Monday, August 3, 2009

Zion

After our day of canyoneering we were ready for some food and music at the Bit and Spur.
The sky and majestic mountains in the evening in Zion are magical!
The locals say it's tarantula mating season now- here's a little one at the restaurant.
Modeling Al's Peaceday.com shirts. This is his next big endeavor- check out the website!
The moon coming out next to Johnson peak.
On our last day there we sought refuge from the heat in the Virgin River up the Narrows.
This is the only place to be on a hot day in Zion. We ran into Brandon's friends here and hiked with them for a while.
Last photo ever taken with our camera. On the way back down the canyon I decided to take a swim to cool off and forgot about the camera still in my pack. Although we were able to salvage the pics, our camera is toast. The next one will be waterproof!

Canyoneering in Zion

Brandon about to rappel into the dark slot of Spry Canyon
In the slot- this was a little tricky maneuvering into the next pool since we had prematurely pulled the rope.
So Brandon used what we called a "butt hold" to press himself up against the walls and slowly lower himself down into the murky water.
One of the longer free-hanging rappels out of the slot.
After hiking and down climbing for about 5 hours, this clear (although green) pool was so refreshing on this hot day! We dove right in and played around for a little while before we made it back to the car.
The pics got out of order, but this is the beginning of the hike. Uncle Al shuttled us up there and hiked with us until the point of no return. He doesn't really like to do any canyoneering or climbs that require gear or ropes.
Right before the descent into the slot canyon. Brandon decided we didn't need to rope up here, so we VERY carefully climbed our way down into this bowl, avoiding some really gunky, funky pools of water at the bottom.
We hi-jacked someone else's rope so we could go ahead of a large group.
Now we can see out to the other side of the canyon. Coming out of the notch next to Mt. Spry.
Our friend Nick joined in our adventure too. I was glad he was there to carry the rope!
We had such a fun adventure in Spry Canyon. It was SO hot in the beginning and felt really good to go down into the cooler temps and into the water. There is so much more to do in Zion, and I can't wait to go back!