Jeff and I had a great time in Utah. On Thursday night, we had a lot to do before Jeff went to his math class, so I hurried home from work. We did a few things around the house. Then, took Toby over to Al and Kathy’s house –where he’d be staying while we were gone. On the way home, we stopped at Burger King for some dinner. Then, ran into Wal Mart for a few last-minute purchases.
Jeff set out all the clothes that he’d need, and I packed them since he had to leave.
I woke up around 5:30 on Friday and got ready. I woke Jeff up at about 6:45 because people were supposed to arrive at 7. Al was on time, but the others were late – and not ready.
I went to get Al, Jeff, and I breakfast and coffee while we waited.
One couple, Patrick and Denise, came wearing hiking boots and didn’t have walking sticks. Idiots. The narrows is a water trail. Therefore, common sense would tell you to bring shoes that didn’t hold water in. We’d been stressing the point that a walking stick is highly recommended – unless you wanted to spend the entire hike on your ass because the current could get pretty strong.
When Wes showed up, we went to Wal Mart to meet Brian and Denise, who were picking up some odds and ends. I don’t understand why no one had all their stuff. I forgive Al for not having walking sticks, though. He wasn’t going to get any, but since we were already at Wal Mart he figured that he may as well.
The couple with the hiking boots couldn’t find shoes at Wal Mart, so we left.
Brian and Denise stopped for gas after we left Wal Mart. Again, WHY? They knew they were driving to Utah. Why didn’t they fill up the night before?
The drive up there was long, but fun. Jeff, Al, Wes and I rode in the Jeep. Al talked the entire way there, while Wes slept. Al is a really nice guy and so smart. I enjoyed listening to him.
We stopped in Page (I believe AZ) for lunch at Burger King. We kept going, while Pat and Denise ran to Wal Mart for shoes. He found appropriate ones, but they didn’t have any in her size, so she bought water shoes that are mean for a pool. Not a good idea.
We got to Zion around 4 or 4:30, I think.
We went to the same campsite as last year. We set up our stuff and sat around the fire. It was fun.
Another thing that annoyed me was the fact that only the people that road with us brought ample amounts of food. The others brought a couple of things to snack on, but that is it.
I brought trail mix, Nature Valley granola bars, bread, cheese, diet Pepsi, and some 100 calorie packs for myself. Jeff also brought food. On night one, we were going to have potato soup and I was going to make us some grilled cheese with the sandwich thing we got for the campfire. I didn’t mind sharing the soup – since we had a gallon of it. However, the bread and cheese were supposed to last me two nights and I wanted to have some to take home.
Al also brought stuff for grilled cheese, but his cheese was gross, so I told him he could use mine. As soon as I started to make them, everyone wanted one. So, I made everyone a frickin’ sandwich before I even got to eat. Asses. I was annoyed.
The next day, I had to give away some of my snacks because people are idiots. I wouldn’t mind normally but NV granola bars and trail mix are kind of costly.
Plus, Jeff gave away some of his MRE’s (meals ready-to-eat). Everyone has access to them at the BX. Why the hell didn’t anyone else get them?
Jeff doesn’t mind sharing, but I do. That trip cost us a lot of money and to have to support everyone else (the people that didn’t ride with us), in addition, really irritated me. Maybe I’m just a bitch?
On Saturday morning, we left later than we had planned for the trail because people were diddly-farting around. Then, as we were about to leave, Denise came to tell us that her husband’s BMW got stuck in the sand. 1) Who brings a BMV camping in the middle of nowhere?! 2) Why the heck was he driving through the sand anyway? It was the opposite way of where our campsite was. The guys got him unstuck. Then, we were on our way.
We stopped at Chevron on the way to go to the bathroom. While I was there, I was sooo excited to be able to buy cheese curds. They don’t sell them in AZ. Al was picking on me for it – until he tried them. Then, he insisted on stopping at a gas station on the way home to pick up a bag to take home. I got another bag, too.
It was cloudy out with a chance of rain and the water temperature was only 62 degrees. Brrr! I wore a bathing suit, tank top and shorts for the hike because you needed clothes that would dry quickly.
The water was cold, but nothing that we couldn’t handle – since it was only supposed to be about mid-calf high most of the way with some areas that were waist deep.
Al and Wes took off right away. The rest of us stuck pretty close together.
Within the first 10 minutes, the current knocked me on my ass. Some people had to come help me because the current was pushing me downstream. About 5 minutes later, we were walking and I could no longer touch. I could hardly breathe because the water was soooo cold!
After that, I took off my tanktop because it was soaked and cotton doesn’t dry very quickly.
The hike was not tiring at all. It is a 16-hour hike, but you need a permit to go past the 5-mile mark because that involved camping overnight and some difficult stuff.
We planned on doing the entire 10-mile roundtrip, but when we reached the rock called “Wall Street” (it looks like that corner building in NY with the big screen on it) we turned right instead of left. The water was way warmer down there, which was so nice. After awhile, we reached a dead end. So, we turned around.
It started to get cold and I told Jeff that I didn’t think that I could go much longer – especially after being in warm water and having to go back into the cold. It was getting windy and was about to rain.
We took a vote and people wanted to keep going. Jeff was willing to turn around, though. In fact, I think that he wanted to. Just as we started down the other side, we heard Wes yell Jeff’s name, so we stopped.
As soon as Al saw me, he could tell that I was freezing to death. So, Jeff, Brian, Denise, and I decided to head back. The others kept going, though.
My arms and hands were turning purple, I couldn’t feel anything below my waist, and I was shivering. Jeff had us stop so that I could eat an MRE – since they are warm. There was a duck that was stalking me for food. She came right up to my feet. It was cute.
I dreaded going back into the water after lunch. Jeff gave me his sweater because mine was soaked.
There was no way to avoid the water since we were in a canyon. There were very few spots of dry land along the way.
We hustled back, though. It finally started raining when were were about ¾ of the way back to land. We made it 6 of the 10 miles, which wasn’t bad.
I changed into warm, dry clothes at the visitors’ center. Then, we waited for Wes, Al, Pat, and Denise to finish.
We didn’t have to wait long, though. They didn’t finish either. Denise and Pat turned around about 100 feet after leaving us because her shoes started to fall apart.
Al and Wes didn’t make it the whole way because it got way more difficult after “Wall Street.”
Brian and Denise were back at the campsite before we even left. They texted us to say that Chevron had no firewood and we were out. WTF? They couldn’t go elsewhere?! So, of course, we picked some up.
The campfire felt so wonderful that night! Jeff and I went to bed early. We were wiped out.
It rained overnight, too. So relaxing!
We woke up at about 6:30, got ready, made breakfast, packed up, and headed out. The ride home seemed long, but we had fun. We stopped in Flagstaff for lunch at Arby’s.
We got home at about 4:30, unpacked everything, ordered a pizza, and watched “Lost.” It was good to be home, but I missed my dog. Jeff picked him up on Monday morning after work.
Jeff now works the overnight shift. We will see eachother more now, which is good. He goes on TDY from July 10-24. I’ll be home all by my lonesome. I’m a little nervous, but I will survive.
I start my cake decorating class tomorrow night from 6-8 PM. I’m so excited!!
Until next time….
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