The Waterfall

The waterfall is one of the most unique parts of the Narrows trail. Since the “trail” just above the falls is primarily the river, some hikers might think it is the end of the line. Others might think you have to jump twenty feet down to the pool below. Of course, there is no telling how deep it is or if there are any dangerous rocks or logs just below the surface. This is a picture of my brother Greg peering over the falls to the water below:

There is, however, another possibility. A small trail to the left (if you are heading downriver) of the falls takes you down the small cliff to the river below. It has been many years since I've hiked to the waterfall, so conditions may have changed over the years; but the trail isn't immediately obvious to a first time hiker. Thus, Uncle Darrell has a little fun ribbing his son and nephews about how to proceed. Since it would be dangerous to jump into the pool, he instructs them to take the trail down. If I remember correctly, the trail seems to be a type of secret passage - at least that is how Brady views it. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it. But, here is a picture of the falls looking back upstream:

This view makes it look taller than it is, but the waterfall is about 20 feet tall. Still it is quite formidable.

More pictures to come.

Waiting out the flood

Just like in the book, we stopped and at lunch on a small bank by the river:

Notice, if the flood would have struck at this point, we would not have been on high enough ground to avoid injury. We would have had to run over to the bank where Trevor eventually took refuge and would have probably lost most of our luggage. Here is a picture of the bank where Trevor waited out the flood by himself:

The lunch spot is back around the bend to the left. Right after lunch, we started out again, but Trevor had a feeling to go back. He wasn't sure why, but when he did so, he spotted the flood coming and shouted ahead to us to evacuate. He climbed one bank, and the rest of us scampered up the other. My dad was the last, and we dragged him up the bank with only seconds to spare. After the first 20 minutes or so, some of us began exploring our little "island." Barry and Troy found some broken shale slabs and took turns pretending to be Moses with the 10 commandments:

Then somebody discovered that the cliff wall was honeycombed with miniature caves. We spent much of the rest of the time exploring these holes:

Naturally, this natural phenomenon became part of the story. Shane, stranded over on the other bank, tried to see what the others were doing. As he got close to the edge of his embankment, trying to see better, the dirt started crumbling and... fiction takes over. Up until this point in the hike, most of the events are fairly accurate. From this point on, most of the events are fictitious - but not all. Stay tuned for more pictures.

Video footage of a flash flood

My uncle recently forwarded me a link to a You Tube video that is footage of an actual flash flood. I watched several others too, but I wanted to share this one for several reasons: 1) You can clearly see how the initial part of the flood is filled with lumber and debris - just like the flash flood we experienced in the Narrows; 2) The narrator does a good job explaining the process; and 3) It shows a huge boulder being rolled by the flood waters. On the other hand, keep in mind that the flash flood in the Narrows was funneled through a narrower canyon, so the water was higher, and was pushed through with more force since it couldn't spread out. We couldn't even see the boulders, only hear them bouncing along the bottom of the river bed. Also, the one we escaped dragged full grown trees along with it.

Here is the link:

 

http://www.youtube.com/embed/_yCnQuILmsM?feature=player_embedded

The Barrel

Does this picture look familiar?

 

After writing the first several drafts of The Narrows Escape, I had the opportunity to watch my Uncle Merlin's slide show from the trip. While doing so, I took copious notes of everything he captured on film. This picture inspired one of the key plot twists in The Narrows Escape - together with the following picture:

 

Originally, the injured hiker found at the bottom of the waterfall was found with his wife. After adding the whole mystery plot line, I changed the scene with the injured hiker, particularly the dialogue between him and the rangers. If you go back and reread the dialogue in retrospect (after having read the ending), keeping these pictures in mind, it changes the whole nature of the conversation. Whenever I talk to someone who has recently read the book for the first time, I question them on when they figured out certain elements of the mystery. Thus far, no one seems to have picked up on the subtle hints contained in this particular dialogue. Of course, I wasn't expecting anyone to in the first place. Still, it was necessary to tie the whole story together.