Zion Nat Park- The Narrows/ Climbing @ Red Rock+Calico Basin

BIRTHDAY ROADTRIP! 

Anjie is a girl I met on my Immersion Semester. I have become very close to her since the experience. Still unable to understand the events that occurred on the trip I find comfort being with her because she knows me better than I know myself...
Christine and i were doing some catching up, she moved to Colorado I hadn't seen her since June. We decided we needed one BIG EPIC trip together before I moved to South Lake Tahoe. We picked backpacking in Utah's Canyon Country. I knew Anjie was down there and was hoping we could meet up and she could go with us. Turns out Anjies best friend Nicole was there too and we planned a great trip through The Narrows in Zion Nation Park. However last minute Christine was unable to go, so I packed my car and headed to Vegas.
When I arrived in Vegas I stayed with my friend Dave, he had gone on the Winter and the Mountain class with me. We caught up on life and I passed out exhausted from the solo drive. In the morning we woke up and Dave gave me really great directions to where I was headed. I was to meet Anjie and Nik at the trail head just outside of the Nat Park. However service was non existent so I had no idea if the girls had made it there safe and what would happen if something happens to me on the way. Anyone whose anyone knows I GET LOST, regularly, and I did. I got lost in the park, and was about an hour behind schedule because of it. I finally reached the turn off where I would no longer be following my GPS and be following some crazy directions Anjie emailed me. It described a 4wd road that was impassable in wet weather, even for 4wd cars. Great. Me and my Honda, here goes nothing. It was a single track road with more tire popping rocks I have ever seen in a life time. It was the longest 17 miles because I drove less than 10 mph. It took about 45minutes to an hour to get to the trail head. Over each pump I prayed to God my tire didn't pop. I turned my music on full blast trying to ease my white knuckles. I finally reached the trail head with 4 fully inflated tires and 12 new grey hairs.
We all danced in excitement, we all made it safely to the trail head, and we couldn't wait to begin our adventure. We prepped our bags said good bye to our cars and hit the trail. We started sharing stories of our lives since the last time we spoke. We stopped every ten feet to take pictures and admire the entrance to the canyons. About 90% of the trail is under water passing through the Virgin River. The river was moving swift and wasn't the easiest to cross or walk through. Anjie strongly suggested we find hiking sticks. I was so grateful for that advise. We reached our campsite just moments before dark. It would have been nearly impossible to hike in this river at night. The canyon walls now surrounded us and only a small sliver of tiny white stars peered down from the sky. We ate the most amazing soup for dinner, and slept like queens. In the morning Nicole had discovered a little field mouse had gone through her brain of her pack. It genuinely scared her because one of her biggest fears is rodents. I felt bad she was scared, but I was more upset about the mouse eating chocolate, I prayed he survived through the day.

We continued our hike through the Narrows, taking pictures every 10 feet because around each corner was a site more beautiful. The walls were endless, and the most brilliant shades of red and brown. The trees were changing colors because it was fall. I felt like we were in a coloring book with all the red, yellow, green, and orange leaves. The virgin river was illuminating greens and blues of every variety. The hike was fairly dangerous, with the rivers current running as fast as it was, and the rocks were very slippery from moss. But we all only fell a few times, and were strong during the rapid crossing, when it really mattered. We met some nice folks from Chico also, (such a small world). We took more pictures and reached the car. It was our next mission to retrieve the cars from the trail head. We all were dreading it.
The drive to the cars along the 17mile 4wd road seemed endless. We were all tired and hungry. We finally got to the other cars and began to follow Anjie back to the main road. Time to do the 17mile 4wd road again... This time around we missed our turn off and went 3 miles (15minutes) in the wrong direction. We had to turn around and go back. This wouldn't have been a big deal if we all didn't bottom out our cars 4 times from the insanely large boulders we had to scramble across in our 2wd Honda Civics.
We stopped in a little town outside Zion National Park and ate pizza. Best Pizza Ever. Then Nicole and I drove to the camp site at Red Rocks in NV where we would meet Anjie who was picking up Lil from the Airport. (Lil is a Chico State Grad Student who I met and was her teacher assistant for a few of her backpacking and canoeing classes) At the camp site Nik and I set up our sleeping bags and passed out.

In the morning we looked for our friend Ryan who we knew was camping there too. (Ryan went on Immersion with Anjie and I) Red Rocks gets some of the worlds best climbers during the month of November because the weather is so beautiful in NV, it is a time and place where tons of climbers come together. While catching up with Ryan we discovered he was camping with some of Lil's friends from her time working with Outward Bound. It really is crazy how small the world is. Then Dave and his friend Paul drove out from Vegas to Red Rock to take us climbing. We explored the back side of Red Rocks and just a fraction of Calico Basin where we set up a few top rope sites, Dave also did a few leads. I was having a ball, taking some of the best pictures I have ever taken. Red Rocks and Calico Basin is constructed of some of the most unique rock, its red and white, vibrant and unforgiving. I was in heaven.
After a full day of climbing, we drove to Dave's house in Vegas where we showered and ate an amazing meal. Then Dave and Paul treated us ladies to a show. We saw Jubilee in the Paris hotel with the director and lighting crew. We got to sit above the audience facing the stage. We could see everything. We also got to sit in some super sweet chairs. If you are going to see a show in Vegas, it has to be like this. Then we got to go backstage and take pictures with the Cast and even try on some of the head pieces the girls wear, boy those things were heavy! The next morning I took off and headed home. It was an amazing road trip/ birthday celebration. It felt incredibly liberating to go. I had been working 90 hour weeks since January and needed a break. I spent that time getting my mind right again. Realizing that the only way your life is going to happen is if you make it. You can not deny yourself the right to be free. God gave us wings, so flying is the only answer. This trip helped me remember what I learned on Immersion. Life isn't about money, it isn't about politics and social status. Life is about perusing the things you love with the people you love. Its about embarrassing gods gifts. Its about finding beauty in rare places, and finding beauty in ugly places. This trip helped me remember my Immersion semester, it helped me remember that I won't stop searching.
Some of the best pictures I have ever taken ~~> More Photos