KANAB, UT

     I’ve been home for a few days now and my whole body is exhausted.  Even though the hikes were not too difficult to finish, the desert sun and the altitude change must have gotten to me. 

     I had been to Utah before but always on road trips with my family or for any of the week long summer camps that BYU hosts.  I hadn’t been back since I left for the MTC in Provo.  Utah has always felt very familiar to me due to my upbringing and my relatives that live there.  It has always remained a memorable place for me.  I have never been through Zion National Park or Bryce Canyon.  I have vague memories of being at the Grand Canyon with my family when I was really little.
     As we got closer, to Kanab, the place of our gracious host, the country was growing more beautiful.  We drove through the park and saw two groups of Big Horned Sheep and a few deer.  These rare animals with the red desert backdrop and sculptured mountains and canyons already were making the trip for me.

     The next day we did Bryce Canyon.  Bryce Canyon seemed something surreal.  I kept thinking of the painting by Dali with the melting clocks or scenery out of a book by Dr. Sues. 

     Then Saturday came.  This was the day the whole trip was centered around.  We went on a 12-mile hike at the bottom of a crevice.  On either side of us were walls that seemed to go up three or four stories high.  Just days before, a flash flood had washed through it, making it a little damp and believable that the area that were in was a dried up riverbed.  The largest way wide of the area was usually about ten to fifteen feet.  Then we would come up on places that we would have to climb down ten-foot drops with a rope.  Most of these areas had a pool of water at the bottom so you can jump off of the drop. 

     By the last three miles of the hike, we connected with the Narrows, which was all water sometimes to you ankles other times to your waste or chest.  This definitely was the finale of the hiking trip and left me wanted so badly to go back and do the Subway Hike, another hike at Zion comparable to the one we just finished.

     The trip wasn’t only fulfilling because of such gorgeous scenery but because of the company.  It was one of the only chances I knew some of us would get together before Robbie and I headed back to Oahu.

     It was nice to see some of my best girlfriends.  We’ve all been friends for a while.  Some people can’t believe that we’ve still stayed in touch all of these years.   And even more, there were a couple people that I just met on the trip and I'm really glad I did!  It was nice to be around my peers and share our life happenings at the moment.

     All in all it was a tremendous trip for me and I would do it again in a heartbeat.  Special thanks and gratitude goes to Marti and Megan for making it so unbelievable.  And thanks to Ryan and Marti I have these few pictures to post.