blogworthy weekend

come thursday afternoon, i was eagerly awaiting aynsley's pickup, armed with water shoes, dry bags, snacks galore, and of course, about 10 outfits too many for my weekend adventure.

we drove out of huntington in rush hour traffic towards la verkin, ut, just outside of zions national park. fortunately, rush hour did not hinder our journey, and with a couple of quick food, restroom and photo stops, we arrived at our destination at about 1am utah time.

aynsley and i , just before arriving at our home away from home in la verkin, ut

about a month ago, aynsley approached me about joining her on a weekend adventure to hike the narrows in zions. her singles ward was organizing the outing, but it turned out that unbeknownst to me, it was in conjunction with 3 or 4 other southern california wards, and i later learned, some other adventurers from st. george and from salt lake.

housing was arranged for us with local ward members. myself and aynsley, as well as two other girls, kaitlyn and kyle (yes, that is a girl) were assigned to stay with a single mother of two teenagers. she couldn't have been more accommodating. not only was she patient with our late arrival, but she had provided some breakfast food as well.

though we anticipated sleeping on the floor, there were beds for all of us. it was a relief since me and hiking aren't the most natural of companions, and i wasn't sure what to expect the following day.

kaitlyn and kyle arrived near 3am as aynsley and i were just finishing packing for the following day. introductions were made and sleep, however little, was had.

though an alarm was set, and did go off, i successfully hit the 'dismiss' option on my phone and kept right on sleeping. as a result, we all overslept a bit, and hurried to get ready.

by 8am we were out the door and on our way to the outfitters to rent walking sticks and shoes/neoprene socks for those that needed them. we met up there with a few of the boys in our group, and everyone got themselves outfitted and ready to go.

kyle and kaitlyn gear up

the 10 of us headed over to the visitor's center (where i got a stamp for my national parks passport) and boarded the shuttle to our drop off.

the shuttle to the top

about a half hour later, we were let off at our destination. the drop off point was our final chance to use the bathroom and refill water bottles, and everyone took advantage.

aynsley and i, ready to go!

then it was time to begin the 1 mile river walk to the trailhead.

the gang

it wasn't long after reaching the trailhead that we were calf deep in water. though it initially felt cold, it wasn't nearly as cold as i had expected. that would come later.

let's get this party started

we kept a medium pace and enjoyed getting to know one another while taking in the amazing scenery. there were 4 or 5 people from the singles ward in my stake, a couple who had come down from salt lake, and another from st. george.

though our initial group remained together for most of the day, it was fun to run into people along the way who were part of the larger group (near 100, i'm told). we met and hiked with more people from salt lake and st. george, as well as others from socal. it was a great group of people, who, in the end, only enhanced the experience.

photo op

the first two miles of hiking varied from sandy dry rocky terrain, and waist high deep water. once the water got above the knees, i started to understand the 'freezing temperatures' i had been warned about, yet, truth be told, i enjoyed the water hiking far better. it was a hot day, and after the initial shock, being wet helped balance the heat. for most of the day i'd say that my body remained at a perfect and comfortable temperature. for someone who sweats as easily as i do (i know, that's hawt, right?), it was one of many miracles.

l1: kyle and kaitlyn get their photo taken; l2: kyle and tara; l3: ben, tara, aynsley
c1: jason, kaitlyn, dustin (sort of), aynsley, me; c2: me and ayns; c3: gorgeous scenery
r1: jared and mike; r2: more gorgeous scenery, r3: the group

about two miles in, our merry band decided to take a side trip up orderville canyon. of course, we didn't know what it was called at the time, but i found a lovely description after the fact:

For a diversion from the main Zion Narrows hike, you may want to explore up Orderville Canyon a bit. Orderville Canyon is a tributary that is even taller, darker, and more enchanting that the main Narrows. The canyon has much less flowing water, but there are many obstacles that involve a bit of rock-scrambling and a bit of swimming to overcome.

Roughly half-a-mile up Orderville Canyon, you will come to a small waterfall formation (known by some as "Veiled Falls") where the National Park Service has placed a sign that prohibits further travel upstream. While it is physically possible to make your way up the falls and explore a bit more, be aware that coming down is a lot more difficult. Subtle moki steps are in the right (south) canyon wall, but many people have jumped the falls only to twist an ankle and require rescue. Use your best judgment and don't press your abilities. Turn around when you have had your fill.

ben, adam, nick, mike, charli, dustin, kaitlyn, tyler, me, aynsley, kyle, jared
front: jared and shannon

i can't tell you how surprised i was to read that this little side trek was only a 1/2 mile, as it occupied a good portion of the day. the 'obstacles' this description mentions were many and challenging--particularly for some of us girls who are a little less fearless than the boys. tackling some of these road blocks became a team effort, with the boys going first and helping all of us girls to climb up and over.

the first presented a choice. to the left was a series of rocks to be scaled, to the right, a small waterfall that could be swum/climbed/maneuvered through. our group split into two taking on this challenge. aynsley and i watched the boys try the little waterfall route and saw that the water was quite deep. she looked at me and said, 'what do you think?' my response, 'go big or go home' so we waded towards the fall and winced as the water got neck deep. it was soooo cold! the kind of cold that actually makes it difficult to catch your breath. but i also know my body, and for me, it was the easier route. i had come on the trip expecting to get wet (hence the waterproof bag in my backpack), and get wet i did.

just a little dip

along the way, we met a texas couple who had come to utah for some camping and hiking. they ended up staying with us for the remainder of the day, and we thoroughly enjoyed having them along. originally from new york, they had a lot of spunk, and dennis was a lifesaver on more than one occasion.

jared, cathy, and dennis help kaitlyn and kyle down

during one of the more challenging rock scrambles, he took responsibility for helping us girls up. the rock was covered with slippery algae, and there were a couple of small footholds and no hand holds. scaling this thing basically came down to getting that first foot hold and then being pulled up via walking stick by the guy on the other end --in this case dennis. aynsley was last to go, and as she made her first foot placement, she lost balance, and went sliding down the rock, while still holding on to the walking stick. she scored herself some scrapes and bruises, and cause me to coin the phrase 'if you don't got a scar, it wasn't worth it.'

truth be told, that was the most dramatic incident of the day (barring the fact that my camera took a bath in the virgin river, and no, it didn't survive), and that's saying a lot.

we continued down orderville canyon and when we were closing in on the waterfall (which we could not see around the bend), there was another very tricky section of rocks. what concerned me was not the going forward part. it was the going back part. and it was at that point i decided i had nothing to prove, and i would stay put. i wasn't the only one. in fact about half of the group decided to proceed, and half of us stayed and enjoyed our lunch, waiting for the others to return.

back: nick, dennis, cathy
front: shannon, tara, aynsley

we had picked up a couple of other group members by this point, and so enjoyed chatting and getting to know one another. when the rest of our group returned we retraced our steps through orderville (another tricky challenge) and headed further up river for a bit before deciding to head in.

the return trip afforded us even more opportunities to find friends along the way, and it topped off the experience beautifully.

as i'm not a super athletic girl, i was relieved that there was never a time where i found myself slowing down the group, or not able to move beyond a challenge. every minute on the trail was one i enjoyed. i couldn't have asked for better companions or better scenery. it was absolutely amazing.

aynsley, tara, kaitlyn, dustin, kyle, dennis, cathy, charlie, adam, jared
front: tyler, mike, jared

we made it back to the temple of sinawava, made another restroom stop and caught the shuttle back to the visitor's center, where we got back in our cars and headed to our homes.

we took showers and got ready, then headed over to the stake center for dinner and a dance--the la verkin ward hosting both. the dinner was delicious. homemade lasagna, garlic bread, and more desserts than i've seen in a long time. the dance, was a dance, but we decided we were going to have a good time, so we did.

sleep came easy that night, and we were up early the next morning to get on the road. part of my agreeing to come on the trip was that i had to be back in order to see joshua radin perform at the house of blues. i've had the tickets for awhile, wanted to see him for far longer than that, and i wasn't about to miss it.

nick ended up heading back with us to free up a little space in shannon's car, and the drive was relatively uneventful, with only one stop at the mad greek diner in baker, ca. nick had seen the place on the food network and heard that thier strawberry shakes were to die for. i have to say, mine was pretty tasty. my greek salad was pretty good too, but anytime you dump a cup of feta on a greek salad, it's going to be alright with me!

aynsley dropped me off at about 4pm. i had time for a quick nap, a quick shower, and a quick drive to charity's. after meeting her at her place we headed to the house of blues.

we arrived just at the end of the first opening band, and charity saw a couple people she knew, so we spent the rest of the evening hanging out with them.

the second 'opening act' came out and we were blown away. her name is erin mccarley, and though she's only got one single out (will definitely be on the next playlist), all of her stuff was awesome. i can't wait for the album!

charity decided to make it an interactive experience, and when erin mentioned that she had tried to get into disneyland but couldn't without paying $100, charity yelled out that she could borrow her pass. erin told her if she was staying another day, she'd take her up on it. then the very hot keyboard player (also has a solo album - k.s. rhoads) asked charity if she cooked too. when she responded that she did he told her he might need her number.

so, she gave it to him, a little later, in a wadded up piece of paper that she threw on to the stage. if you knew charity, you'd know how out of character this was for her. but we were all 'encouraging' her to make a move. afterall, he had asked. :) after the show, we hung out with k.s. for a bit (still waiting on the picture), and he was a cutie. took it in stride and in good fun.

josh and i

josh radin's performance was flippin' rad. he is even better live (always a relief), and the highlight came when he commented on how great it was that it was so quiet. that everyone just wanted to listen to the music. and in fact, it was so quiet, that he was going to try something. he proceeded to take off his mic, grab his guitar and climb down onto the floor with us where he played his final song. it was AWESOME!!

after the show, we hung out with k.s. and erin for a bit before heading home, where i promptly crashed.

all in all, it was a pretty spectacular weekend. there are many many many more photos of the hike, and they are worth a lookie-loo. check them out here.