Larry and I flew to Arizona on Saturday. I was a little worried about it because the temperature was projected to be 85 degrees. I decided to be brave and go anyway. I took two big bottles Gatorade plus four bottles of water. It ended up being the perfect amount of liquid. We finished the last bottle of Gatorade as we were driving home from the airport. We left my house around 10:30 and took off from the SpFork airport an hour later. To drive to Marble Canyon takes five and a half hours - we flew there in just over one and a half. The views were incredible, as always. We saw a lot of snow in the mountains when we were at 11,000 feet. We also saw this lake that still had ice covering it. Larry asked if I wanted to experience weightlessness. I said sure. Oh my goodness, it was a bit scary. I imagine that's what it feels like when your plane is taking a nose dive.
We always have plenty to talk about when we fly, and the headsets Larry has makes it so much easier. Going down I got the headset with the loose microphone. It always wanted to position itself right at my chin. It was hilarious. After we got back, Larry pulled it out of the plane to fix. Thankfully, he had another set I could use for the trip home.
Since we had been on this hike before, we knew what to expect and were a lot more agile. We got to the spot where we stopped and realized we were a short 20 minutes from the end. On that trip we ran out of daylight so we had to turn around. This time, we had plenty of sunshine and good weather.
Once we landed the plane (which got a little interesting because another plane had just started to taxi down the runway) we rode the scooters over to the nearby restaurant and had a yummy lunch before starting the hike. Larry had a hamburger with fried greens (that actually tasted yummy), and I had a taco salad. One thing about Larry is that he doesn't mind sharing. It's been an adjustment for me to share food (and possibly germs), but it is WAY more convenient. After a quick potty break we got back on the scooters and zoomed to the trail head.
The shape of this rock reminded me of Rex, so I had to get a picture.
This particular area is called Cathedral wash because of the slot canyon on either side and the dry river bed at the bottom. Most of the hike is accessed by walking on the wall rims. Only near the beginning and end do you actually walk at the bottom. This time down, I felt comfortable enough in a few spots to find places to scramble up by myself. It felt very empowering and Larry was proud of me. At one point, I was too exhausted to get myself up so I said "Daddy come help me". He happily did. Another point he boosted me up, and then I helped him up. Team effort on full display during this hike.
Every once in a while we would spot a tiny lizard scurrying along the rock. I was lucky to capture this one on video. Don't blink though, or you might miss it. We could hear the river before we could see it. It was so amazing to come around a bend in the hike and there was the river. It was mighty and glorious to behold. We never saw any rafters going down like the video above showed. Larry agreed that it would be a fun thing to do. I don't agree. White water rapids scare me to death. My fear of water is alive and well.
There was a group of biology students from Oklahoma. Their instructor told us he grew up in Moab, so when his administration gave him permission to take the summer students on a biology trip he knew they needed to come here. It was especially nice that one of the gals in the group offered to take our picture.
This rock was the perfect rock to sit on and contemplate the meaning of life. I was feeling so many deep feelings of gratitude. My heart was near to bursting. I never thought I would enjoy these types of adventures.
We spent about 30 minutes just relaxing and enjoying this area. We had packed snacks (applesauce, apples, shortbread cookies, jolly ranchers, and almonds) so we sat and ate while soaking up the sun (but not overdoing it).
Then, it was time to head back. As we were leaving we both commented on the fact that we will probably never go there again. So, naturally, I had to take a million pictures going back. In this picture there is a small arch in the background. Make the picture as big as you can and see if you can spot it.
Larry doesn't take nearly as many pictures as I do, so I have a lot of him. LOL. This was at the very end of the hike. We created lots of fun memories and I'm thankful I was brave and did it.
The only thing Larry forgot to bring on this adventure (it's always something) was the bike lock for the scooters. I was saying a silent prayer the entire hike that they would still be there when we returned. Thankfully they were. After a quick potty break at the nearby gas station, we were on our way home.
We've taken Larry's small plane out so many times over the past few months that I had forgotten how spacious this plane is. Here is a picture of the back of the plane with the scooters on board.
On our way there we had a headwind of about 40 mph. On the way home we had a significant tailwind and we got close to flying 200mph. It was glorious. There was only one really HUGE spot of turbulence where I felt super nervous for a nano second. Larry said it was caused by the wind burbling over the high mountain we had just cleared. My ears did much better on this trip, and I was thankful for that. It was also overcast on the way home, so I could take off my sunglasses.
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