Repelling the Narrows~

Over the weekend, Chris and I had this grand opportunity to go repelling down the Narrows at Zions National Park. I can't even describe the freezing cold temperature we experienced trucking through the water!
We started our drive down to St. George Friday evening after work and arrived around 10pm at the town house we were all staying at. There were 9 of us on this trip from people at work and or relatives of Matt's. We all just ate and chatted as we met one by one at the town house and eventually went to bed. Due to our late night, we did not get started as early as we had hoped so it was about 1pm by the time we checked out, loaded up with gas, drove to the top of the Narrows and began our hike down for the next 7 hours.
It was so nice and the weather was perfect! Not to hot and not to cold until the little sun we had left came to an end due to the tall rocks blocking most of the beaming sun. The whole first half of the hike was super fun and dry! We first repelled down a 130+ ft. drop followed by several smaller 40+ ft. drops. It was my first time and I was so proud of my husband and I for making it. We were like pros LOL! Okay maybe it was just the lack of fear in me. I love heights! Matt had Chris be the lead repel guide so he always went first so Matt could stay behind and help everyone down.
The entire second half of the hike down the Narrows was after the sun disappeared and in the coldest water I have ever felt in my life time!!! There was one drop that we could not repel down. There was this pool of water so we stopped and put everything in our waterproof packs such as our gear and camera's etc. One by one we had to toss our packs in the pool of water and jump in after it and swim to the side! Oh my heck! There was no getting warm at this point! We all did our best to dry off and de clothe what we could to avoid the wet cotton clothes on our backs! Matt was so kind to let me use a coat that was made out of this sleeping bag material that worked wonders for my upper body! It quickly got dark at this point so we finished the last hour and a half in the dark. It was hard because we were also still in water! My muscles at this point never relaxed and they were now at the point of not functioning with what my brain was trying to tell them ha ha!
Oh how happy Chris and I were when we reached the end which ended up being super familiar. It was the part we were at a few weeks prior LOL. At this point we all took the shuttle bus to the main entrance where we left one of the vehicles. Chris and I were so so worn and so cold that the first thing we wanted to do was go to our nice warm bed at home! So that was what we did. While Matt and one of the other guys went to get the truck, the rest of the crew went to a place in Zions to eat! After we filled our tummy's with some food, Chris and I drove back home! So much for camping! Ha, I was so grateful though because I woke up the most sore and stiff person alive! It felt so so good to shower up and snuggle up in our nice warm bed :)