Okay, so I heard about this place, ‘The Narrows’, somewhere down in Texas. Sounded like a bit of an adventure, you know? Different from the usual park trails. My cousin Dave was free, so I called him up, said “Let’s go check this Narrows thing out.” He was game.
Getting Ready (Sort Of)
Didn’t do a ton of research, gotta be honest. Saw a few pictures, looked like walking in a river between some cliffs. Figured, how hard could it be? Just threw some stuff in a bag. Here’s what I remember grabbing:
- Old pair of running shoes I didn’t care about
- Swim trunks (wore ’em under my shorts)
- A backpack
- Couple bottles of water
- Some trail mix or something
Yeah, probably should’ve looked into it more. Didn’t think about walking sticks or proper water shoes. Just thought, “Ah, we’ll manage.” Famous last words, right?
Hitting the Trail and the Water
We drove out there, took a while. Roads got smaller and smaller, finally ended up at a dusty parking area. Not many cars, which was nice. We grabbed our packs and started walking down this path. Pretty easy at first, just a regular dirt trail through some trees.
Then we hit the water. Like, the trail just disappeared into this creek or river. Looked kinda shallow at first. We just waded right in. Man, that water was cold! Took my breath away for a second. But it felt good after walking in the Texas heat.
So we started walking upstream. The name ‘Narrows’ made sense pretty quick. The banks got steeper, turned into rock walls, sometimes pretty close together. We were literally walking in the river the whole time. The bottom was all rocks, some smooth, some jagged. Super slippery in spots. Dave almost went down like three times. I managed to stay upright, mostly luck I think.
It wasn’t just wading, either. Sometimes the water got up to our waists. Had to really push through it. Other times it was shallower, just ankle-deep. Those old sneakers? Terrible idea. They filled with water and sand, got heavy, offered zero grip on the slick rocks. Should’ve listened to that little voice telling me to buy those five-dollar water shoes I saw last week.
The Vibe Out There
But you know what? It was awesome. Really quiet. Just the sound of the water moving, maybe some birds. No cell service, thank goodness. Felt like we were way out there. Saw some fish darting around our legs. Looked up and just saw those rock walls going straight up, with a strip of blue sky way overhead. It was tough walking, yeah, but it felt… real. Like actually doing something, not just sitting around.
We kept going for maybe two, three hours? Found this cool spot where the water pooled up, a bit deeper. Took a break there, sat on some big rocks, ate our snacks. Just soaked it in. It’s weird, you bust your butt getting somewhere, getting tired and scraped up, but you feel totally relaxed at the same time. Hard to explain.
Heading Back
Eventually, we figured we’d gone far enough. The water seemed to be getting consistently deeper ahead, and honestly, my feet were killing me in those soggy shoes. Didn’t want to push our luck too much. So we turned around and started the trek back downstream.
Going back felt a bit easier, maybe ’cause we knew what to expect. Still slippery, still wading, but felt faster. Got back to the truck totally soaked, muddy, and tired. But it was that good kind of tired, you know? Like you earned it.
Dumped the water out of my shoes, changed into dry shorts, and we hit the road. Quiet drive back, mostly. Just thinking about the hike. Definitely something I’d do again, but next time? Proper footwear. Lesson learned.
