In many cultures, superstitions consider crows to be bad omens, predictors of death or disease. Piercing caws first drew my attention to the large black bird perched near the edge of the 100-foot (30 m) ledge off which I would soon be rappelling.

A college friend, Judy, and I were camping in southern Utah’s Zion National Park, where we met three 20-somethings — Rachel, Nathan and Isaac — who invited us on their afternoon canyoneering trip. Simply defined by the American Canyoneering Association, the sport “involves traveling through canyons.” Such travel can include “hiking, wading, swimming, jumping, sliding, climbing and rappelling.” Or all of the above, which we would soon experience.

Our new friends explained the trip: several rappels, including a final free-hanging rappel, were the only route out of the narrow slot canyon. Along the way, we’d swim and wade through the remnants of spring flooding, kept cold by deep canyon shadows. Hiking trip or rescue mission, the Pine Creek Canyon route is one-way.

Towering red rocks characterize much of Zion National Park.

Once through the narrowest parts of the canyon we would enter into the visible world as tiny dots on the rock wall beside the 720-foot-long (119 m), 580-foot-high (177 m) Great Arch of Zion, an impressive eyebrow-like arch at the entry to a cave. From there, we’d tackle one last ledge and a 2-hour, .75-mile (1 km) hike over SUV-sized boulders.

Massive natural arches mark the Colorado Plateau, which includes Zion National Park and spans parts of Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Arches aren’t always open holes; blind arches, like Zion’s Great Arch and those in Pine Creek Canyon, are curved recesses in the rock face.

I swore as I squeezed myself into a sweltering borrowed wetsuit in 95-degree (35 C) heat. Curious park visitors watched Nathan and Isaac suit up with 50-pound (23 kg) packs loaded down with rope. When Rachel donned a thick neoprene top, I stopped questioning my own wetsuit and tried to figure out the best way to add extra layers of warmth.

Karabiners clinked like wind chimes in an approaching storm, and the sweat dripped from our brows as we stepped into our rock-climbing harnesses, which fit snugly around the waist and upper thighs. I felt like a horse being saddled as Rachel and Isaac cinched the straps tight. Metal rings on the harness would be used to attach the ropes we’d need to lower ourselves through the canyon.

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Zion National Park is scored with multi-layer towers of rock, the products of over 200 million years of sedimentation and geologic change. The Virgin River continues to carve Zion Canyon. Much of the work is accomplished by flash floods, when the river can rise to more than 100 times its average flow.

From the furrowed limestone and shale of Checkerboard Mesa to the 2,000-foot (610 m) canyon walls, Zion National Park is famous for its varied geology. In the 19th century, Mormons began to populate the area and, recognizing the spectacular sights, gave Zion the name that would eventually lure outdoorsmen from around the world.

The Narrows, one of the most famous sections of Zion Canyon, attracts visitors to the Virgin River Trail. Here, hikers splash through ankle- to chest-deep water as they make their way upriver through the narrowing canyon.