Water Canyon

So Thursday started out pretty chill, but with the worst of the incoming weather slated for the afternoon we didn't sleep in too late because we wanted to get a hike in. The day before Whit, our canyoneering guide, had regaled us with tales of a really cool, close to us and also kinda off the beaten path hike at Water Canyon. So that was our destination today. We had a quick breakfast, packed some snacks and made our way to the trailhead, which wasn't hard to find but you had to drive on some pretty dodgy roads and Naomi aka Nay, the rental nissan maxima, was not a fan. Wes had done a little pre-search so we knew a bit about the hike, and that there was a 2nd parking lot (with the unbiquitous extremely decent pit toilet) closer to the trail head, so we were not lured afield at the first lot. Also, BIG shout out to Joe's Guide to Zion National Park for being everything AllTrails isn't. I mean, someitmes Alltrails is really all you got, but Joe's guide is FANTASTIC and the photography is stunning.

All of this is to say we had somewhat of an idea about the hike, but the trail's not really blazed though the path is generally not too difficult to follow, and most little forks come back to the main trail. I think we took a "wrong" turn once or twice but generally it's a "go up" kind of hike. The hike was lovely (and a bit chilly) but we didn't stop much since the skies were getting darker and we were really hoping to make "Top Rock" before the snow? sleet? rain? hit in earnest. While we weren't too concerned with flooding, there was also a bit of a waterfall you had to kinda climb up/over/next to, and if we were to get A LOT of rain quickly, that situation might have turned messier than we were really prepared for. So, we pushed forward, and had a lovely hike with magnificent (if overcast) views... but just as we were asking ourselves, for the 5th time in 10 minutes, "is this rock Top Rock?" it started to rain.

We figured it was nature's way of hurrying us back along with our day, so we turned around and walked back down. Things were definitively slippier on the return + rain trip, but we kept 3 points of contact (and our wits!) about us. People were also getting hungry/cranky/slightly concerned for our marginally questionable choices, but we all made it out of the canyon safe and sound and only kinda wet. I think lunch was some combo of leftovers and maybe some of that fab grocery store sushi/poke we've been enjoying, it's been a few months so I don't exactly recall. We were planning, assuming the rain wasn't too torential, a trip to St. George and the climbing gym there, but AJ wanted a nap and I had some work to do, so we ended up having some more chill downtime, watching the rain fall at the tiny house, etc. Dinner was, I believe, some above adequate Thai food (not a lot above, but definitely better than average) and then a stop at DQ for some Blizzards. We went to bed on the earlier side (after more Elementary, I'm sure) because it was going to be our last decent sleep for a while since we were taking the red eye home the following evening....