Preferably when the Virgin River is like bath water
Either day hike it in about 10 hours (see timeline below of how my feet enjoyed the hike) or camp at one of several campsites along the way (1-day maximum due to flash-flooding)
The Narrows, perhaps Zion National Park's most recognizable hike, is a 16 mile trek tracing the Virgin River as it careens through towering Sandstone walls often towering more than 1,000 feet overhead and as narrow as 20 feet apart. If the beautiful scenery of sheer, red sandstone walls and flowing water aren't enough to get your attention, perhaps you're just up for an adventure? And what an adventure it is. Much of the journey is spent walking, wading, and occasionally swimming through the river. Along your way you're sure to encounter deep pools, a waterfall, and plenty of drift wood and boulders that require a certain amount of trial and error to determine the best way to pass. If you aren't up for the 16-mile day-trip you can access the most beautiful section of the Narrows is accessible from the Main Canyon via the Riverside Walk. You still have to get wet, because they are exactly what they say they are, Narrow, but you can cut a 16-mile, 10 hour journey, down to a 7-mile, 5 hour journey or shorter if you just want to stroll into the narrowest stretch and then stroll right back out. For me, I wanted all 16 miles of narrowness.
Originally, I was planning on hiking the Narrows with my sister and my niece as they intended on visiting towards the end of October. When my sister's plans fell through I headed into the park to take on the Narrows on my own but luck would have it that a traveling Australian (Dan) from Canada who was passing through on his way from the Arctic to the Antarctic and we bumped into each other while hiking Angel's Landing. Eventually, we got to talking about the Narrows and it turned out that he already had a back-country permit for the following day. It was a no-brainer that we traveling hobos should team up and take on the Narrows together.........at least for the logistics of the thing since we each had a car and we could shuttle ourselves rather than dropping $30 for a private shuttle to the trailhead.
Now, in hindsight there are many reasons (beyond the $30 shuttle) why it was extremely fortunate that our nomadic paths intersected one another.
Our journey begins with me having to wake up to an alarm clock for the first time since whitewater rafting in Canada (which was successful in that I woke up, but in the end I was still operating in the wrong time zone). This time I got the time zone correct, but after nearly a week of sleeping in an insanely comfortable bed I managed to sneak two snoozes in making me 15 minutes late for our 6:30 rendezvous at the Zion campground. Next, we drove into the darkness in search of the Narrows trailhead. The ranger informed us that it would take about an hour and a half to get from the campground to the trailhead, which seemed awfully unreasonable but after putting along at about 20-30 mph in my mobile home along the uneven, unpathed road that leads to Chamberlains Ranch (the trailhead) ninety minuted had passed.
When we arrived at the trailhead we were the only hikers around and I was feeling rather macho and adventurous until a white conversion van pulls up and dumps a van-full of old ladies at the trailhead just as we were ready to depart. I'm still kind of curious how the ladies faired as it was much more mentally demanding than I imagined it. As far as the hike is concerned it's just a 16 miles of slight downgrade. BUT, when you throw in the bowling ball size boulders hidden beneath the murky waters of the Virgin River, the beaver dams of piled up drift wood, and deep swimming holes you encounter along the way it gets a little more difficult. Combine this with the relatively cold water and a canyon floor that might only receive an hour or two of direct sunlight each day you could get yourself into a pretty gnarly situation. Luckily for us the worst obstacles that we faced resulted in a brief swim, wading through waist deep water, and a few blisters on the feet.
The hike wasn't nearly as "narrow" as I thought it would be for the first couple of hours. You're actually hiking on a 4x4 road for the first hour before you enter anything that comes close to resembling a canyon. Once you reach the canyon you're supposed to pass several "easily recognizable" features such as the confluence of Colob Creek, Deep Waters, and the Grotto (all of wihch we surprisingly missed) but we did notice the 15-foot waterfall and Big Springs. Then there's the one thing you can't miss, and the one thing you make this hike for, the Narrows. The Narrows are spectacular to say the least. Even while wading in waist deep, numbing water, I found myself gazing up at the sandstone cliffs on each side of me. Once we found our way into the main stretch of narrows (the finaly 3.6 miles) we began to see signs of tourism (AKA as tourists with their cameras, tripods, and rented dry suits).
Speaking of photography in the Narrows. It's a bit tricky. Most of my pictures were poor. A tripod would definitely prove useful due to the scant light that reaches the canyon floor. BUT, I didn't go on this hike for the pictures. I did it for the experience. Although, my feet (whose swelling has receded and blisters have scabbed over) would tell you differently, I definitely have to agree that this is one of the great hikes in the Colorado Plateau area and one of the Best hikes of the US National Parks System even if the Timeline of how my feet enjoyed the hike (see below) proves the contrary.
Three days after the hike my feet were all scabs, I could now use the stairs normally, rather than one step at a time, and I felt like I might even be able to take a run.