Sunday morning began with a 300 foot rappel into Egypt 2. I was very aware of the fact that it was Sunday morning and reflected on how much I love to worship in canyons instead of churches. 300 feet takes a while to rappel (you don’t want to go too fast and get your device too hot), so I sang a little song to pass the time. (Jason has a video of me singing “Defying Gravity” on this rappel that I’ll post if I get it from him. It seemed like the appropriate song for the moment.) The scariest part of this was after we’d all made it safely to the bottom- the rope had a core shot. We made the mistake of not adjusting the rope after each person’s turn, so it rubbed on the rock too much.
All I can say about Egypt 2 was that it was the perfect canyon. Jason began to teach me stemming skills, which was exciting. Other than that, we just played and enjoyed the scenery.
(Looking over the edge into the canyon)
(Looking on skeptically as Kristin demonstrates)
After the canyon, Jason (our extremely knowledgeable guide) took us on a tour of Hole in the Rock Road. Our campsite was off of this road. It’s a 50 mile road that stretches from Escalante to Lake Powell.
Our first stop along this road were the moki steps. Moki steps are little indentations the ancient Native Americans carved into the rock. It's kind of like a ladder, but much, much, scarier. Going up is no big deal, but going down is super intimidating because you can't see where your foot goes. Kristin and Jason made it to the top of this rock. I made it about 3 feet up.
When Mormon pioneers were commissioned to settle southeastern Utah back in the day, this is the route they traveled. When they got to the cliffs in front of (what was then) the Colorado River (it became Lake Powell when a dam was built), they were stuck. They were boxed in by cliffs on two sides and would have to travel pretty far north to bypass them. So, they did something really risky. They blew up part of the cliffs to create a “hole in the rock” and they lowered the wagons down to the river. The crazy part is, they all made it safely. I think it was something like 50 families. It’s a really cool story and a really neat site to see.
(Signing the guest book)
(The view looking down from Hole in the Rock to Lake Powell)
On the way back, we stopped at Dance Hall Rock, a natural amphitheater where the Mormon pioneers partied. I could just imagine them playing their fiddles and dancing, forgetting all their troubles for just a little while. I performed a concert for Kristin and Jason and included a few songs the pioneers would have known. It was a really beautiful moment; I felt surrounded by the spirit of these brave people. And Kristin and Jason were amazed by how well the amphitheater worked; they were sure people could hear me a mile away. I think that was one of my favorite parts of the trip- singing on a natural stage in the vast, empty desert.
*All photos courtesy of Jason Marshall (www.inthecanyons.com)
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