Our first day of travel took us through Monument Valley to Moab, UT. I must
confess, I wanted to kill Nancy because she was texting with her ex and I knew
they were going to get back together. And she knew I was annoyed, which made
things awkward. But we pushed through this and managed to enjoy the beauty of
Moab. We spent one day driving through Arches and Canyonlands. I pointed out the
8 mile trail I wanted to hike at Canyonlands, and it was Nancy's turn to look
like she wanted to stab me. It was pretty hot that day.
I had stumbled upon what is considered to be one of the canyoneering Bibles. Michael Kelsey has spent most of his life traveling Utah and writing about it. He has done some absolutely insane stuff and published beta for hundreds of canyons. At the beginning of 127 Hours, they show Aron Ralston making copies from a Kelsey book. The man is a god, no joke. Bernie says that if he ever met him, he would bow down. We actually met one of his friends at Freezefest, and Bernie did bow down, and I asked him to autograph my Kelsey book. (He's in a ton of the pictures.) This guy was really cool and kinda hot and actually promised to do Middle Leprechaun with me this summer. (That was the day I missed out because of my stupid flat tire.) But he seemed embarrassed by all the attention.
Anyway, I just think it was funny how I stumbled on such a significant book. Nancy and I took the books I bought back to the hotel with the intention of finding a slot canyon to hike the next day.
This is another example of how I could've easily gotten in over my head. Luckily, we chose to do a loop through Little Wild Horse and Bell Canyons, which are pretty tame and well-known. But the thing about the Kelsey books is that they always make stuff sound easier than it really is. Since he is so awesome, he trivializes stuff that's a big deal for me. He downclimbs stuff I'd want to rappel and moves very quickly, so his estimated times are always way less than reality (for me, at least). The girl at the bookshop did warn us about the time factor, so that was fortunate. We could have been totally screwed. I was still on a high after the Black Hole experience and thought I knew what I was doing. Definitely not!
(An... interesting rock formation at Arches)
(Balance Rock at Arches)
We wanted an adventure for the next day. Moab Adventure Center is a really great place if you don't have technical skills but want to experience something awesome. I wanted to sign up for their canyoneering experience, but Nancy refused to do anything that involved rappelling. We compromised on whitewater rafting on the Colorado River.
The funny thing was, I was absolutely terrified to do this after my previous experience. We chose one of the more tame routes, but I still was fighting panic during the beginning of the trip. But when we hit the first big rapid, I remembered why I love this. I had this huge grin on my face and was all "What's next? Bring it on!" and the guide was like, "Well, that was kinda the highlight of this particular trip..." And the rest of the trip was mainly floating down the river and having water fights with the other rafts. But it was still fun and got me over my fear (somewhat). And I have to give Nancy credit for not only going with me, but WANTING to do this.
That night, after
having dinner at the brewery, we stopped at Back of Beyond Books. I LOVE
independent book shops, and to find one that specialized in outdoors books was
like heaven.
I asked the salesgirl for books about canyons. She pointed out the Michael Kelsey books and said they were popular. I was smart enough at least to choose his non-technical guide to the Colorado Plateau, but I did actually ask the sales girl where exactly the Colorado plateau was located. ("Does it include Moab? Are we, like, on it right now?")
I asked the salesgirl for books about canyons. She pointed out the Michael Kelsey books and said they were popular. I was smart enough at least to choose his non-technical guide to the Colorado Plateau, but I did actually ask the sales girl where exactly the Colorado plateau was located. ("Does it include Moab? Are we, like, on it right now?")
I had stumbled upon what is considered to be one of the canyoneering Bibles. Michael Kelsey has spent most of his life traveling Utah and writing about it. He has done some absolutely insane stuff and published beta for hundreds of canyons. At the beginning of 127 Hours, they show Aron Ralston making copies from a Kelsey book. The man is a god, no joke. Bernie says that if he ever met him, he would bow down. We actually met one of his friends at Freezefest, and Bernie did bow down, and I asked him to autograph my Kelsey book. (He's in a ton of the pictures.) This guy was really cool and kinda hot and actually promised to do Middle Leprechaun with me this summer. (That was the day I missed out because of my stupid flat tire.) But he seemed embarrassed by all the attention.
Anyway, I just think it was funny how I stumbled on such a significant book. Nancy and I took the books I bought back to the hotel with the intention of finding a slot canyon to hike the next day.
This is another example of how I could've easily gotten in over my head. Luckily, we chose to do a loop through Little Wild Horse and Bell Canyons, which are pretty tame and well-known. But the thing about the Kelsey books is that they always make stuff sound easier than it really is. Since he is so awesome, he trivializes stuff that's a big deal for me. He downclimbs stuff I'd want to rappel and moves very quickly, so his estimated times are always way less than reality (for me, at least). The girl at the bookshop did warn us about the time factor, so that was fortunate. We could have been totally screwed. I was still on a high after the Black Hole experience and thought I knew what I was doing. Definitely not!
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