ZION is BEST II

The day after we hiked the Subway, 6 of us (Josh, me, Tyler, Marie, Matt, and Carla) hiked through Pine Creek. With a lightening, thunder and rain filled night, we were worried the flash flood warnings would be to high to do the hike. Luckily, they were only a medium and the skies cleared, so we decided it was a go.


With all the rain, there was a TON of water!! We started swimming even before the first rappel and continued swimming between each one for some pretty long distances, often dropping right into it and treading water as you took the rope off at the end of the drop.


Pine Creek is only about 3 miles, but there are 5 rappels, the shortest being about 10 feet and the longest just about 100 feet, and free falling!

Josh and Matt took care of all the technical stuff and reminded the rest of how it was done. (Thanks Men!) Carla learned a good lesson the hard way about how you're NOT supposed to take your ATC off the carribeaner when you put the rope through. Good thing Matt was prepared and had an extra figure 8! Amazingly, though, after dropping it down the cliff and into the muddy water, she was still able to find it!


With it being later in the day and later in the season, it was dark inside the slot canyon and COLD, especially after being in the water! You could see your breath and STEAM was actually coming off all our bodies! I tried to take swimming pictures of people, but the steam was so thick, it just didn't work very well. But it still made for a cool pic!


We all shook uncontrollably because of the ice cold water that never sees the sun. Thanks to Matt we learned some awesome kick boxing moves to keep warm

SUNSHINE!!! and lunch

The Park was packed with people for the holiday weekend, so it was a bit crowded in the canyon at first, but after the first couple rappels, the groups stretched out and it was like our own private play ground.



To say the least, AWESOME! Very fun, very fun indeed. Pictured above is the last rappel with my manly husband on his way down. So glad I married him =) We took an adventureous trail out of the canyon and sometimes felt lost along the way thinking we were following sheep trails, but we made it! Matt and Carla hitch hiked back to the suburan for us and then we piled in and drove a while to the luxerious Ponderosa!!



A hot tub and a pool and showers never felt SO good! Spencer and Melina (pregnant and amazing) didn't hike Pine Creek with us due to their 4 month along child, so they were extremely kind and prepared a delectible dutch oven dinner for us all that night. We spent the next 24 hours relaxing our sore and tired bodies, ate delicious food, had deep conversations around the camp fire we weren't supposed to have, and played in clean, warmer water.

It was a great weekend. A great way to celebrate the summer and a great way to conclude it. Thanks for all the fun everyone! We will do it again next year!

ZION is BEST

For Labor Day weekend we headed down to ZION with a group of amazing friends. It wasn't intended to be a farewell to summer, but in a way it was. And it was the BEST way to conclude it. We hiked and rapelled and hiked and laughed and hiked and rapelled some more and laughed again and then relaxed with great food and friends. We went down with our friends the Matt and Carla Thorup (who organized the whole thing....thanks guys!), Melina and Spencer (the ultimate and most prepared campers I've ever met - and not to mention, the best dutch oven cookin! Thanks for dinner and breakfast!), Mark and Cassie (engaged!! Congrats guys!), and Tyler and Marie (who were kind enough to celebrate their 1 year anniversary with our crazy bunch - so fun!).

We drove down Thursday night and enjoyed a thrilling evening of "Star Dust" the movie as we drove in the great Thorup suburban. I felt like calling Carla and Matt mom and pop and complaining that someone was in my space. Are we there yet?? Actually, the drive went very fast. And for everyone you doesn't know or hasn't seen this movie Star Dust, I highly recommend it.

THE SUBWAY

Friday we spent the WHOLE day hiking in the Subway. I've heard Josh talk about this hike for years and I couldn't wait to do it. It was all he said it would be and more. Beautiful and LONG! We hiked for 8 hours from start to finish. But it was worth it! As you will see below...


Josh and Carla warned us there would there would be a few spells of swimming in super cold water, but the water really wasn't too bad. Granted, it did take your breath away and this first swim showed all our true colors. The water is MUCH colder than it looks. Spencer, by far, won the best screaming award on this one!


There were few rappels we had to do. And yes, we were all hard core and didn't use harnesses on any of them, just our brute strength and the rope. Matt here exemplifies that.

Josh was dubbed the true MAN of the group, as he used it often and guided us through the hostile, yet attractive environment. He carried the rope, helped us all down, and showed us all up with his mad skills.

I love him.

Our men/boys "fishing"...

Dinosaur tracks!
And then after literally after hours of walking up and down the river side, around and over rocks and boulders of all shapes and sizes, in and out of water, we hiked up to the top of this mountain! We all made it and were fulfilled with the accomplishment of our journey....and we were very, very thirsty and hungry. Somehow we all ran out of water before the mountain or during the hike up the mountain. And then, like the typical granola Zion hiker, we went to dinner at Oscars in our dirty, smelly clothes and bare foot, for many of us. We all had giant burgers, but Marie was the champion. She ordered and ate 1/2 of her 3 pattie beast!

Thanks, Subway! It was a great to finally meet you! Until next time...

Happy Fall Equinox!

These past two days have definitely felt like Fall. And how appropriate considering that today is the official first day of Fall. Summer and winter are my favorite seasons, but I think that I'm simply a lover of seasons. I love the change of the seasons and the feeling of a new start with each coming change. I love the characteristics of each season and right now I am loving the characteristics of Fall. The sunny weather and the cool air makes me want to eat fresh apples from a fruit stand, go running in the cool air, go to BYU football games, bottle the fruits of the harvest, make delicious meals and treats, decorate in Fall colors, and pull out the long pants, sweaters, scarves, and jackets. I just love it!