Zion Narrows & Jumanji!

Tea and Zinc to start the day via Dr. Shelley cuz ain't no sinus infection stopping me from doing the Zion Narrows! We packed snacks, got our gear at the shop and headed out. For those who don't know - Zion Narrows is one of the most unusual hikes on the Colorado Plateau. Hiking is done largely in the river, as for a third of the route, the river runs canyon wall to canyon wall. The walls are vertical and sheer. While water levels change from season to season, most hikers will wade at least waist-deep, and many will swim a few short sections. Due to the water being about 40 degrees currently, we had to wear neoprene socks, canyoneers boots, gloves, fleeces, and drysuits and let me tell ya, those drysuits are one sexy deal! Looks like you're wearing something straight outta Star Trek! Now enjoy some boss sauce pictures of the Narrows:

At 5 foot nothing, I did misplace my step and go into deep sections (deep to me) but it was fun and hilarious to try and find my way around the rocks (mostly I just followed Shelley). We made it to where the route splits and headed into Wall Street where it narrows in more (that's about 2 miles in) My favorite part of the Narrows is where the canyons walls tower over and creep in on ya, Shelley's favorite part is where the water and erosion has made the canyon walls look like a tiger. As you can see I got lazy on our way down and since the water was flowing hard enough I just laid back and let it take me down stream.  We did about 4-5 miles total.

Also, this particular night happened to be Karaoke at Wild Cat Willies! In all outdoor enthusiast natural style, I did not shower, but just brushed my hair and threw on clothes and headed down there. I will be honest, there was no singing or dancing done by myself although I was asked to rap Dre and Eminem's "Forgot About Dre" by two different staff members. Great songs were sung by all: "I Will Survive", "Dear Leonardo", "I've Got Soul But I'm Not a Soldier" and some that I couldn't even decipher because I couldn't hear the words. Great job Davey Gravey, Dude Man, Laura, John, and Harry Potter Rob#2!

The fun did not end here though, we headed out to Jake and Jocelynn's to complete our night with whiskey, Peebers (PBRs from Nevada so they are REAL, not 3.2% alcohol!) and play farkle and talk about skiing and snowboarding. This is also where I discovered that when John drinks he most definitely is Charlie from Always Sunny in Philadelphia! I wish I could write down his quotes all night, here are a few. "Why do we have dice? What is this? Fucking Jumanji?" "No, Erika, Budweiser doesn't make you more gassy than PBR. You want me to prove it? I'll shotgun a PBR right now to make a point." "I don't even know what is going on. How am I winning?" "PAPER AIRPLANES!"

Just to explain the pictures, on the left Laura and Ben are testing out which paper airplanes are the best by throwing them into the second floor balcony. Jake showed us some pimp ass skis and informed us that he was skiing before he could walk (he first went when he was 4 years old). Outdoors people (HEART) Laura and I left at 3:30am so we could get some sleep and roll drysuits in the morning around 7am (I totally peaced out after helping get the shop ready for open).  All in all, a FUN DAY & GREAT NIGHT!