Nina came to visit for my birthday! The only other time she's been to Utah was when she was a kid and her parents took her to Bryce and Zion, so it was really fun to see everything through her eyes. I've started taking so many of the views for granted.
I took Friday off work, and our first stop was Mesa Arch at Canyonlands.
We stopped at a few other viewpoints, then went to Sweet Cravings for lunch because I wanted that jalapeno popper grilled cheese sandwich.
Next up was Arches, where we stopped at all the usual viewpoints:
Park Avenue
Balanced Rock
Double Arch
Landscape Arch
I did not take Nina to see Delicate Arch. I'm a terrible tour guide!
After dinner at the Brewery, we headed over to our Air BnB in Hanksville, where we met up with Ashley and Amy.
The next morning, we headed out to East Leprechaun. The approach seemed so long (we didn't approach it from Sandthrax like the last time I'd done it). We finally got to the start of the canyon and did the first rappel. At the second drop, however, we spotted water. Ashley volunteered to go down and investigate, and her report was not good- after that first pool, there was a LOT more water. The high that day was only about 50 degrees, and we weren't really prepared to swim. We knew that the canyons would be wet after the recent storms, so our options were pretty limited.
We pulled Ashley out, then decided to take the other approach back to Sandthrax campground. Since we weren't using a GPS, it took a while. When we emerged at the campground, we joked that we should tell anyone we saw that we'd just been in Sandthrax Canyon (an X slot). But Sandthrax was a ghost town! Amy had planned on camping, but none of us felt comfortable leaving her there alone, so she came back to the house with us.
We relaxed and watched Mean Girls and had cake. Ashley made me one of the prettiest cakes I've ever seen!
I took Friday off work, and our first stop was Mesa Arch at Canyonlands.
We stopped at a few other viewpoints, then went to Sweet Cravings for lunch because I wanted that jalapeno popper grilled cheese sandwich.
Next up was Arches, where we stopped at all the usual viewpoints:
Park Avenue
After dinner at the Brewery, we headed over to our Air BnB in Hanksville, where we met up with Ashley and Amy.
The next morning, we headed out to East Leprechaun. The approach seemed so long (we didn't approach it from Sandthrax like the last time I'd done it). We finally got to the start of the canyon and did the first rappel. At the second drop, however, we spotted water. Ashley volunteered to go down and investigate, and her report was not good- after that first pool, there was a LOT more water. The high that day was only about 50 degrees, and we weren't really prepared to swim. We knew that the canyons would be wet after the recent storms, so our options were pretty limited.
We relaxed and watched Mean Girls and had cake. Ashley made me one of the prettiest cakes I've ever seen!
Amy and Ashley and I were ready for bed at 10, and Nina was like, "I'm not even tired." I think she thought we were such losers. We got up around 8 the next morning (and we lost an hour for Daylight Savings) and Nina said, "I've been up since 6. I don't know how you sleep so much. I've never been so rested." Oh Nina.
Ashley went to church, and Amy wasn't feeling well so she went home, so it was just me and Nina in Blarney. (Which, thankfully, was dry!) Even though this canyon is scorned for being super easy, it was exactly what we needed since Nina is inexperienced and I don't have a lot of rope rescue skills. And it's a pretty little canyon! After yesterday's failed attempt, I'm glad Nina got a glimpse of what canyoneering is like. There was definitely one funny moment where I was getting her set up to rappel and she realized she was trusting me with her life! Even a beginner's canyon could be dangerous if you set something up incorrectly. But everything went smoothly and we were out in just a few hours. It was a great way to wrap up the weekend!
Ashley went to church, and Amy wasn't feeling well so she went home, so it was just me and Nina in Blarney. (Which, thankfully, was dry!) Even though this canyon is scorned for being super easy, it was exactly what we needed since Nina is inexperienced and I don't have a lot of rope rescue skills. And it's a pretty little canyon! After yesterday's failed attempt, I'm glad Nina got a glimpse of what canyoneering is like. There was definitely one funny moment where I was getting her set up to rappel and she realized she was trusting me with her life! Even a beginner's canyon could be dangerous if you set something up incorrectly. But everything went smoothly and we were out in just a few hours. It was a great way to wrap up the weekend!
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