Ok I know this is practically a novel, but it’s worth the read. I just wish I had more pictures to capture this day.
This is a great story…. One I’m known for across all of Utah County. The original plan for this weekend was to backpack through the Narrows down in Zion National Park. Our whole group was ready. We had our permit, we bought dry bags to prevent our belongings from getting wet (from REI too so that’s saying something). Unfortunately there was a flash flood the night before!!! It is common knowledge in Zion National Park and especially in the Narrows that you DO NOT go on this trip is there is even a chance of rain. Flash floods are quick, powerful, deadly, and serious. They are not to be taken lightly. SO. Not only did the flash flood happen before we headed down, pretty much the entire group decided to either bail or do their own thing. That didn’t stop Brenna and I. So the day of our trip, I decided to tag along to Brenna’s classes and while she did her education stuff, I researched different national parks nearby (within 5 hours or so). We might not have known where we were going to go, but there was no way in HECK we were going to cancel this camping trip. We were too excited. My only request was that we do something OTHER than a red rock national park. They are so accessible in Utah and recently had been all we did. I wanted a change of scenery so that I don’t get sick of seeing ONLY red rock. (I would never actually get sick of it…. Red rock is BEAUTIFUL and AMAZING and I could never get enough of it) But I did think it would be fun to go somewhere new for a change. We considered so many different places. The Tetons, Glacier National Park (this was a huge stretch, but I’ve always wanted to go so it had to be an option), Great Basin, Rocky Mountains, etc. The driving part didn’t scare us, we just wanted to have enough time to actually enjoy the park. So as I was researching, I found a national park called Black Canyon of the Gunnison, located near the center of Colorado. Neither Brenna or I had ever stepped foot in Colorado. Maps said it would be about a 5 hour drive! PERFECT! I began looking up different hikes we could do and we came to a mutual agreement that this was our park for the weekend. Now, when to leave and who to invite….. We decided to leave that night and our friends Matt and Nic would be the best travel buddies for the trip. After classes that day, Brenna and I rushed home to pack up her Jeep Cherokee with my tent, a foam mattress, and some blankets and were ready to go! Matt was the only one who ended up being able to come with us, but it ended up being a PERFECT trip. Not even exaggerating. It was PERFECT. (There were a few mishaps, but I don’t even care. It was perfect.)
After a quick stop at the grocery store to get some snacks, we were off to Colorado!!! I had found some BLM land right outside of the park so once we arrived, we set up camp and all snuggled in my 2 man tent and watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 days on Brenna’s phone. Matt was the only one who ended up watching it since both Brenna and I fell asleep within the first 10 minutes. Ha Lets just take a sec to visualize this. We were 3 people (and Matt is a tall and strong human) in my little 2 man tent, laying on a foam mattress that somehow fit perfectly, and Matt was the one watching the movie until the wee hours of the morning. Makes me laugh every time.
ANYWAY, the next morning we got up, got ready for the day, packed up the car, and headed into the park. Our first stop was a look out since none of us actually knew what this park looked like. Can I get a raise of hands of who all has heard of this park? Yeah…. No one. BUT OKAY THIS VIEW. One of the prettiest things I have ever seen. This canyon is so dramatically steep and beautiful I couldn’t help but yell for joy when I laid my eyes on it. WOW. And it’s not a very big park, so you can see a lot of it from just the few look outs. Yeah. MAJESTICAL. We then drove over to the visitors center to get some pointers on the hikes we should do that day. Turns out March is still considered to be winter and most of the roads and hikes were closed for off season. I am completely to blame. Being from San Diego has MANY perks, but remembering which months are considered to be winter? Yeah, this was the first. So the park ranger dude explained to us that there was just a few hikes available, and one “route”. I emphasize the word route only because he emphasized it when talking with us. He refused to call this one a hike because it’s more of a scramble than anything else and it’s still snowy so the trail isn’t exactly clearly marked. Hearing more about this option and how the park ranger recommended against it unless we are experienced hikers and have the proper gear, we decided to give it a go. (We are after all, experienced hikers… ;) )
So begins the hike… I mean route. This was a classic go down the canyon and then back out, so as we began our descent we quickly realized what the park ranger meant when he said the trails were still snowy. UH YEAH they were. We were slipping and sliding everywhere! Kind of freaky. To be honest though, I was the main one being tentative about the snow considering the fact that I am the biggest klutz, I am the unluckiest person in the whole world (ok that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much), and there is a freaking steep cliff that I would slide off of if I step incorrectly on the ice. So after a few switchbacks down the mountain, we decided to go back and try a different hike. As we were on our way back up, we ran into a group of guys whose catch phrase was “I’m still gonna send it”. As they passed us, we realized. Oh my heck we are being such babies (Jk I was mainly saying this to myself) so we turned around and joined up with them to make the descent.
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