Canyoneering, with guns...

Ohhhh, the joy of Labor Day. We get into the first week of school and we’re already ready for a break. Thank you workers of America for being so awesome that you deserve a holiday. And it’s always one of the most fun weekends of the year. Freshman year I floated the Provo River, the next year I went to Bear Lake for jet skiing, and last year I went up to Park City with my fam. This year we topped them all, yet again. A) I got to spend it with one of my best friends. B) We got to spend it in the mountains. What more could you ask for? And just like every other year, it was super last minute on my part. Candice’s friend Adam already had everything planned and Candice was going with him and a bunch of his friends. I jumped on board Saturday night. I don’t know what it is about that weekend, but it brings out the spontaneity in me.

After scrambling around Sunday after church (mostly on my part), we left at 5:30 for Zion’s National Park, down in southern Utah. There were eight of us in two cars.  Our car listened to this incredible fireside called “Conversion of a Catholic” by Bill Carpenter. Hoooooly cow. If you want a big dose of feel-really-good-about-the-Gospel-and-about-life-and-miracles, look that talk up. Wow. So we were feeling pretty great when we stopped to stay the night. On the side of the road. In the middle of nowhere. There was this nice little dirt lot off the side of the highway we were taking over to the park. Someone set up a little tent, another slept in their car, and the rest of us laid out a tent to use as a tarp and slept under the stars. It was a perfect night and you could see everything. I love the sky, especially away from all the light pollution. Then it really comes alive. We talked for a while, just soaking it in. I can’t help but fall in love with the earth, over and over again, every time I get to spend some time with it. I know that sounds kinda cheesy, but it’s so true. I always always feel rejuvenated after an outdoor adventure, even if I’m physically exhausted.

We woke up around 6:00am to head into the park and pick up our pass at 7:00. Then we piled everyone into one car and drove up to the trailhead of Orderville Canyon, which is actually outside Zion’s but you hike down into Zion’s. So for those of you who are wondering what the heck canyoneering is, according to Wikipedia it is “traveling in canyons using a variety of techniques that may include other outdoor activities such as walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, abseiling (rappelling), and/or swimming” (I didn’t know “scrambling” was an outdoor activity of its own). You only take one car to the trailhead because you just hike down the canyon. If your hike includes some rappels, which ours did, you can’t get back up, unless you brought some trad gear. Eleven miles was enough of a hike on its own anyway, even though this downhill was much nicer to us than Timp.

We started the hike around 8:30 and finished around 5:00pm. So a good eight and a half hours spent in one of the most beautiful places ever. Canyons are so majestic. You’ve got these beautiful rock walls towering over you on either side. The red rock plus the green trees plus the blue sky equals perfection. None of my pictures do it justice. It’s just something you have to experience. We probably hiked a good five miles before a stream started forming. We did rappel down into some nasty water the first time. I went down barefoot so I didn’t have to get my shoes all yucky (I knew I should have bought those chocos…) and I sank into about six inches of mud and who knows what else on the bottom of this pool that went up past my waist. So fun though. There were two rappels total, neither of them very high. We hiked down waterfalls and swam through some parts of the now river and eventually hooked up with the Narrows, one of the sites in Zion’s. It was a super nice hike. It was the perfect temperature the whole way, thanks to the shade. The water was nice and cool, but not cold, and it was fun to play in. We saw this big owl and mountain goats and lizards and frogs. Such a good day. All I know is my future family is going to looooooove these kind of adventures, because we’re going to be doing a lot of them.

The yummy water we got to rappel into.

The girls.

Once we made it to the Narrows trailhead there was a free shuttle to take us back to the visitors center so we could get the other car. Now the only problem was that we had put basically all our stuff in this car. And there were eight of us. I don’t know how we did it, but we fit all of us and all of our stuff in that car and made it, without incident, back to the car at the trailhead. We didn’t get back until about 1:00am and I didn’t get to bed until 2:00. And as always, 8:00am class. That also seems to happen every Labor Day weekend. I’m seeing a pattern here. But it’s worth it every time.

In other news, this past Friday I went shooting for the first time! That’s right, real guns. I was so excited. And it was so fun. Our (whenever I say “our” or “we” I’m usually referring to Candice and I) friend Jarren is in the Army and he has a .22, .45, and some military rifle. He brought a couple friends and the five of us went out to Lincoln’s Point with an old microwave that needed to be destroyed. And destroy it we did. Now that I have most of my rock climbing gear, I think I’d like to buy a gun next and add shooting to my collection of favorite hobbies. Not kidding. A concealed weapons permit will be in the works soon. Creepers, you’ve been warned.

Other than that, I’m now two and a half weeks into another semester. Meaning I only have twelve and a half more to go. Yes, I’m already counting down. Habit. I actually really like all my classes so far. I feel like I’m learning useful, real-world things. It’s less conceptual, more practical, and a whole lot more interesting. Plus I get to go hangout with my friends in class all day. Gotta love it. It’s going to be a great semester, I just know it. Life is so great and I am so thankful for everything and everyone that is a part of it. I’ve never been so happy in my entire life. I have nothing to fear or worry about. I know my life is in good Hands.

High on a Mountaintop (round 2)

I only say round two because I have a blog post back from my European adventures titled the exact same thing. I’m so original, I know. But it’s just so fitting. Also, that’s one of my favorite hymns, so maybe I just like using the name. Anyway, the first post was all about hanging out in the Alps in Germany. You know, every day stuff for me. Round two takes place right here in Provo’s backyard. And this time I really did climb the mountain. No cheating here, although if there were a gondola, I probably would have taken it down the mountain.

So I’ve been living in Provo now for almost three years and I had yet to hike Mount Timpanogos. What is wrong with me? That’s something everyone is supposed to do within their first year. It’s almost as cliché as hiking the Y. I remember back before coming to BYU (sooooo long ago) that Uncle Scott told me hiking Timp was one of the first things I should do. And then I was supposed to do it again at the end of the school year because it would be so much easier now that I was used to the altitude. Well, Scotty, I finally did it. I finally conquered that mountain.

View from BYU campus. Courtesy of Google.

 The ordeal began at 1:30am, Wednesday morning of August the fifteenth in the year of our Lord two thousand and twelve. I want to make sure that’s really well documented. There were ten of us: Candice, Jen, her friend Taylor, myself, Kyle, and five of his friends. Let me tell you, perfect time to go hike a mountain. It doesn’t get hot! We all had our flashlights or headlamps and up we went. Besides a couple steep parts that lasted maybe two minutes, the hike was actually pretty easy. You gain almost 5,000 feet in elevation from the trailhead, but you wind your way up the mountain over 6.4 miles so it’s a slow gain. Ok, the first mile is always hard because you’re getting into the groove, but once you’re in, man you can go for hours. And that’s just what we did. I think it took us like four and a half hours to reach the saddle (even with all the “detours” we ended up taking), which is where you can look out over all of Utah Valley, and apparently on a good day you can see all the way up to the Salt Lake. That’s where a lot of people go to watch the sunrise.

Utah Valley

We stopped for a little while but got impatient waiting for the sun to peek out, so all but two of Kyle’s friends started the climb to the summit, which takes another 30 to 45 minutes. That trail is on the western face of the mountain so we missed the actual sunrise, but it was close enough when we got to the top. The view is always worth the climb. It’s beautiful up there. So quiet. So peaceful. So serene. I wanted to stay up there all day and just think. I am definitely not meant for the city. There has to be some mountains nearby where I can escape to like this.

After signing our names on the little shack that’s up there (it used to be used for triangulation purposes) and documenting our victory with pictures, we started our long trek down the mountain. We stopped at the saddle again to gear up for the next few hours and made some friends with a herd of mountain goats. Just hanging around by the trail like it’s no big deal. Showing off how great they are at climbing rocks. It was pretty cool to see them so close. Oh my gosh, why oh why is the hike down so miserable? I was so pumped and full of energy when I got to the top. You’d think I’d be dead since I just walked UPHILL for five hours, carrying a 20lb backpack (I had lots of water, and my Nikon of course, oh, and a giant notebook). Downhill is supposed to be easy and relaxing. Haha, no. Your knees basically scream at you the entire way and now that you can actually see the trail you realize how far you still have to go. It’s torture really. I wish I were just being dramatic, but I’m not. It’s super hard on your body and your mind. But the hike was still worth it. I’d do it again, but I’ll definitely take an airlift out of there next time.

Fellow mountain men/women.

We were done by 12:30 pm, so we came in under twelve hours. Wow, I basically hiked a half marathon on about 20 minutes of sleep. The whole day before I had planned to take a nap, but you know how that never works out. Clearly, I’m just super hard core. Or not, according to the last paragraph. Poor Candice is never coming hiking with me again! I’ve ruined her knee. About a mile into the hike down her knee started really hurting. She said it hurt so much she just wanted to cut her leg off. Yikes! So that was a very long, painful hike. And we almost ran out of water and collapsed on the trail and baked in the summer heat and we could have lain there for hours before someone found us nearly dead. Ok, now I’m just being dramatic. We were fine. Candice was just in a lot of pain. But she made it. Obviously, she’s the real hard core one.

In other news, yesterday I was on another mountaintop, this one symbolic. I went to my first temple open house at the Brigham City Temple, which is where the general public can take a tour before the temple is dedicated. I wish I could accurately describe my excitement and wonder as I walked through. The temple is such a wonderful place and I can’t wait to go through for myself. For those of you who aren’t familiar with temples, they are places where Latter-day Saints go to feel closer to God and to make covenants, or promises, with Him. They are places where families are sealed together for time and all eternity, and where ordinances, like baptism, are performed for the dead who were not able to receive those ordinances in this life. They are places of peace. They are places of great inspiration. They are places of love and happiness, and I am so grateful to have one just down the street.

Well, school starts on Monday. Where the heck did my summer go? I think I made the most of it though, and honestly, I’m so ready to be back in school. I want to feel like I’m moving forward again. I’ve got four semesters left. Over halfway there. I can do this!!!