The other hikers had faded away the only sounds were wind and water rushing through the canyon. When we got over a mile in, the walls started to grow around us, and the dirt began to slip away into the water, until hundred-foot sandstone walls surrounded us. The hike starts about a mile above the canyon’s mouth, and it feels and looks rather funny to see all these people walking on a dirt trail in drysuits. After unloading, we all took some time to eat a snack and use the privy before donning our drysuits. The only other folks who would be in the canyon with us for the trip were the eight others in the van. The next morning, with packs loaded, we boarded the shuttle and headed through the Park to the drop-in point for the hike. We then ended our Thanksgiving Day in a bar watching football and eating buffalo wings. The rain turned into snow flurries at the top, with a massive rainbow after. Zion is impressive, so we didn’t mind and took the day to hike Angels Landing. Luckily we had the time, so my advice to you with slot canyon trips is to check the weather and be flexible on your start date, as flash floods aren’t something you want to mess around with. Due to the low number of visitors in the winter months, we were able to move our permit to the next day. But upon arrival, the ranger informed us of some possible rain coming in that day and advised us to wait a day to see it if cleared up. Early the next morning, we went to the ranger station to pick up our permits. The first night we slept in the car on some BLM land right out of town. We loaded up the car, headed south, and were on our way. Since I just moved to Utah for school and didn’t want to spend the money to fly home to Alabama for Thanksgiving, only to do it again in a month for Christmas, we decided to beat the crowds, embrace the cold, and hike the Narrows over Thanksgiving break.

After seeing post after post of the breathtaking views found in Southern Utah, my girlfriend at the time recommended that we go and explore them.

Slot canyon hiking water