Hello,
Just wanted to provide a quick update since we got back from our trip yesterday.
We lucked out on the weather. I think it was mid-80s all week and overcast for all times except when going up Observation Point, when it must have been over 100 deg F. That was really difficult, especially since I had to go to the bathroom and resisted until I finally broke down and used the wag bag about 1.5 hrs into the hike from the Grotto. I think there must have been only one good hiding spot on the trail going up Observation Point (in the switchback section) and I was lucky to find it. It was my first time using a wag bag, and it was a perfect success. During this time, the sun was totally blazing, and I was very glad to have my silver umbrella. My friend hiked the entire week without even a hat, and I don't know how he could stand it. We started that day with 6 liters of water each.
It was nice that the park ranger gave our group the permits required for the trans-Zion and issued the Narrows permits at the same time. Previously when I called, they always said that I would have to go down to the wilderness desk the day before my hike.
The trans-Zion hike is very flexible with bailout points and luxurious free shuttles. On the third day, my friends were feeling tired of being in the wilderness and just wanted to increase our miles and get the hike done sooner. At 11am, we decided while being on the West Rim Trail that we would continue our hike past Camp 6 (which was, by the way, totally an amazing, beautiful campsite with stunning views), do Angel's Landing, then catch the southbound shuttle from Weeping Rock and sleep in the South Campground. We were lucky and found an open, tent-only site no. 126 available for us on July 4th night at 11PM. Our group's desire to leave the trail early was mostly brought on by fatigue from poor sleep... I slept poorly due to work and anticipation for the trip in the days leading up to the hike, then slept poorly while being on the hike. I really have no reason to sleep poorly as I carry a Fillo Pillow, a Thermarest, and a 50* Hammock Gear quilt, and earplugs. Just need to keep trying to get used to it. My other friend was getting tired of our masochistic trips and wanted to do normal things for a change, like drinking $6 diet cokes while watching movies at the AMC theater in an air-conditioned mall. After we finished the trip, he signed on for our next planned trip in the Wind River Range.
It was also lucky, too, that after we completed Angel's Landing, my other friend had bad blisters that prevented him from hiking the next day. He is an avid caver but this was his first multi-day trek. So the plan was for him to stay in South Campground the next day while we continued on for Observation Point and the East Rim. He had a glass of chardonnay in Zion Lodge while the rest of us baked going up Observation Point. After Observation Point and getting slightly lost on the East Rim, we had a bit of rain. By about 5PM we reached a sign that said we were 5 miles from the East Rim. My $6 diet coke friend suggested that we should just complete the trek in the same day. We realized that we could get our blistered-injured friend to shuttle us from the East Entrance to the South Campground. We reached the East Entrance by about 10:30pm.
My blistered-injured friend told me that the Narrows had a bit of flash flooding due to the rain we encountered. The shuttle company, Zion Rock Mountain Guides, canceled their scheduled pickup from the East Entrance to Chamberlain's Ranch due to the road being impassable. That would have been a huge nuisance if we ended up sleeping on the East Rim, then waking at 4am to catch our planned 9:30am shuttle at the East Entrance, only to realize that no one would be coming for us.
We slept that night in the South Campground. The next day we did a bottom-up of the Narrows. I was running on poor sleep for the past 6 nights so I was pretty tired. The Narrows was cool, but I was ready to find some good sleep and put on some clean clothes. Then I ran into a PCT internet hiker blog celebrity.
So we had two nights in the South Campground while doing the trans-Zion. This allowed for a much more balanced distribution of miles per day, and easily allowed us to complete both Angel's Landing and Observation Point. This also allowed us to have big breakfasts at Oscar's Cafe on each day before hiking (observation point to east entrance and the bottom-up Narrows day).
Also, my first night in South Campground was ruined by my damn NeoAir X-Therm being punctured. I woke up to my hips on the hard ground at about 3am. Then I desperately struggled to gain some comfort in a sleep-deprived daze, and decided to sleep on top of the metal picnic table, periodically re-inflating my punctured, expensive sleeping pad.
The next day I went to Zion Adventure Company and bought a cheap foam pad that cost me $17. I tried to sleep on it on my second night in the South Campground, but it was totally too hard for my hips, my heels, my back. I'd blackout and sleep for an hour, then wake up in pain and groaning, turn to my side and sleep a bit more, then flip over again. At about 4am I woke my friend to ask if he'd swap sleeping pads with me. He had a NeoAir ProLite that he didn't even bother to inflate, as he likes to sleep on hard surfaces. He stared at me for a few moments when I woke him up from deep sleep and agreed to swap pads. I fell asleep soon after procuring his pad. When I woke in the morning, he said he was never able to fall asleep after I woke him at 4am. He also said I looked like an elephant in his sleep-deprived daze (probably because I had my Capilene 4 hoody on).
This write-up turned out a bit longer than planned.