Parunuweap Canyon
After having done the entire river from near Mineral Gulch all the
way to Springdale in about 1991 with a group of young Boy Scouts, and
then hiking to Labrynth Falls yesterday, I would recommend this hike
to anyone who is fit!
I remember that the whole 25 mile day done in 1991 was a rush job and
yesterday being very casual, was much more enabling. Had we had rope
we would have ventured “underneath” Labrynth, but it becomes a bit
dicey beyond the top of Labrynth..
I do recall several archaelogical sites that we briefly encountered
below the falls in 1991, and due to timing didn’t have much time to
really absorb their magnitude.
Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend the hike from Checkerboard Mesa to
Labrynth Falls! Even if I say that the “Parunuweap Narrows” are
better than the VRG Narrows in Zion, it wouldn’t matter because one
has to work hard to view them. The remote feeling, the beauty and the
rarely visited area is the best by far, in and around Zion. Not that
I’ve seen them all, but I’ve seen a fair portion, and maybe I’m
biased, but yesterday, a holiday weekend, we saw not a nary person
except some sunflower seed hulls the entire day. To me….thats what
makes a day……One million visitors….not in the East Fork!
– Bo
