 Hannah
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North_Dakota_Wheat
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Jacob
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Tuesday, September 02, 2003
Weeping Rock and the Narrows in Zion
Zion brings back many memories for me. In undergraduate studies I lead a group of my friends on a backpacking trip in Zion National Park for a week. It turned out to be a quite wet week in which it rained, sleeted, snowed, or hailed every day except one. I found out later (years later) that in fact a couple of the guys were about to commit mutiny! I had of course packed many years with my father and so was prepared for anything. I double bagged my fathers down mummy bag with mine (to keep it dry). I always bag my clothes in zip lock or garbage bags in my pack and carry extra socks, liners, and gloves. That was the first time I had taken a group of green guys out and I did not realize that I needed to go through their gear to make sure they were equally prepared. Another complicating factor was that I was experienced in hiking in the Sierra Nevadas where we never got rain except for those afternoon bursts. A tube tent had always been sufficient and light and we never carried a heavier tent. Not wanting to be a lesser guy, I did not get any feed back that they were struggling until wet feet and poor socks lead to blisters and wet bags was making it miserable for the other guys. One of them did not have the confidence to do the numerous jumps, skips, and hops from slippery rock to rock as we need to ford the rivers many times. After getting a break that one day of sun, and passing out my extra clothes, we did enjoy the rest of the trip, each a little warmer and drier.
This time of course John, Elizabeth, Hannah and I were there in the main valley during the summer and hit the popular tourist points. Weeping Rock is a very refreshing stop and the Narrows was a water adventure for the kids. Swimming in the deeper holes and hiking up the river. I was envious of the guys that were repelling down into the narrows after climbing to the rim earlier in the morning... maybe next time! when John is 18.
Zion brings back many memories for me. In undergraduate studies I lead a group of my friends on a backpacking trip in Zion National Park for a week. It turned out to be a quite wet week in which it rained, sleeted, snowed, or hailed every day except one. I found out later (years later) that in fact a couple of the guys were about to commit mutiny! I had of course packed many years with my father and so was prepared for anything. I double bagged my fathers down mummy bag with mine (to keep it dry). I always bag my clothes in zip lock or garbage bags in my pack and carry extra socks, liners, and gloves. That was the first time I had taken a group of green guys out and I did not realize that I needed to go through their gear to make sure they were equally prepared. Another complicating factor was that I was experienced in hiking in the Sierra Nevadas where we never got rain except for those afternoon bursts. A tube tent had always been sufficient and light and we never carried a heavier tent. Not wanting to be a lesser guy, I did not get any feed back that they were struggling until wet feet and poor socks lead to blisters and wet bags was making it miserable for the other guys. One of them did not have the confidence to do the numerous jumps, skips, and hops from slippery rock to rock as we need to ford the rivers many times. After getting a break that one day of sun, and passing out my extra clothes, we did enjoy the rest of the trip, each a little warmer and drier.
This time of course John, Elizabeth, Hannah and I were there in the main valley during the summer and hit the popular tourist points. Weeping Rock is a very refreshing stop and the Narrows was a water adventure for the kids. Swimming in the deeper holes and hiking up the river. I was envious of the guys that were repelling down into the narrows after climbing to the rim earlier in the morning... maybe next time! when John is 18.
