When I got up, the weather was 3 degrees and foggy in Green River. Not gonna lie, I dragged my feet a little getting ready and leaving town. But the further south I drove, the more sunny and clear it became, and my smile got wider and wider. It felt so good to be back in my favorite spot in the world.
I got to North Wash around 11:00 a.m. Kristin and I had a gleeful reunion. After jumping up and down and hugging, she yanked up her top and I motorboated her. Bernie, Jason's BFF, looked on with wide eyes. I guess it was quite the first impression. I was super excited to meet the legendary Bernie and Adam, Kristin's canyoneering buddy. We were also joined by Marie, who's from California and had met Adam and Kristin at a canyoneering rendezvous.
Jason had somehow managed to sleep through all the excitement.
"Jason," Kristin yelled, "you missed the motorboating."
"Goddammit!" came his voice from the tent. He finally emerged to do our Predator handshake. "You son of a bitch," we greeted each other, then started arm wrestling. It's so sad; I threw my whole weight into it, and he still beat me effortlessly.
I was SO READY to get in a canyon, and it was determined that East Leprechaun would be our first one. I love the pictures from this one because I think it's easy to see how much fun we're having. This canyon was like a giant playground. I was in heaven; I hadn't been that happy in a long time. It was the perfect cure for my December depression.
There were two funny things that happened in this canyon. The first was when I was negotiating a difficult sliding downclimb. Adam grabbed my foot from below to spot me, and I glared. Without even seeing my face, Kristin burst out laughing. "Don't grab her foot, she HATES that," Kristin advised.
"Obviously." Adam looked a little surprised by the intensity of my glare.
I concentrated on climbing and quickly lost control. "I'm falling, I'm falling," I yelled. And all of a sudden my crotch was on Adam's shoulder. He shifted me around so I was on his shoulders for a few steps, then lowered me safely to the ground. I think I was screaming the whole time. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), Jason chose that moment to shoot some video. I'll post it here when I get it from him. But seriously, after moments like that, I don't understand why my friends yell at me for calling myself awkward. I'm not ashamed of it; that was a typical Erin downclimb!
The other funny moment came at a pothole towards the end of the canyon. A few people went before me, including Kristin, who made it look graceful and effortless. "Oh, I got this," I said. And fell in.
What sucked the most was that, if I'd intentionally gotten wet, the water would have only been knee-deep. But since I fell, I got wet up to my chest. In 30 degree weather. Eek!
(Jason also got this proud moment on video, which I will share later.)
Surprisingly, it wasn't as awful as I thought it would be. My wet clothes slowed me down a little, but for the most part, I was numb rather than cold. The problem was that I'd gotten my only base layer wet. (My Smartwool top and pants.) And I just couldn't get warm, no matter how long I sat around the fire. (Which was a long time, since Kristin had over-served herself and I had to stay up until she stopped puking and the spins had gone away so she could go to bed. Poor thing.)
I was feeling pretty confident when I headed for bed that night. The propane heater my dad got me was made for anything bigger than a two-person tent. Bernie had a three-person tent all to himself, so I invited myself to stay with him, thinking it would be more effective there than in the six-person tent everyone else was sharing. I also had Ray's military sleeping pad and -20 sleeping bag. How could I be cold??
After just two hours of sleep, I was awake and shivering. The heater wouldn't stay on. There was a hole in the tent. I was absolutely miserable. Bernie woke up at some point and saw that I was awake. He tried to keep me warm and talked about warm things to make me feel better, but I still just laid there shaking for the rest of the night. I guess the bright side of this was that I was sharing a tent with Bernie, the most gifted conversationalist I have ever met. I was lucky he was there to talk to me and distract me! But still, after one night I knew I'd be in a hotel for the rest of the trip. And I couldn't believe how much I heard, "Aren't you from Chicago??" Yes, but that doesn't make me immune to the cold, and that doesn't mean I like it! The winter I spent in Phoenix was the best winter of my life!
*All photos courtesy of the amazing Jason Marshall at inthecanyons.com
I got to North Wash around 11:00 a.m. Kristin and I had a gleeful reunion. After jumping up and down and hugging, she yanked up her top and I motorboated her. Bernie, Jason's BFF, looked on with wide eyes. I guess it was quite the first impression. I was super excited to meet the legendary Bernie and Adam, Kristin's canyoneering buddy. We were also joined by Marie, who's from California and had met Adam and Kristin at a canyoneering rendezvous.
Jason had somehow managed to sleep through all the excitement.
"Jason," Kristin yelled, "you missed the motorboating."
"Goddammit!" came his voice from the tent. He finally emerged to do our Predator handshake. "You son of a bitch," we greeted each other, then started arm wrestling. It's so sad; I threw my whole weight into it, and he still beat me effortlessly.
I was SO READY to get in a canyon, and it was determined that East Leprechaun would be our first one. I love the pictures from this one because I think it's easy to see how much fun we're having. This canyon was like a giant playground. I was in heaven; I hadn't been that happy in a long time. It was the perfect cure for my December depression.
There were two funny things that happened in this canyon. The first was when I was negotiating a difficult sliding downclimb. Adam grabbed my foot from below to spot me, and I glared. Without even seeing my face, Kristin burst out laughing. "Don't grab her foot, she HATES that," Kristin advised.
"Obviously." Adam looked a little surprised by the intensity of my glare.
I concentrated on climbing and quickly lost control. "I'm falling, I'm falling," I yelled. And all of a sudden my crotch was on Adam's shoulder. He shifted me around so I was on his shoulders for a few steps, then lowered me safely to the ground. I think I was screaming the whole time. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), Jason chose that moment to shoot some video. I'll post it here when I get it from him. But seriously, after moments like that, I don't understand why my friends yell at me for calling myself awkward. I'm not ashamed of it; that was a typical Erin downclimb!
The other funny moment came at a pothole towards the end of the canyon. A few people went before me, including Kristin, who made it look graceful and effortless. "Oh, I got this," I said. And fell in.
What sucked the most was that, if I'd intentionally gotten wet, the water would have only been knee-deep. But since I fell, I got wet up to my chest. In 30 degree weather. Eek!
(Jason also got this proud moment on video, which I will share later.)
Surprisingly, it wasn't as awful as I thought it would be. My wet clothes slowed me down a little, but for the most part, I was numb rather than cold. The problem was that I'd gotten my only base layer wet. (My Smartwool top and pants.) And I just couldn't get warm, no matter how long I sat around the fire. (Which was a long time, since Kristin had over-served herself and I had to stay up until she stopped puking and the spins had gone away so she could go to bed. Poor thing.)
I was feeling pretty confident when I headed for bed that night. The propane heater my dad got me was made for anything bigger than a two-person tent. Bernie had a three-person tent all to himself, so I invited myself to stay with him, thinking it would be more effective there than in the six-person tent everyone else was sharing. I also had Ray's military sleeping pad and -20 sleeping bag. How could I be cold??
After just two hours of sleep, I was awake and shivering. The heater wouldn't stay on. There was a hole in the tent. I was absolutely miserable. Bernie woke up at some point and saw that I was awake. He tried to keep me warm and talked about warm things to make me feel better, but I still just laid there shaking for the rest of the night. I guess the bright side of this was that I was sharing a tent with Bernie, the most gifted conversationalist I have ever met. I was lucky he was there to talk to me and distract me! But still, after one night I knew I'd be in a hotel for the rest of the trip. And I couldn't believe how much I heard, "Aren't you from Chicago??" Yes, but that doesn't make me immune to the cold, and that doesn't mean I like it! The winter I spent in Phoenix was the best winter of my life!
*All photos courtesy of the amazing Jason Marshall at inthecanyons.com
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