My mom said before we left, "I'm so happy you're going, and I'm really glad I'm not." lol. ha ha. I thought of that a couple times the past few days. But the beauty has FAR out weighed the pain.
Today was the bomdiggity. ;) I use that expression, never, but it felt appropriate here. :)
Nick hiked Angel's landing in Zion National park ~8 years ago. I had a business trip (I'm so important ;) in Las Vegas and he had free time so he headed to Zion. It was pretty life changing for him. To be honest, it didn't seem any less life changing today for him. That boy is just HOME when he's in these places.
We hit the park around 8:30ish, perfect time for me and probably a little later then Nick would have liked. He likes to get there before all the people. :) As you all know by now, I like my sleep. :) So, we did a pretty good 1/2 way point being in the park by 8:30am. I'll post some pics toward the end of the park, but honestly, there's just no understanding the magnitude of these things until you see them in person. I get verclempt at about everything, and today was no exception. we came around a bend that was just mind blowing and there the tears came. I always put my sunglasses on and look out the window when this happens. Too much eye contact would probably make me full fledged ball. :)
So we picked up our rental equipment (after a movie about our hike that included the fact we could buy poop bags to carry our poop out if we needed to. That's too long staying any where if you're carrying your own poop around). We rented full suits are called "dry suits" and that they were. There were younger people hiking in bikinis! CRAZY. The water was freezing. We didn't feel a thing. The shoes they provided kept our feet warm despite the cold water -- I still can't figure out how -- and the suit kept us completely dry. It was great. Except it stunk and made me dry heave at one point. But that's not saying much, so does: Bread, pasta, pizza, yogurt, bananas, jello... you get the point. :)
Walking sticks also came with the rental and we added on dry bags for our supplies and cameras. Worked like a charm! Poor Nick had to hike with that extra 50 lbs on his back tho! He fell two or three times, but considering he was baring some serious top weight against a major current, he did awesome.
We met a lot of people along the way, which was of course fun. Heather, a lady hiking the Narrows, stayed with us for different parts of the hike and we really enjoyed her company. As well as a two other couples we picked up here and there.
I'm not a great swimmer so I was a little concerned about the hike. The Narrows had just opened up a couple days ago and it was very difficult to get any information on the status of the water. We decided to risk it and turn back if need be, but fortunately there was no need. The water never did get higher then my waste and fortunately we never had to swim.
Ok, enough blah blah blah, here are some pictures!
The beginning of the journey!
Mostly suited up -- I kept the suit tied around my waste most of the day.
Nick suiting up!
A bend in the river.
What a terrible outfit. And it stank.
Kind of shows areas where it was calm, but you weren't sure how deep. I think for this stretch we hiked along the canyon wall.
Nick crossing the river.
For some reason the pictures have been distorting a bit. Hopefully this irons out for those of you viewing, it was such a beautiful area and not at all yellow on the bottom. :)
Just a couple shots entering the park. I'm weary of uploading pics, it's taking forever for some reason.
Wish this picture conveyed the magnitude of this... but it doesn't. Was just huge.
Remind me to tell you about the fake Sherif in this place we're staying. :) Too funny. XOXO I'm outta here for today!
1 comment:
Pants! Emie's wearing pants! Well, kinda. But... pants!
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