The Narrows

The next morning the time to meet and to catch the first shuttle was 7 am.  That mean we had to get up at 5:30 to get breakfast and lunch and all of our hiking gear prepared.  Katie quickly left the tent and I stayed in bed for a few more minutes.  I heard the car turn on but tried to sleep a little more.  Unfortunately it was WAY to hard to sleep with it being 26 degrees.  (Let me repeat it was so fucking cold.)  I finally got out of bed and bundled up and tried to get warm.  I sat by the fire for a little while and went to the car to get some clothes.  I noticed that there was ice in the door handle.  Katie was in there and she was just miserable.  I tried to console her a little but she almost had enough of this trip already.  She told me that to tell Baron it's too early and to try and push the time back.  I went to Baron and talked to him a little.  Like a good leader he listened to our concerns and pushed the time back.  He also decided to get some dry pants for the narrows hike but, the adventure company didn't open till 8.  We waited around and tried our best to get ready for the hike.  I had left my Nalgene bottle half full on the table over night.  It was frozen solid!   With a bit of thawing near the fire the ice turned back to liquid. 

Screen shot of how cold it was at 7 in the morning.  

When 8 rolled around we went with the group to grab more stuff for the narrows hike.  One of the workers at the adventure company said that during the early morning temperatures dropped into the teens!  Everyone but Chris rented at least dry pants that day so that they wouldn't get cold trudging through the 40 degree water.  Katie and Claus opted to rent some boots as well to add onto their dry pants rental.  I opted to just stay with what I had because I already had neoprene socks and tabis.

 We all met back at the campsite and drove down to the visitors center around 9 o'clock.  Zion doesn't allow personal vehicles at the trail head so you have to catch a shuttle that stops at every stop in 10-15 minutes.  Our stop was the last stop at Temple of Sinawava.  We got off excited to start hiking The Narrows. 

There was a paved trail all the way to the start of The Narrows hike.  On our way the temperatures seemed to warm up as the morning got underway.  We strapped up and got ready for a group picture at the entrance to The Narrows.  For most of the hike we were wading through the water.  Some of us had walking sticks to help balance when crossing the stream.  The water levels weren't that high but the water was really cold.  All of us were in amazement walking through the canyon.  Some just kept snapping pictures.  Slowly we made our way up the canyon.  There were a lot of features that the water carved out.  Big boulders and ruffles along side the canyon wall.  The colors were in layers, bands of sand that had been compressed and eroded away along the wall.  The contrast between the blue stream and the dark red made for some amazing pictures. 

Around 12 pm we stopped for a break near the streams edge and in direct sunlight.  The section we stopped at was perfect for tubing.  I was the only one dumb enough to blow up my tube and proceed to hop in the frigid water.  I made three runs and after paddling with my hands down the stream, my hands were completely numb.  The numbness was like sticking your hand in an ice chest and leaving it there for a minute or so.  On the second run the pants that I wore under the dry pants started to get wet.  Luckily the sun was out at the break spot so I dried off and tried to get my body heat back in.  After breaking we proceeded up the river for another two hours.  We passed the intersection for Orderville Canyon and continued to a section dubbed "The WallStreet".  This is where you are mostly walking in water.  We went up about half an hour where there were two big boulders.  Most of the group called it a day because it was around 2 o'clock and we had to return the equipment at 7.  Katie and I decided to continue and try to make it to Big Spring.  Unfortunately we couldn't find it after an hour more after the turn around point.  Katie and I tried to rush out of canyon to meet the group but we were too slow.  We met up with the group at the trailhead of The Narrows.  

For the rest of the day we cruised at the campsite and shared a few drinks around the campfire.  

Like I said, there was frost on everything!

The view from our campsite during our first morning in Zion. 

Taking the shuttle to the Temple of Sinawava.

Every so often the doors would open at a stop.  I stuck my head out and snapped a few pictures. 

Grant and Paige on their way to the start of The Narrows. 

The group from L to R: Chris, Baron, Katie, Claus, Dan, Paige, Shelley, Grant, Christine, Marie, and Shasta.

Father and daughter time.  I wish my dad would come hiking with me.  He is by far the most rugged dad I know, he came hiking 8 hours up and down the stream and not one complaint from him.  The group was really impressed how he handled the hikes!  Thanks Claus for all the good times on this trip.

The stream meandered, slowly the walls in the canyon come close. 

The group posing for a shot next to a huge truck sized boulder. 

The group blazing through the stream. 

We zig zagged across the stream numerous times. 

The canyon walls and river rock contrasted each other.  It was picture perfect.

While there was a lot of red in the picture above this one... this one portayed a more dark looking Narrows. 

Eventually the group just waded through the water.  This section was called "Wallstreet"

Near our end point we waded in knee deep water.  Sand ruled the bottom of this stream bed section.

 Katie snapped this picture of me tubing down a section of The Narrows.  This face is the oh I don't care if I have cold water in my pants. 

While Katie and I were exploring up stream Shelley and Shasta enjoyed tubing down the stream in their full dry suits. 

The Narrows from Ryan Chang on Vimeo.

LA chillin' and Petroglyph Hunting

First off I'd like to thank the people that made this trip possible.  Mother for dropping us off and picking us up.  Christian for hanging out with us for a bit with a layover in Kauai.  Claus for getting us standby flights and all the errand running and letting us drive your vehicle across three states and putting up with Katie and I.  Baron for gathering us all together and planning everything, without you this trip wouldn't have been possible.  Lastly Katie, thanks for roughing it with me this past week in the airports, shopping, food listing, getting lottery tickets for the hike and all the usual antics I put you through.  

Starting off on our trip I was anxious to get off of work on Friday night and head over to LA but flights didn't look good to get out of Honolulu.  We tried for the red eye from Honolulu but it was overbooked and we couldn't get on.  I had my mom pick us back up and drop is off in the morning.  Saturday morning flights again didn't look any better.  We waited around till they called the last few people on the plane but our names were never called.  My hopes were still up but I knew Katie was getting frustrated.  She knew flying over the weekend on standby gets ugly.  All the flights were in the red and our luck was running out.  Katie's dad Claus, suggested we fly out of Kauai to LA.  We took the first Kauai flight out on Hawaiian with my moms miles, luck was starting to turn our way.  The flight that was supposed to leave Kauaʻi in the early afternoon got delayed which was a blessing in disguise.  The flight was in the red but as soon as it was delayed a bunch of people from the flight cancelled and made room for us to get on. 

We had a few hours to kill so Christian met up with us and had some lunch at Killer Tacos in Kapaʻa.  Kauaʻi was looking nice that day with some south westerly winds blowing. East side surf was looking prime.  I knew I was going to miss some swells while I was gone but I didn't complain, I was going to Zion National Park.  

Christian dropped us off at the airport and we said our "see you laters" because in a few weeks we'd be heading back to hike with him.  We were catching the last flight into LA.  The flight was smooth most of the way with Enders Game playing on the plane.  We arrived in LA at 1 am.  Claus and Christine picked us up and we headed to the house Katie grew up in.  This was home for the next couple of days.  

In the morning we planned on hiking with Katie's friend Laura since she hasn't seen her since she visited in Hawaii.  But before hiking we had to hit up the famous "candy store" for all hikers, REI.  There we got some new sleeping bags with some stuff sacks which put a hole in our wallet but was well worth it for this trip.  

That afternoon we met up with Laura and her boyfriend Roy.  They knew of a secluded hike with very few people on it.  We drove about forty minutes out from Pasadena to the foot hills of Altadena.  Sure enough locals know best.  There was very little crowd on the trails and no one at our end point.  Laura and Roy talked about how hikes in LA are so crowded.  

On the hike I got used to mainland terrain and weather, sort of.  Instead of volcanic rock we were walking mostly on granite.  Footing was solid on these rocks and I kept saying how awesome it is to be on these kind of rocks.  Our end point was a peak with granite sticking out of the ground and a waterfall.  It was nice to see that there was nature in such a busy city.  

The next few days we fit in some shopping for groceries, In n out burgers, the Huntington library, and meeting Katie's cousins and relatives.  

The Huntington library didn't seem interesting to me at first but, if you have never been to this place and are in LA with a couple of hours to spare here I highly suggest you visit this place.  Laura works here and she gave us a private tour of the grounds.  It's a library named after the railroad tycoon Henry Edwards Huntington. The grounds had numerous gardens.  Each was authentic and had magnificent plants in bloom.  It was spring time and the roses were in bloom in the rose garden.  They had a bonsai garden and every bonsai on display was very pretty.  The Chinese garden had a pond with koi fish in it and Chinese structures surrounding it.  The Japanese garden had Wisteria trees that were full of purple flowers.  We made our way to the cactus garden. It had a bunch of succulents and dry land plants.  There was also a lily pond garden which we quickly walked through and a tropical garden as well.  We only had an afternoon to kill but you probably could spend a couple of days here photographing all the different plants and scenery.  I'm sure there are books here somewhere but why look inside when you can be outside right?  So if you ever have time go check it out!  

That night we had to pick up Jenny coming home from Senegal.  I'm sure everyone would be jealous of her job.  She gets to travel the world with Green Living Project.  She is a production manager and gets to plan trips that revolve around people that are trying to live green.  She showed us pictures that night of where she visited and what her project was there.  I'm sure a video will be out soon so stay tuned at glpfilms.  

Wednesday rolled around pretty quick and we were out the door and on our way to Utah at 6 in the morning.  We drove across California and into Nevada.  Las Vegas was about a four hour drive and that's the first time I've been there.  It wasn't as cool as I thought it would be.  We drove straight through and drove a short while in Arizona.  From Las Vegas it was another two to three hours to Utah.  We stopped somewhere outside of Hurricane to grab a quick bite at Wendy's and we drove about an hour more to meet up with everyone at Zion.  During the hour drive the landscape and terrain changed.  The colors or the mountains contrasted the sky with bright tones of red.  The drive was jaw dropping and amazing.  I couldn't believe what I was missing on the mainland and to know I would be hiking here for the next few days gave me chicken skin (the good kind). 

Baron, Paige, Grant, Chris, and Daniel were there and helped us set up camp.  We expected nice good weather for our trip but nature had another thing in store for us.  It was raining off and on and we kept most of the supplies inside the car.  As soon as we setup our tents we decided to do a short trail to some petroglyphs.  We took a drive up the mountain and pulled off to look for this trail that wasn't in any of the Zion guides.  When we pulled off it was snowing.  This was the second time I saw snow.  It was cold but welcoming for now.  We looked at the sandstone walls for these petroglyphs but we couldn't find any.  We decided that it was getting late and other people were supposed to meet us at camp.  We also had to pick up some dry pants for the narrows hike tomorrow.  Some of the group went on to eventually find the petroglyphs but Katie, Claus and I had to go to the store to rent gear.  

We went to Zion Adventure Company to pick up dry pants for tomorrow.  We had to fill out a renters agreement and watch a short video on the narrows before renting the gear.  After renting the pants we met back up with the group.  We showed the group what we got and tried to convince them it would be a good idea they rented at least pants like me.  They decided to wait to rent anything.  

During dinner time the temperature was dropping into the low fifties high forties.  Both Katie and I were developing a cough and stuffy noses.  We fired up the camp fire to try and keep us warm but we persisted to cough and sniffle.  We ate salmon burgers the first night and had some hot chocolate and tea.  We sat around the fire and finished dinner.  The rest of the group finally got here a little after dinner time.  Christine, Shelley, Marie, and Shasta arrived at camp driving from LA like us.  

We all sat around and talked story until it became too cold.  Katie and I retired to our tent around 8:30 ish.  I took a quick look at the weather and temperature and saw that the low was going to be well into the thirties and there was a slight chance for rain.  Katie was so cold that she clung onto me for the rest of the night.  It was uncomfortably cold for both of us even with our new bags rated at 20 degrees.  The next morning the time to meet and to catch the first shuttle was 7 am and do the Narrows hike. 

Photos by: Ryan and Chris

The trail started off like some trails on Oahu, between houses.

The trails below San Gabriel are very dry and dusty.

Laura and Roy make their way around a foundation of what used to be an old hotel. 

Granite outcropping near the summit. 

We don't have this in Hawaii!

In the shadow was a trickle of a waterfall.  Usually it flows but not today. 

Roy explained that the holes in the rock were from explosives they used. 

We weren't the only ones on the trail.

The group enjoyed the view of LA from the mountains. 

A building at The Huntington Library.

Laura and Katie talking story on a bridge in the Chinese garden.

A walkway in the Chinese garden

Bridging the gap between the Chinese garden and the Bonsai display.

The Bonsai Courts

Katie checking out some of the trees that were on display.

One of my favorite ones on display.  Miniature Wisteria tree.

Trying to meditate with the Bonsai trees.  You are supposed to imagine yourself tiny. 

Imagine yourself below this Japanese Black Pine...

An authentic rock garden. 

Guess what this is... If you guessed a Japanese inspired garden you are correct!

Wisteria in bloom.  Makes me want to visit Wisteria Lane.

Katie's favorite was the cactus garden.  Here are Golden Barrel cacti. 

The koi fish weren't scared of children at the waters edge.  They came right up! 

Our first hike at Zion was trying to look for petroglyphs. 

Paige coming up empty handed at this narrow corridor. 

Claus going deeper into the narrow canyon, still searching...

Daniel searching high...

It started to snow... this was when Katie, Claus and I decided to call it quits.  The rest of the group went on. 

We enjoyed the snow for a little though. 

Chris took a good pictures when the group found it. 

Zion National Park from Ryan Chang on Vimeo.

Rat chutes

On Prince Kuhio day, Cory, Katie, and Jay were off.  We all decided the night before to be outside exploring as usual.  Unexpectedly again, rain clouds rolled in and dumped some heavy rain over the Ko'olau mountain range.  It foiled our plans to check out some of the northern gulches to practice rock hopping in our new tabis. 

Instead we checked out some waterfall chutes that were running.  The valley has a rich history of being the valley of the rat.  Some mo'olelo has instances where these rats would trick people into falling into the pools and drowning.  Unfortunately we didn't see any rats so none of us drowned. 

We visited at least three chutes out of over fifteen that day and they were all flowing.  By the end of the day all were down to just a trickle if not dry.  These chutes drain really quickly so the opportunity to see them are slim.  We were lucky to see them on such a good rainy day.

 

Preparing to climb up a small waterfall to get to the main chute.

The first tiered waterfall we visited. 

On our way up to the best looking waterfall the stream flowed through some rocks. 

This waterfall drops multiple times.  We spent a lot of time here taking pictures. 

 
Rat Chutes from Ryan Chang on Vimeo.

Winter '13 - '14

Just wanted to compile a video together of all the places I've been since Novemberish and March.  Winter is winding down and it's been pretty good.  Our trip to the Big Island during Thanksgiving was extremely fun, hiking and exploring an island I hadn't been on since I been to Waimanu in 2011.  The rest of the video was mostly waterfalls and canyoneering deep in the Ko'olau's.  It's pretty amazing to see the streams of the islands flowing through the forest cutting a path to the top of the Ko'olau ridge trail.

It's been a really rainy season with 4 or 5 straight weekends of rain.  Finding waterfalls that don't normally flow everyday has been at the top of my list since I've started hiking.  There's been a lot of scouting during this season and going back to places we had already been to numerous times just to get past obstacles and to go deeper.  One project I was working on was scouting a stream people don't usually go up.  The first time there was just to see if there are waterfalls.  The second time a bigger group and a bigger payout with an end at a large waterfall, trying to probe up a right contour trail to go higher but with the afternoon sun setting we headed out.  The third time here was the last time.  We headed up to the last point and actually contoured left and made it above.  We kept going and going with some navigation with topographic maps and google earth we reached the Ko'olau summit!  It is probably the best waterfall loop here on this island.

Other places I visited were a few falls in Nuuanu that I hadn't been to.  It wasn't that great of a flow but it's good to know that it flows year around and is probably a spring that's feeding it.

We backpacked twice.  One of them was a route that I had gone on back in 2011ish but in reverse.  It's good to see that the Ko'olaus are getting some love with all the groups going up there and working on rare and native plants.  Learning from snail and plant expert Nate Yuen along the way is a plus.  The other time was in the Waianae mountains.  That overnighter completely changed my mind on the Waianaes.  I always thought the Waianae's were some where hot and miserable and not much to see but shrubs and dry plants.  In the upper regions there is a huge forest and lots to see there.

Our latest adventure was tubing which could be found here.

Surfing was the last thing I added to the video.  This winter I surfed a little up on the north shore, not as much as I would like but enough.  I surfed a bunch at Ehukai with a huge sand bar!  I also surfed up on the North East side of the island for the first time.  Let's just say that place is a gold mine for empty great waves if the conditions are perfect.






Winter '13-'14 from Ryan Chang on Vimeo.

Perfect for tubing

The brunt of the cold front hit us Friday through Saturday giving us scattered showering throughout the weekend.  Ever since Friday I've been watching the stream gauges figuring out what I wanted to do for the weekend.  Waterfalls or tubing?  The heights for North Fork Kaukonahua stream on Sunday were prime for tubing.  The last time I went tubing the height for the stream wasn't ideal for it and made me not want to do it again for a while.  Fast forward to almost a year and I got a real bad itch to finally understand what all the rave was about, tubing down Kaukonahua stream.  Besides the stream heights being at the perfect level the sun came out and made for a not so chilly ride down the stream. 

Joining me were Cory, Amanda, Will, Lynne, and Katie.  We've been holding off on tubing until we had it perfect like Sunday.  We met in Wahiawa and started hiking around 9:45 a.m.  We set up our finish line and made our way to the end of the Wahiawa loop trail where the stream meets the trail.  We blew up our tubes and had our first sips of alcohol to give us some courage to brave the rapids.  After going through a several rapids we'd stop and take pictures.  It gave us a time to enjoy each other company and take more sips.  Near the half way point there was a section of rapids where we could do it over and over so we could get the perfect instagram picture.  Taking several pictures and dancing to music we never knew our other friend Garvin would come around the corner.  We were all happy to see that he could join us.  The last stretch of the stream was quick.  We flew through the rapids and I suggested to do it again but, it was getting late and the stream height was already dropping.

On our way out since this tubing expedition has been so popularized by blogs and videos such as this one we found a BUNCH of rubbish and tubes just lying around on the trail.  My group and I were quite disgusted at the fact that people can't even take out their trash and tubes so we decided to pop a few and deflate them and carry it out ourselves.  I stress to all of you that read my blog and watch my videos that if this kind of stuff continues, we won't have any of these trails open or nature to enjoy because of the disgusting filth people leave behind.  If you see rubbish anywhere try and pack it out, even if it's not yours.  I'd very much appreciate it.  After picking up we headed to Dong Yang Inn to get our Korean grind on.

On a happier note enjoy the pictures and video! 

All pictures were taken by Katie unless otherwise stated. 

Katie and I picked up a few extra back up tubes.  You never know if your main tube will pop going down stream. 

Most of us had loungers while Lynne had a little more expensive floating device.  Lounger can be bought at Walmart for under $20, beers not included. 

Most of the time you are relaxing and floating down river. 

The group relaxing and taking a break after the rapids. 

Cory took this excellent picture of me going through some of the rapids. 

Dong Yang Inn kalbi meat chun combination plate.  Grinds after tubing. 

 



Tubing Kaukonahua from Ryan Chang on Vimeo.