3 Days in Zion: The Narrows Was Running Brown

Three nights in Zion Canyon, and the Virgin River decided to put on a show. We rolled into Watchman Campground, climbed Walter's Wiggles to Scout's Lookout, and then walked straight into a Narrows running the color of chocolate milk. This is day seven of a 21-day solo road trip across nine states and five national parks. The flood water changed everything. You cannot read the bottom, you cannot see the boulder you are about to step on, and every footfall becomes a guess made with a trekking pole. It also emptied the canyon of the crowds that usually stack up there in summer, which made for the strangest and best hour of the whole trip.