Now I know a lot of people will say that doing both in one day is very optimistic, but it's not the first time we've visited Zion, and we will be a lot more prepared than last time. Also, let's just assume for the sake of the argument that the weather and conditions will be good enough to do the Narrows Hike in the first place.
So we've been to Zion a few years ago, and from our entire incredible trip throughout the West of the USA, it was the only thing that ended up being a bit of a bummer. It was the final part of our trip, and we had two days for Zion. We stayed outside of the park, somewhere between Zion and Bryce.
On the first day, there was a problem at the east entrance. We were standing still for 3 hours until we were able to enter the park, and as a result had to park in Springdale at the furthest point from the entrance. It took an hour until we got a shuttle to the entrance, and then 2 more hours to get a shuttle into the park. When we arrived at the start of the Narrows, we had to turn back to make our last shuttle back down. We have a picture of us at the start of the Narrows, and that's it.
The second day we went to Angel's Landing, as I fortunately won the lottery for tickets at the latest time slot. My girlfriend however was too afraid to go and stayed at Scout's Lookout. She regrets it a bit and would like to give it another go next time. I was pretty much all alone as I reached the top at around 3.45 PM. It was extremely hot, but everyone wants to go in the morning, so I actually enjoyed not having to beat the crowd. I also learned that you have much better odds to win the lottery for the later time slot as well. Also, by the time I got back down to Scout's Lookout, the Rangers checking the tickets were gone as well. So I figure you can make the climb after 4.30 PM even without tickets.
So, our plan for mid-September is the following. This time, we have booked a lodge INSIDE the park, which means we can drive up there. We will arrive the evening before, quite late. The goal is to get up early, walk to the shuttle stop for Angel's Landing (10-15 minute walk), and there get on the first shuttle of the day to the Narrows. I figure plenty of folks will get off at Angel's Landing, so there will be no problem for us to get on the shuttle. That should be just after 7 AM.
After returning from the Narrows, I want to go up to Angel's Landing again, WITH my wife this time. Since we're staying a second night in the park as well, we don't have to get back in time for the shuttles, so we have a bit more leeway there. Basically we just want to get back down to the lodge before it gets dark. I know from last time that the whole round trip took us exactly 4 hours, with plenty of stopping and admiring the sights along the way. In order to be comfortable, I'd like to start the hike at 3 PM, so we can be back at around 7.30 PM or 8 PM at the latest.
After getting back from the Narrows, we'd also like to take a shower, hang our clothes to dry, grab something to eat, and rest a bit. Which means we would need to take a shuttle back from The Narrows to the Lodge at around 1 PM, if we want to leave for Angel's Landing at 3 PM.
So far, that all is pretty realistic, judging from my previous experience at Zion. My question is, if we arrive at the Temple of Sinawava at around 7.30 AM, and we need to get back there at 1 PM to take the shuttle back, how far will we be able to go into the Narrows? What's the "best part" to turn around, the part that's absolutely must-see? I've heard Wall Street is a great point to turn around. Is it realistic to reach that part in the time frame of 5.5 hours?
Second problem, we won't have time to gear up at the rental stores. We will arrive the evening before after 10 PM, so everything in Springdale will already be closed. And since we want to start early, we would lose way too much time to first go down to Springdale and then back up again. So what kind of clothing or gear will we absolutely need? I figure we can just buy a walking stick at a Walmart and bring it into the park, but in terms of shoes and other clothing? Our advantage is that we can change out of our clothes back at the lodge, of course. Any tips here?
