So...you think you can handel this eh? Well ok but I am not carrying anyone out of this canyon so if you start, you finish or you stay behind. :)
So after you have gotten your permit, had a nice big breakfast and loaded all of your hiking gear into one of two cars...it is time for a short drive up Kolob Road (a map may be on the way) until you reach the "Left Fork" trail head...there is a small wooden sign to direct you so if you are not careful you could easily miss it. This is where the trail ends so you will need to leave one of your vehicles at this parking lot and pile everyone into the other. Once your hikers are comfortably seated on one anothers laps it's time to drive about another ten to fifteen minutes up the road to the "Wildcat Canyon" trail head. From this point, the picture above should look fermilliar to you.
The trail begins on a nice, calming hike through the trees and grass...if you start out nice and early in the morning you may have a slight bug problem but it is well worth it when you hit the slot canyons and cold water while they still have sun on them.
This walk gets your muscles warmed, your heart rate up and your adrenalin pumping because as you look off in the distance you are given only a glimpse of what lies ahead. That glimpse is probably one of the most tantalizing things about this hike, except for maybe the water. :)
Before long you find a fork in the trail...there is a sign that marks the correct path and clearly labels the destination of each trail but just in case someone rudely knocks it down (which does happen from time to time) stay to the left and you will be fine. :)
You may notice that in this pic pretty much all of us are wearing some sort of hat, this is a very wise idea. Zion National Park IS in the desert and it gets really hot here, even in the earlier and later parts of the year. Our high here is generally aroujd 65 degrees ferenhiet during the winter and can get as hot as 117 in the months of July, August and possibly even September. It rarely snows here and when it does the snow is usually all melted by mid-day...that's if it even sticks at all.
Another thing you may notice is that three of us have walking sticks. Some people work better with them, and some people work better without them. I personally held on to mine during the entire hike and found it a really nice thing to have with me, however Heather and Michelle would trade their sticks off with Joseph and Eric, whereas Cherri and Norm preferred just using their own brute force. ~wink~
Last but not least, Cherri and I chose to wear long, fetigue pants, we decided these were a great thing to have and will probably be wearing them on all our backcountry hikes from now on. Norm and Eric wore denim cut off's and had no problems with them although most people who wear levi's experience chaffing...and the long pants definately protected our legs from the rocks and bushes.
Michelle wore denim short also but she wore a pair of spandex shorts underneath them and Heather wore swim shorts. The swim shorts seemed to be the worst idea because they didn't provide hiney traction in some places and they also didn't protect very well...she ended up ripping them so bad for the hike that she threw them away when we got home.
