KANARRA
Christy
and I enjoyed a pleasant evening at the campground in Sand Hollow State
Park. We took advantage of the showers,
and it cooled off enough after sunset that we didn’t have trouble sleeping in
our hammocks. In fact, we even needed
our sleeping bags! The only drawback was
the drinking water was very warm. I put
a couple of water bottles in the cooler overnight, which helped. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough room in it
for our camelbacks.
That
morning we stopped at a coffee shop for iced coffee before driving up the
freeway to Kanarraville. Our goal for the day was the hike up Kanarra Canyon. This
canyon has only been open to the public for a few years. It is a beautiful slot canyon, and I was
hoping to catch it with nice light around mid-day. The hike is up a stream in a deep slot
canyon, so it would also be a good warm up before our backpacking trip down the
Virgin River.
The
Kanarra Canyon hike is extremely popular, largely due
to beautiful photos on the internet being shared on social media. We paid $10 to park in the upper of two large
parking areas. Both were crowded with
vehicles. The lot we picked did have
toilets and cold drinking water. We
started the hike on a dirt road that led towards the mouth of the canyon. This stretch of the hike was crowded with
other hikers. As we walked, I had
serious doubts about being able to get photos due to the crowds.
After
only a few minutes Christy spotted a rattlesnake curled up among some bushes
along the edge of the trail. She warned
some teenage girls hiking behind us, but one of them was so engrossed in her
cell phone that she still nearly stepped on it.
The
old road eventually ended. From there,
we hiked up the creek. The stream is
fairly small, and the hiking is mostly easy.
Early on there was a nice section of narrows, and incredibly, we found
ourselves alone in it. I took advantage
of the opportunity to take some photos.
A bit farther on we reached the lower waterfall. There is a ladder here, which enables hikers
to climb to the top of the 20’ waterfall.
It is slippery and a little sketchy, and some people stopped there. We climbed up and continued into the middle
section of canyon. A couple of cascades
were a bit difficult to get around, including one with a rope in place. The rope helped, but I got soaked climbing
it. Above the cascades we found a
spectacular section of narrows. At the
upper falls the light was spectacular – the canyon walls were glowing red from
the early afternoon sun. Incredibly, we
had this stretch of canyon to ourselves, too.
I spent a good bit of time taking photos here, and we enjoyed a quiet
lunch.
The
ladder to the top of the upper falls was in poor shape. It looked quite treacherous, and I’d heard
that the upper canyon was less scenic.
We decided to head back from there.
We found the crowds again at the ladder at the lower falls, where there
was a huge bottleneck of hikers trying to go up and down. I didn’t mind though, as I was just thrilled
that I’d managed to get photos of such a beautiful place in optimal conditions.
That
afternoon we drove to Zion National Park in Springdale to pick up our permit
for our backpacking trip through the Virgin River Narrows, which was starting
the next morning. The place was a total
zoo, with tourists everywhere. We were
lucky to find a place to park.
Fortunately, it only took a few minutes to pick up our permit. We also stopped at Zion Adventure Company,
where I rented a dry bag for my camera and a hiking stick. We would be using Zion Adventure Company for
the shuttle to the trailhead early the next morning.
We
spent that afternoon at the beach at Sand Hollow State Park. That evening we prepared for our backpacking
trip. We would need to get up well
before first light to make the drive to Springdale to catch the shuttle to the
trailhead the next morning.
Back to Utah
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!