My New Hobby: Part 2

WARNING:

LOTS OF PICTURES!

As promised, here is the second installment of Canyoneering!  There are lots of pictures because we did two canyons, so don't feel obligated to look at them all.  I just uploaded all of my pictures, and they weren't in order, so I did my best of putting them at least with the correct canyon from either day.

This year's canyoneering trip was pretty different from last year's.  Nicole was unfortunately unable to come with us because she had a bun baking in the oven. ;)  So, Tristan organized a great trip and invited some of his friends to come along.  Tali (my roommate) decided to join in on the fun and brought along a couple of other friends from the D.C. area, as well as her sister who is going to BYU right now.

We drove down on Wednesday night after everyone flew in from D.C.  The next morning we got up pretty early and headed over to meet up with the rest of the group.  Once we got everything ready it was time to head out to Zion and get going for the day!  We did Pine Creek our first day, and because of the freezing cold water, we did it in wet suits...well, most of us did it in wet suits!

(I'm going to post the pics of each canyon that I know for sure, and then I'll include all of the scenery pictures that will give you a small glimpse of what it's like being in the back country of Zion!).

This is Tristan, our fearless guide!

This is Rob, another one of our AWESOME guides!  He provided not only safety for the group, but a lot of laughs as well!

Ready to get started for the day!

Lookin' hot, Tali!

Kaylie on the first rappel!

This rappel is called the Cathedral.  It was so beautiful, and had amazing acoustics as was demonstrated by Tristan singing a Gregorian Chant.

This was the last rappel of Pine Creek.  It's a free rappel, which means that you just have to let yourself down the rope without support from a rock wall.  Just you and the rope!  It was breathtaking!

Pine Creek was a blast, and was so different from Mystery Canyon from the year before.  The slot canyons are incredible, and being in them really makes you realize how dangerous they can become with a flash flood.  Luckily we had perfect weather on both days!

Friday we did Spry Canyon, which again, has a completely different feel to it from Mystery or Pine Creek.  You have to hike up and up and up on pretty much no trail in order to drop down into the canyon.  However, the hike alone would have been worth every second.  It was so peaceful and quiet.  We didn't see another person until the last rappel of the day!

 We found Petroglyphs on the wall, which were pretty cool.

Heading down the first rappel!

Challenge: Get across without getting wet...

This was another free rappel.  You had to swing out a little in order to brace your feet against the far wall, and then just let yourself drop!

Tali's friend David came on the trip with us as well, and introduced us to the "Dart Game."  If someone calls your name and you look at them, they can blow a "dart" at you and you have to lie down wherever you are until someone comes and takes the "dart" out.  The only way to avoid being darted is by sticking your pinky finger up when they call your name and you look at them.  We had some fatalities on the way...

Rob was a good sport and played along with us!

This was the last rappel of the day.  From this point you are in the main canyon, and can see the cars driving up and down the twisty switchbacks.

Out of the canyon at last!

 The next lots of pictures are random shots from both days.  You really can't capture the beauty and majesty in these small snapshots, but you can sort of get the idea of how amazing Zion National Park really is!

On Friday night we drove back to Orem so that we would be able to go to Annie and Ben's wedding the next day!  Yay for Annie and Ben!!