Well, he did it. Brandon took the DAT and aced it. And now we are celebrating. We bought a national parks annual pass, so we can go to any recreation area or national park for free for the next year. So far, we have already done three canyons and had many adventures.
Two weeks ago, we went to Englestead Hollow with Laura and Jake and Summer and Nelson. The canyon started with a crazy three hundred foot rappel. It had to be broken up into two rappels, and Brandon stayed a hundred feet down the cliff on a little ledge to help us switch out ropes to go the last two hundred feet. We planned to go up another canyon so we wouldn't end up in Zion, but we missed our turn. At about seven in the evening, we gathered together to make the decision to go back up the canyon or keep going down. We decided to go down. It was another five or so miles through rivers and waterfalls, and most likely would be in the dark. But we weren't sure where the turn was if we were to go back up, and would risk spending the night in the canyon. So down we went. In the dark. A couple hours later we made it, but our cars were both still at the top of the canyon! Luckily, a Zion shuttle driver was willing to drive Brandon and Nelson to their cars. The rest of us hung out for three hours, cold and wet in the dark. Jake found us a roll of paper towels and we wrapped ourselves up like mummies to keep warm. I wish I had pictures of this, but by this time we were so tired and cold that pictures were the last things on our minds. We finally got picked up at 3:00 am and headed to Cedar City to stay at Brandon's grandparents.
It was one of those experiences that is stressful and uncertain while it is happening, but after, you feel like you have just been through a great adventure.
This last weekend, Brandon and I went to Zion again. Friday night, we did Pine Creek by ourselves. Brandon finally trusts me enough to go alone with me. I feel so special! We rewarded ourselves with hot juicy burgers from Blondie's. And an oreo shake.
The next morning, we met up with Jason and Eliza Cook from our ward and decided to do Orderville (part of the last canyon) mostly because those were the only permits left. This time was much less eventful but still way fun. We actually finished the Narrows when it was still light. In honor of Shark Week, we bought two inflatable sharks and swam through the Narrows with them. my shark hated me and kept bucking me off on the sharp rocks.
My shark!
