*All photos taken by the amazing Jason Marshall (www.inthecanyons.com)
Shillelagh. So much fun to say, I composed a little song about it while we hiked. And such a fun canyon to run.
Jason and Kristin are teaching me more of the technical stuff, so when we got to the canyon, they let me go in front and set up the first two raps.
The second rap, a 90 foot one, is where things got interesting- there was a giant pothole filled with water at the bottom. Jason went first and somehow managed to clear it. Kristin went next and fell in. I went last and didn't even attempt the difficult maneuver. Unfortunately, there is video of this. If I get it from Jason, I will post it here since it is kind of funny.
(Beginning of the rap)
(Getting to the ledge)
(Kristin contemplates her climbing route. I contemplate getting wet.)
It had rained the day before, which made the rest of the canyon very interesting. All of a sudden, "floor is lava" wasn't just a game. The floor was all pools, and we were trying to stay dry. Once you've gotten wet for the first time, it's really not a big deal. But still, that water is all muddy and I don't like when you can't see the bottom to see how deep it is.
Of course, Jason was a beast. He intentionally got his feet wet towards the end, but that was it. Kristin is in the same league as Jason, but she got to a point where she was just over it and didn't care about getting wet anymore. I didn't attempt all of the crazy moves they did, but I still worked hard. It's fun, it's good practice, and why not at least try?
(I love the pictures of me and Kristin working side by side. I just wish you could tell how hard we are working; I feel like it doesn't even look that difficult!)
We had originally planned on doing both forks, but we were dirty, wet, and exhausted after just the first one. All we could think about was how awesome the beach would be. So we headed back to Hite and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out on the river.
We decided to camp back at Little Egypt. I was sleepy, so Kristin drove my car and I rode with Jason in the truck. It was quite the wild ride, and some of his maneuvers had me screaming. "It's always an adventure with you, Jason," I said. "Some of my friends say it's too much adventure, " he replied as he went flying over a bump. Jason flew into the campsite and did a few donuts. I started screaming that I was going to throw up, and he stopped. That's when we saw that the back of his tailgate had fallen down, and our stuff was laying all over the ground in a perfect circle. We laughed and thought about what Kristin would think, and as we laughed we noticed it was taking her a really long time to get there. Jason was referring to her as "Grandma." And then, all of a sudden we noticed the coolers were missing. We started putting together the pieces and realized we must have been losing stuff all along the road, and Kristin was probably cleaning up our mess.
We found Kristin down the road, and our hypothesis was correct. Sadly, just about everything in the coolers was ruined. But we didn't let that stop our fun as we went to explore all the crazy hoodoos in Little Egypt.
If something like this existed in Illinois, it would be the biggest tourist attraction in the state. There would be paved walkways and you wouldn't be allowed to touch anything. Here in Utah, it's just another little corner of beauty that's rarely visited. We raced around, climbing up hoodoos and naming them silly things. (Jason's Recliner, Kristin's Balls...) Jason kept climbing things and challenging us to do it, too. Kristin took him up on just about every challenge, and Jason suggested that we play a game of Horse, just like in elementary school. (He climbs something, and then we have to climb it, too, or we get a letter.) Of course, that game was over quickly. But I just love the stuff he comes up with. Traveling with Jason is the best because he just adds a whole new dimension to things. He knows of places Kristin and I have never heard of and aren't in the tourist books, and he has ideas for fun that would never cross our minds. (I don't think me and Kristin would've gotten into a mud fight on our own.) We just love Jay so much.
Shillelagh. So much fun to say, I composed a little song about it while we hiked. And such a fun canyon to run.
Jason and Kristin are teaching me more of the technical stuff, so when we got to the canyon, they let me go in front and set up the first two raps.
The second rap, a 90 foot one, is where things got interesting- there was a giant pothole filled with water at the bottom. Jason went first and somehow managed to clear it. Kristin went next and fell in. I went last and didn't even attempt the difficult maneuver. Unfortunately, there is video of this. If I get it from Jason, I will post it here since it is kind of funny.
(Beginning of the rap)
(Getting to the ledge)
(Kristin contemplates her climbing route. I contemplate getting wet.)
It had rained the day before, which made the rest of the canyon very interesting. All of a sudden, "floor is lava" wasn't just a game. The floor was all pools, and we were trying to stay dry. Once you've gotten wet for the first time, it's really not a big deal. But still, that water is all muddy and I don't like when you can't see the bottom to see how deep it is.
Of course, Jason was a beast. He intentionally got his feet wet towards the end, but that was it. Kristin is in the same league as Jason, but she got to a point where she was just over it and didn't care about getting wet anymore. I didn't attempt all of the crazy moves they did, but I still worked hard. It's fun, it's good practice, and why not at least try?
(I love the pictures of me and Kristin working side by side. I just wish you could tell how hard we are working; I feel like it doesn't even look that difficult!)
We had originally planned on doing both forks, but we were dirty, wet, and exhausted after just the first one. All we could think about was how awesome the beach would be. So we headed back to Hite and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out on the river.
We decided to camp back at Little Egypt. I was sleepy, so Kristin drove my car and I rode with Jason in the truck. It was quite the wild ride, and some of his maneuvers had me screaming. "It's always an adventure with you, Jason," I said. "Some of my friends say it's too much adventure, " he replied as he went flying over a bump. Jason flew into the campsite and did a few donuts. I started screaming that I was going to throw up, and he stopped. That's when we saw that the back of his tailgate had fallen down, and our stuff was laying all over the ground in a perfect circle. We laughed and thought about what Kristin would think, and as we laughed we noticed it was taking her a really long time to get there. Jason was referring to her as "Grandma." And then, all of a sudden we noticed the coolers were missing. We started putting together the pieces and realized we must have been losing stuff all along the road, and Kristin was probably cleaning up our mess.
We found Kristin down the road, and our hypothesis was correct. Sadly, just about everything in the coolers was ruined. But we didn't let that stop our fun as we went to explore all the crazy hoodoos in Little Egypt.
If something like this existed in Illinois, it would be the biggest tourist attraction in the state. There would be paved walkways and you wouldn't be allowed to touch anything. Here in Utah, it's just another little corner of beauty that's rarely visited. We raced around, climbing up hoodoos and naming them silly things. (Jason's Recliner, Kristin's Balls...) Jason kept climbing things and challenging us to do it, too. Kristin took him up on just about every challenge, and Jason suggested that we play a game of Horse, just like in elementary school. (He climbs something, and then we have to climb it, too, or we get a letter.) Of course, that game was over quickly. But I just love the stuff he comes up with. Traveling with Jason is the best because he just adds a whole new dimension to things. He knows of places Kristin and I have never heard of and aren't in the tourist books, and he has ideas for fun that would never cross our minds. (I don't think me and Kristin would've gotten into a mud fight on our own.) We just love Jay so much.
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