After the tent fiasco we headed to Bryce Canyon National Park. We set up our brand new Big Agnes Tent (which is great, and just as good as our first tent the MSR Hubba Hubba) and headed to hike the relatively famous “Navajo Loop.” This loop took us deep into the canyon to see the many “Hoodoos.” A hoodoo is basically just a pillar of rock but they come in many different shapes and colors and collectively they make for quite the site to see (see the picture below).
The next day we did another longer hike to peruse even more of the fantastic hoodoos and view points that Bryce had to offer. After the hike Heather and I had a picnic lunch and bought a beer from the Bryce General Store and ate it there on the porch. While there we started talking to a group of women from Calgary! We mentioned we were both studying medicine at Queen’s and they asked if we knew Taylor Lougheed. It turns out one of them had been rafting the Nile with Taylor just last summer (what a small world). Anyways, overall, I think Heather and I both really enjoyed Bryce. After suffering in the heat of Moab it was amazing when the temperature would drop into the 50’s at night.
We loved Bryce, but there was so much more to see so headed to Zion National Park. In Zion we did two of our most memorable hikes of the trip thus far. The first day we hiked to a point called Angels Landing. The point is called this as the person who first saw it was said to describe the route there as so rough and high that only an angel could get there. It was definitely a calf buster with 1500m of elevation change from top to bottom. But after a grueling 1.5ish hrs to the top it provided some breath taking views (see the picture below).
At one point heather slipped and almost fell off the ledge but grabbed a rock with one hand while her body dangled over the edge. I lunged to save her and was able to pull her to safety. (Just joking, I just felt like this blog wasn’t interesting enough). The next day we did a hike called “the Narrows.” This hike consisted of 8 miles of wading through the Virgin River while the huge canyon walls gradually narrowed in us. I quickly came to realize that Heather wades through rocky water like a ninja, I had a hard time keeping up! The river was mostly about knee deep, but at certain spots it got as high as our chins. See the photo below of me carrying the pack on my head to keep it dry as we passed through one of the deeper sections.
Next up on our adventure was Page, Arizona! Just outside of Page there is an amazing rock formation known as the Wave. But there is a catch, you have to have a permit to see it and only 10 permits are awarded each day by lottery! You have to show up at the Ranger station put your name in a hat and test your luck. The lottery occurs at 8:30am every morning for a permit the next day. We left Zion at 6am in order to get there before 8:30 to make sure we could participate in the lottery. We ended up getting there at 7:30 so we had to wait it out. For a while we were the only car there, but by about 8 other cars had started to pile in and by the time 8:30 rolled around there were about 30 people vying for the precious 10 spots. It was a really funny process. Each application was assigned a numbered ball that was placed in one of those bingo ball things that you have probably seen on TV lottery spots. The ranger would spin it around and out popped one lucky ball. We got the lucky number 2! First spin…out popped a 9. The application corresponding to the number 9 had 2 people so 2 spots were gone, 8 left! Another spin….out popped a 10, then a 5, then a 3…but sadly no number 2. There were now 9 spots taken and only 1 left. Since we had 2 in our party we thought it was all over, but then another ranger came over and said there was an advanced permit for the next day that had been turned in so there was one extra spot. That meant there were 2 spots left and we breathed new life! Another spin…out popped a 6. But this party had 4 and gave it up since all of them wouldn’t be able to go…new life again! Yet another spin…. this time it was a 4. But again, it was a large party and they gave it up. So with one more spin the glorious number 2 came out! And that ladies and gentlemen, is the amazing and drawn out story of how Heather and I got to see the Wave. See the pictures below!
In addition to the Wave, we also took a detour so that I could see the Grand Canyon! It was a glorious day and they had a sun deck overlooking the canyon so we took out our books and parked it there all afternoon!
That brings you pretty much up to date. As I write this we are currently in St. George, Utah but are heading for Vegas! Heather is a bit gun shy on the gambling, but I plan on turning $40 into $4000 and paying for our entire vacation! I have a foolproof blackjack system!
We miss you all and hope everything is going great!
Love,
Matt and Heather
Don't lose your car in Vegas.
ReplyDeleteAlso - the Wave looks awesome!
that river hike sounds awesome! brings back memories of scrambling after heather the rocky-water-ninja at cotopaxi last summer - she's a speedy one!!
ReplyDelete