Too Narrow?!

Day 1:
Friday 9 April 2010

Woke up at 4.45 in the morning to drive to a hiking location named Little Death Hallow (No this is not a Harry Potter location). We finished packing our backpacks. Mine weighed 20 pounds, James' weighed 37 pounds. What we had on our back was going to last us for the next 2 days.

We drove for about 6 hours, stopping at Denny's for one of the best breakfasts ever and at every civilized rest stop because it might be the last one you use for the next 48 hours if you get my drift...

After driving for about an hour on a dirt road we reached our location: Little Death Hallow. We gather up our things and start out.


As you can tell, I've never done this before and how do I start out? Taking ANTM pictures.


We hiked, and hiked and hiked, and hiked.


It was pretty and many interesting shapes and colors along the way.


After hiking for a while we finally reached our destination: the narrows. The whole climax of this hike is the narrows. And I continue to pose like Tyra Banks is going to give me a modeling contract. Can you say, "Inexperienced Hiker"?






It was really pretty there and fun to hike through. How could one not love the twists and turns and the bright colors of the narrows? It really was something special.














Jim, my father-in-law who has done this hike like 7 times, says that the narrows aren't bad, there may be one or two spots that could get a little difficult but nothing bad. James, who has done this hike like 5 times, said that they took pudgy little Boy Scouts on it, so it's not that bad, I'll be able to do it. Okay, no problem I thought if little 12 year olds and his little sister, who was on the hike with us who is 13, can do this, surely a 24 year old woman can do this. Oh, but there were some surprises along the way. James' mom called them "fireworks". It just explode when you don't expect it, it's a surprise but once it's over, man it was good type of thing. Jim and James both admitted that there were more "fireworks" than when the last time they were there with the Boy Scouts. Here is one in particular that was the most challenging.

Instructions for this "firework"

Step 1: Jim stands in a few inches of water below while you step on his hand to give you a boost.



Step 2: While standing on Jim's hand, grab Brandon's (my brother-in-law) hand.
Step 3: While standing on Jim's hand and holding on Brandon's hand, push yourself onto the big boulder and rest your behind there.


Step 4: Scoot yourself to the other side of the boulder.


Step 5: Place your foot into a naturally occurring foot hold and jump down into about 3 inches of this mud/clay mixture.


Any questions? Oh yeah, don't forget the packs.

We hit a few more fireworks after that but nothing as complicated as this one. One thing to consider along this hike is the fact that I am the shortest member of the family. Even James' 13 year old sister is just an inch or two taller. Most of the time I was in the back because one step for James was like 2 or 3 for me. At one point James did this little hop over some mud and water onto other rocks. My short little legs struggled with this so James grabbed my hand to help. Well, as I jump, I don't have the foot hold that I need because my shoes are wet and muddy. So one of my legs goes into the pool of water which came up to about mid calf and my knee slid along with me leaving me with a bruise or two on my knee and a limp for the next week. Not to mention all the mud on my clothes.

We finally made it out of the narrows and took a rest.

Me covered in mud, obviously.


And as you can see through the progression of these pictures, we are tired.


We hiked for another maybe two hours or so and then set up camp for the night. We had dehydrated meals. That was the best chicken stew of my life!

Day 2:
Saturday 10 April 2010

Wake up at 5.30am and break down camp and let's get moving. We hiked pretty much straight.






Along the way we had the Hall tradition. Easy Cheese and Chicken in a Biscuit crackers and beef jerky. Not bad. It was my first time having it.



I took more breaks towards the end and James, being the most kind and generous person ever, carried my pack for the last little bit. But we finally made it to the end. We reached the road around 10.45am and were in the car shortly thereafter headed home. Behind us is the canyon we came out of.



We stopped and ate at a little cafe in Boulder Utah, the closest town to the trail and had the best lunch ever.

In the end:

-we hiked ~20 miles
-we hiked for ~13 hours
-I was left with 3 bruised toe nails, a bruise on my knee about the size of 2 half-dollar pieces
-Andalyn, James' 13 year old sister, was left with a blister on each heel about the size of a half dollar
-sore legs
-tired bodies
-and the adventure of a lifetime.