What do you do with an extra long weekend? Fall Break to be specific?
You scavenge for backpacking gear and invite yourself on a wilderness adventure.
Originally I was planning on being stuck at work all weekend but with a few strings pulled my weekend was miraculously freed up and I can't tell you how so so so happy that made me. While trying to figure out the whole mess I probably made about 250 laps around my work space because I was so worried I wouldn’t be able to go (hashtag FOMO) but happy news, it all worked out!
Abby and I have been really into our horoscopes lately and it said that the 19th would be OUR day. It started out absolutely terrible but by the end of the day we were headed on a wild adventure. Can’t complain about that, horoscopes are real guys.
Late Thursday afternoon the 9 of us made a quick trip to JCW’s for our “last real meal” where one of the guys ordered the crippler. Sounds appetizing right? 4 meat patties sandwiched between bread. Yum. But beware because it comes with its own list of side effects.
After we grubbed we made the 7 hour trip to the small little town of Escalante where we slept on a 6x6 square of grass in the church parking lot. It was cheaper than a campsite and everybody else hadn’t beaten us to it already. Plus we reasoned that paying tithing made it a little more justifiable.
We tried to be all incognito pulling into the parking lot until the car alarms started going off at 1 in the morning which only led to whispering and giggling and pointing fingers at who would take the blame when the cops came.
The next morning we made sure to get up before the rest of the little town so they wouldn’t be suspicious of our rendezvous. We made a quick stop for breakfast where the lady made it very clear to us how important it was we knew our cheeses. I’ve got American, Cheddar, and Gouda down and that’s all you really need to know right?
We got to our final destination, the Coyote Gulch trail head, with one flat tire and having only hit one deer and a rabbit along with the remains of our breakfast made by yours truly, the crazy Subway lady. We were reeeaadddyyy.
The parking lot turned into a large mixed gender dressing room because nobody had changed the night before. Separate cars guys. Separate cars.
It was also here where an old couple basically gave us their car and asked us to drive it back to town for them along with our other two. We all smirked cause who really trusts strangers these days, especially 9 teenager young adult kids? We ended up running into them multiple times on the trail and we became tight. They were the raddest old couple ever. The old man, his steel frame backpack, walking stick, lunchbox strapped around his neck and his lady gaga esque sunglasses were the icing on top.
But seriously this place could be counted as the 8th wonder of the world. We spent the next two days wandering through streams, star gazing, climbing up rocks, playing in the red sand, mud fights, swimming in freezing cold rivers, admiring nature from my behind cause I fell approximately every 10 minutes, drinking water straight from the mountainside, talking about our missions and future life plans, learning one another’s true colors and chowing down on Mountain Houses haha. Warning: they go right through you, hence the reason we quickly knew one another so well. Bathroom humor in the wilderness always gets me. So yes we were adult children for a solid 3 days. But not really because I was blown away at how carefully the trip had been planned and how sick this group of people was. Real winners all around
Oh and I can’t forget the fire. If there is extra fuel and if there are boys on the trip who possess matches... It’s inevitable. They created this volcano out of sand with this swirly path that led away from it. I’m not gonna lie, it was kinda cool.
I just want to be a granola for the rest of my life.
I remember when I called one of my friends who was in charge of the trip he said, “Ash are you ready to know us better than you ever thought you could?” and like duh I said yes until I realized what he meant there. But I am so grateful for all of the friendships and inside jokes that were made on this trip. The very last night we scooted all of our tents right next to each other so that we could have “pillow talk” which actually just turned into silence because we were all so tired.
On Sunday morning we woke up again at the crack of dawn to hike out in time to get to church. After literally climbing up the side of the canyon with our packs on and dangling from a rope we made it back to the strenuous sandy trail head and proceeded down the miles and miles of bumpy dirt road, fastest way to get car sick everyone. One of the poor cars made almost the whole drive with a donut and because of that we didn't make it to church until exactly 11:11. Our whole goal was just to get the sacrament and we were so close. But not close enough.
If it wasn’t already bad enough that we were entering the chapel in grungy hiking clothes with the gnarliest hair you have ever seen and sand and dirt smeared across our faces it just got even worse.
The doors to the chapel hadn’t been greased in probably 100 years so as soon as we opened the door our hopes of sneakily walking in back died when the whole congregation turned back to find a herd of savage hikers standing there. A family had just moved into the ward and they asked the whole family to give talks. This little girl, about 10, gets up and begins to read a story about a family on vacation who contemplates not going to church because they are having too much fun but they realize how important the sacrament is. All of us looked at each other and just sighed haha We had tried so so hard.
After church we made sure to find another “real meal” and a real bathroom and then made our way back home. I always love coming home but I was fighting it this time. It was too much fun and I actually had a valid reason why I didn’t have to wear makeup or do my hair all weekend long. What a dream.
The last hurrah came as we had a 3 hour impromptu dance party in the car with windows rolled down and sunroof up. We took it back to 8th grade singing “boots with the fur” and “solider boy” as passerby’s were videotaping, clapping, thumbs upping, and challenging us to dance battles from the other lane. We got the occasional glare too. Haters ‘gon hate.Waking up the next morning I couldn’t decide if my arms hurt more from lugging a pack around or from only dancing with my arms for that long. Either way I really gotta get back to the gym.
