Our day started off like most North Wash days do- in the parking lot of the Hog Springs rest area. (The Sandthrax Campground, social hub of the North Wash area, does not have a bathroom. So, everyone drives 5 miles down the road to the rest area.)
I always love to chat with other groups and find out where they're from, what they're doing, etc. The group I met that morning was headed out to do Blarney and questioned why on earth we'd want to do the Maidenwaters. They made a compelling argument for why these canyons would be filled with water. It was cold, and I was tired and cranky. I considered leaving right then.
Brian insisted he had never seen much water in the middle fork (the first canyon of the day), and I'd already decided to leave before they did the south fork later that day. So I reluctantly agreed to do the canyon, but I was sure I was going for a swim.
The approach hike was scenic and not too difficult, although I was slower than usual that day. Brian was at the front of the group, and when the canyon came into view, he yelled back to me, "It's raging! I don't think it's safe to go in!"
I was 90% sure he was kidding.
And that continued all day. Brian would go around a corner and say, "Looks like we've got a full swimmer up here!"
Jerk.
This canyon was actually pleasant and pretty. No major challenges for me because I rappelled, or "surfed" the whole thing. Brian has actually ascended this whole canyon! Jack downclimbed it all. Notice how he looks like a beast in all these pictures, and I look like a huge dork. And I used poor Jack as my anchor on all those rappels.
I wasn't trying to be P-word status. The downclimbs were difficult because my legs are short! They were all just a little too wide open for my comfort. My legs wouldn't reach, and I could visualize exactly how I'd fall and injure myself. I'd tell Jack I just needed a handline, but then clip in at the last second.
Sarah is a natural, by the way. She is a total badass.
Other favorite moments:
Brian took most of these pictures. He asked Sarah to pose, which she did adorably. And then Jack posed, with a very different effect.
Brian asked me how may layers I was wearing. I told him I was wearing two pairs of pants, thinking he was concerned because I had been cold. Nope. I blew through another pair of pants. And after hearing that I'd mooned everyone at FreezeFest several years back, it was decided that I WANT everyone to see my ass. Not the case! I really need to get that Scuttlebutt on my harness!
When we reached yet another downclimb, I started to ask for the rope and then stopped. "F- that," I said. "I don't want the f-ing rope. I'm going to f-ing downclimb this all by my mother-effing self." (For some reason, I just got really stubborn.)
"F- yeah!" Jack enthusiastically responded. "You don't need a f-ing rope. You f-ing downclimb that sh--." And Brian cheered, "Work it, work it!" as I downclimbed. This is something I love about canyoneering- the encouraging, the teamwork, and the sense of accomplishment when you do something bad-ass. (I don't know why I feel the need to curse like a sailor when I'm in the canyons... After 9 days of this, it was hard to transition back to work. I almost called one of my reading groups "bitches.")
(This is a picture in which I am NOT being a badass... I am rappelling down as Brian is climbing up. And Sarah is doing one of the best photobombs ever.)
I really love this picture... The lighting was gorgeous in this hallway.
And then it was time to say goodbye to my amazing friends and head back to AZ. I'm so glad the guy in the parking lot didn't talk me out of doing that canyon!
*Photos by Brian and Jack
*Photos by Brian and Jack
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