This was the weekend where nothing went as planned, and that was all right.
The night before we left, Laura and I completely changed our destination. We decided to head up to Page and hike to Starlight Canyon. I saw that it was supposed to be warm in Page, but I thought the trailhead was at a higher elevation. I was wrong.
(Crazy beautiful rocks near the old Pareah townsite... Purple and blue stripes!)
We got out of the car and realized we'd be miserable. And this was not exactly a short hike. We weighed our options and decided on hiking the Narrows at Zion- a nice, cool canyon with lots of water.
This also worked out well because some of my friends were at Zion for a backpacking trip. We all met up at Pizza Noodle and camped together that night.
The next morning I realized I was missing a shoe. How on earth did I lose a hiking shoe? The only thing I can think of is that I left it at the trailhead for the first hike. But this was a problem because no way was I hiking 10 miles of the Narrows in knee to chest-deep water in a pair of sandals. Luckily, I have a friend at Zion Adventure Company who hooked us up with gear. She's come to my rescue several times, and I hope I can return the favor someday.
The Narrows were exactly what Laura hoped they'd be. She took off ahead of me and had a blast scrambling on rocks. I was excited to see what the Narrows looked like in the daytime; the last time I hiked through them was when I rappelled down Mystery Falls into the Narrows and we had a headlamp exit.
It was beautiful! The perfect hike for a hot day. The only problem was the crowds. The further back you go, the more it thins out. But I'm used to hikes where my group is the only one in the canyon, so it was just too much. It was somewhat entertaining, however, to see how people dressed for this hike. (Bikini girl! Bare feet!)
About 4 miles into the hike, I was over it. The boulder hopping was getting tedious, and the scenery hadn't changed in a while. In one more mile, I'd reach the turn around point. (After Big Springs, you need a permit.) I detest out-and-back hikes, so I decided to head back, knowing that my hike was only half done. Laura wanted to finish, so I started hiking back by myself.
A few minutes later, two girls my age started chatting with me and invited me to hike with them since we seemed to be at the same pace. They were so great! They're from D.C., and we had so much in common. I told them how I want to go to Iceland, and they had been and gave me tons of advice! I felt like I was hanging out with people I'd known for years. We exchanged numbers and have kept in touch.
After completing our hike, Laura and I once again weighed our options. It was only 4:00, and we didn't want to go back and sit at a hot campsite for several hours. We ended up heading towards Cottonwood Canyon Road, thinking that we would hike near it and take that route home the next day.
As we drove by Bryce, Laura mentioned that she had never seen it. So, all of a sudden we were on the rim of Bryce Canyon, watching the sunset and marveling at the craziness of this creation. I understand the logistics of how those hoodoos were formed, but it always amazes that they look so perfect and strange. I feel like God just decided to play a joke on us with that.
Since night was quickly approaching, we decided to camp at Bryce. It was the best sleep I've had in a long time- nice cool weather, a sky filled with stars, the clean piney scent- heaven.
We got an early start the next morning, planning to do a quick hike at Round Valley Draw (a nontechnical canyon) on our way home. And this is where stuff got real.
I had to wear my Merrell sandals since my hiking shoe was gone. We easily hiked to the beginning of the canyon. I used Laura as a meat anchor to set up a handline and downclimbed the 15 foot chute into the canyon. Laura scrambled down after me, not needing any aid. With no way back up, we were now committed to the canyon.
And standing in at least 6 inches of mud. We knew that there might be some mud at the bottom of that initial downclimb, but the mud was relentless. Clearly, this canyon had just flashed.
And there I was, in sandals. The going was slow as Laura used fancy moves to avoid the mud, and I slurped through it, my feet sinking deep with every step, my feet sliding all over my sandals.
The night before we left, Laura and I completely changed our destination. We decided to head up to Page and hike to Starlight Canyon. I saw that it was supposed to be warm in Page, but I thought the trailhead was at a higher elevation. I was wrong.
We got out of the car and realized we'd be miserable. And this was not exactly a short hike. We weighed our options and decided on hiking the Narrows at Zion- a nice, cool canyon with lots of water.
This also worked out well because some of my friends were at Zion for a backpacking trip. We all met up at Pizza Noodle and camped together that night.
The next morning I realized I was missing a shoe. How on earth did I lose a hiking shoe? The only thing I can think of is that I left it at the trailhead for the first hike. But this was a problem because no way was I hiking 10 miles of the Narrows in knee to chest-deep water in a pair of sandals. Luckily, I have a friend at Zion Adventure Company who hooked us up with gear. She's come to my rescue several times, and I hope I can return the favor someday.
The Narrows were exactly what Laura hoped they'd be. She took off ahead of me and had a blast scrambling on rocks. I was excited to see what the Narrows looked like in the daytime; the last time I hiked through them was when I rappelled down Mystery Falls into the Narrows and we had a headlamp exit.
It was beautiful! The perfect hike for a hot day. The only problem was the crowds. The further back you go, the more it thins out. But I'm used to hikes where my group is the only one in the canyon, so it was just too much. It was somewhat entertaining, however, to see how people dressed for this hike. (Bikini girl! Bare feet!)
About 4 miles into the hike, I was over it. The boulder hopping was getting tedious, and the scenery hadn't changed in a while. In one more mile, I'd reach the turn around point. (After Big Springs, you need a permit.) I detest out-and-back hikes, so I decided to head back, knowing that my hike was only half done. Laura wanted to finish, so I started hiking back by myself.
A few minutes later, two girls my age started chatting with me and invited me to hike with them since we seemed to be at the same pace. They were so great! They're from D.C., and we had so much in common. I told them how I want to go to Iceland, and they had been and gave me tons of advice! I felt like I was hanging out with people I'd known for years. We exchanged numbers and have kept in touch.
After completing our hike, Laura and I once again weighed our options. It was only 4:00, and we didn't want to go back and sit at a hot campsite for several hours. We ended up heading towards Cottonwood Canyon Road, thinking that we would hike near it and take that route home the next day.
As we drove by Bryce, Laura mentioned that she had never seen it. So, all of a sudden we were on the rim of Bryce Canyon, watching the sunset and marveling at the craziness of this creation. I understand the logistics of how those hoodoos were formed, but it always amazes that they look so perfect and strange. I feel like God just decided to play a joke on us with that.
Since night was quickly approaching, we decided to camp at Bryce. It was the best sleep I've had in a long time- nice cool weather, a sky filled with stars, the clean piney scent- heaven.
We got an early start the next morning, planning to do a quick hike at Round Valley Draw (a nontechnical canyon) on our way home. And this is where stuff got real.
I had to wear my Merrell sandals since my hiking shoe was gone. We easily hiked to the beginning of the canyon. I used Laura as a meat anchor to set up a handline and downclimbed the 15 foot chute into the canyon. Laura scrambled down after me, not needing any aid. With no way back up, we were now committed to the canyon.
And standing in at least 6 inches of mud. We knew that there might be some mud at the bottom of that initial downclimb, but the mud was relentless. Clearly, this canyon had just flashed.
And there I was, in sandals. The going was slow as Laura used fancy moves to avoid the mud, and I slurped through it, my feet sinking deep with every step, my feet sliding all over my sandals.
And then, one of my beloved sandals broke.
At this point a snail/my grandma/molasses could have beat us through the canyon. It was about a 6 mile roundtrip hike to the confluence with Hackberry, then back to the car. We didn't have time for 6 miles at this pace. "Laura," I said, "We need to get out of this canyon."
Looking at the 40 foot high walls in our current location, it looked like Laura could scale them. (She's quite the climber.) But the problem is that it's harder than it looks from the ground. But Laura's a badass, and she persevered and made it happen. There was no way I could do what she'd done, so I hiked back to the head of the canyon in my bare feet, and she met me at the top and lowered some webbing so I could pull myself up.
I am not a good climber; that 15 foot climb would have been difficult for me regardless. But then I realized that the walls were muddy and slick up to my head- over 5 feet high. Seriously, that canyon must have JUST flooded for the sandstone to still be that wet. As a result, I didn't even have friction on my side; I had to rely almost completely on my upper body strength. I thought I was totally screwed. But when it really matters, you make it happen, and I made it to the top.
"Erin, you're bleeding! Like, in multiple places!" Laura exclaimed.
"I ain't got time to bleed." And I meant it.
Here's what we looked like after this canyon: barefoot, bleeding, and covered in mud. And we barely even made it into the canyon.
I'm coming back for Round Valley Draw. Soon.
At this point a snail/my grandma/molasses could have beat us through the canyon. It was about a 6 mile roundtrip hike to the confluence with Hackberry, then back to the car. We didn't have time for 6 miles at this pace. "Laura," I said, "We need to get out of this canyon."
Looking at the 40 foot high walls in our current location, it looked like Laura could scale them. (She's quite the climber.) But the problem is that it's harder than it looks from the ground. But Laura's a badass, and she persevered and made it happen. There was no way I could do what she'd done, so I hiked back to the head of the canyon in my bare feet, and she met me at the top and lowered some webbing so I could pull myself up.
I am not a good climber; that 15 foot climb would have been difficult for me regardless. But then I realized that the walls were muddy and slick up to my head- over 5 feet high. Seriously, that canyon must have JUST flooded for the sandstone to still be that wet. As a result, I didn't even have friction on my side; I had to rely almost completely on my upper body strength. I thought I was totally screwed. But when it really matters, you make it happen, and I made it to the top.
"Erin, you're bleeding! Like, in multiple places!" Laura exclaimed.
"I ain't got time to bleed." And I meant it.
Here's what we looked like after this canyon: barefoot, bleeding, and covered in mud. And we barely even made it into the canyon.
I'm coming back for Round Valley Draw. Soon.
Comments