without water up to our knees or higher, and how easy it was to set them down on a nice smooth paved trail!!!
We made it to the line for the shuttle and used a real bathroom again, yay! And then I got someone to take an After picture for us. It turned out hilarious because here's how we were really feeling:
And here's the smiles for the picture hahaha!!
We drove down to Springdale and Phillip drove our kids to Hurricane, where they met Katrina, who had been watching Maris and Emma for us. (They had a blast by the way, made friends with Brooke, and Katrina said they were angels which I was so grateful for!) While Eric and I grabbed some quick Subway dinner and drove back to get our van that was parked at the top. Over an hour drive away. We finally made it back to Hurricane about 9 pm and had ice cream cake with the kids- since it was my birthday!!!! Such a great birthday!!!! And even though it was way harder than we thought, and the kids swear they will never do it again, they will be able to do any hike now because it will never be as hard as the Narrows :) or as amazing, I would say! SO SO SO happy we made this happen.
(side note- Maris wants to do it so bad, so we promised we would take her and Emma some day. But we won't take an 11-year-old again! So maybe when they are 13 and 16??)
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