Spry Canyon

I have so much on my mind and heart right now!  The transition to working full-time has been pretty intense; there are definitely moments when I feel overwhelmed.  There is so much to learn as a Labor and Delivery nurse!  IV placement, electronic fetal monitoring, foley catheters, cervical exams, birthing positions, sterile technique in the operating room, titrating pitocin, assisting with epidural placement, interventions for non-reassuring strips, triage evaluations, magnesium drips, troubleshooting the IV pumps, protocol for hypertension, phlebotomy, provider communication, non-stress tests, coaching through pushing, prepping for C-sections, fundal assessments, handling hemorrhages, administering antibiotics, IUPCs, assistance with breastfeeding, endless charting, and oh-so-much more.  Plus, I haven't mentioned the obstetric emergencies like a cord prolapse or shoulder dystocia.  I haven't experienced either of these yet, but it's only a matter of time.

Lots going on in other areas of my life too--I like my work but feel torn when I miss out on important events with the family.  It's been a bit stressful for Jason too.  Most of the weight of getting Annie to and from school falls on him.  This should get easier in a month when I switch to working nights, although that obviously has its downsides as well.  We'll just take things a day at a time!   Many families have two working parents--we'll figure it out too.

In the meantime, let me share some photos from a more relaxed weekend in September.  Before starting work, I pushed hard for a special weekend in Zion.  I'm so glad that I did!  It was remarkable.  Here we are relaxing by the Virgin River.  

Jason, Eli, Annika and I drove down together, making it earlier in the day. Talia was going to drive down a few hours later with Grandma Susie, Grandpa Charles, and Ruby but they got away late so we connected around dinner time. Everyone made it safely, so it all worked out.

 A perfect pile of skipping rocks.

We meandered over to the Zion Human History Museum via the Pa'rus trail.

While there, we checked out the route some of us planned to explore the next day.   Jason, Talia, Eli and I had a permit to rappel Spry Canyon.  Meanwhile, Annika, Ruby, Charles and Susie looked forward to spending time in the Coral Pink Sand Dunes.

A mighty meal at Oscars gave us plenty of fuel for our journey.  Amazing burger, Eli!

We arrived at Ponderosa Grove campground after dark, just in time for a bit of star-gazing.  Looking deep into the cosmos helps me feel connected to my soul.

Here are Annika and Ruby playing in the sand dunes the next day.  Susie and Charles, thank you so much for creating these special memories with the girls!  I hate leaving Annie behind when we camp, but this hike would have been far too intense for her.  (Heck, it was nearly too intense for me.)  Thanks to you, she got to have a great time with her cousin and grandparents while still getting out into nature.  Plus, we are SO grateful to you for shuttling our van farther down the road so that it would be waiting for us when we finished our adventure.

Speaking of adventure, these gals traveled all the way to Arizona!

Meanwhile, our crew hiked and hiked and hiked.  We broke camp in the pitch dark and made it to the trail just as the day was growing light.  I say "trail," but the route begins at a pull-out beside a nondescript sandy wash on the East side of Zion.  

Eventually you start climbing up to a saddle with great views of Zion and Deertrap Mountain.  I was glad we'd hiked this portion of the trail before; otherwise I never would have felt confident that we were headed the right way.  I'm also really glad we have children; otherwise we would have had to tote our own gear!

We'd hiked this route before, but this was the first time we noticed the petroglyphys.

Eli greets a yucca.  I'm pretty sure we all donated some of our epidermis to the foliage.

I'm extra extra grateful to Jason for all the time he dedicated to researching our route. Even though we hadn't been there before, he knew where to set up each rappel, how long it was, what equipment was needed, etc. A canyon of this size is a massive venture, and he led us both safely and skillfully. Always calm under pressure, it wasn't until after that he revealed how scary it was for him to send us down each descent. I never felt nervous, trusting completely in his ability to set up our rappels safely. However, Jason understands the risks and never takes a rappel lightly.

It had been a while since I'd rappelled, so I felt a little nervous getting on rope the first time.  By the end of the day, however, it felt natural.  We all got LOTS of practice.  With 13 raps, Jason set us up 65 times!  No wonder he was exhausted, both physically and mentally.  At 165 feet, this first rappel was the longest, and required tying two ropes together.

Scoping out Spry Canyon.  Once you get started, there's just one way through!  Best commit.

Both strong and adventurous, Eli often led the way.

Talia needed some convincing to smile.

Love this man!

In fact, I love this whole crew!  I can't think of anyone I'd rather adventure with.  Only thing better would be hiking with Brooklyn too, and Annie some day when her heart feels better.

While Spry Canyon can be blistering hot some times of year, we timed it early enough in the day that we got to the saddle before the sun started blazing.  After that, the canyon itself provided plenty of shade, plus there were a couple of pools that required swimming.  In fact, we brought a wetsuit for Jason since he has the least body fat and is the most prone to hypothermia.  We figured that since he had the task of setting up all the raps, it was most important that he be warm instead of shivering and fumbling with the belay devices.

I adore these kids, goofy faces at all.  (Well, just Talia.  Eli is perfectly posed in each.)

I got brave and took a few photos on the way down this rappel.

It was so fun to see all the little frogs dotting the canyon walls.

But then I got frustrated because sand got stuck in my belay device and we could NOT get it open!  I'm so glad we were canyoneering in a group.  If I'd been all by myself, I would have been stuck up a cliff--literally.  As it was, Talia had to tie her belay device to the rope after each rappel so we could pull it up and I could share.  I think in the future I will bring a spare.  

In general, Talia's rappelling form is decent.  However, it deteriorates dramatically when she doesn't want to drop into the water.

By the end of the rope, she was forced to commit.

This next rappel went better.

Time to relax.

Believe it or not, we never crossed another human for the entire route.  It's hard to imagine spending 12 hours in Zion National Park on a Saturday in September without meeting another soul, but it's possible.  In fact, I highly suspect we were the only group venturing through Spry that day.  Even so, we saw evidence of all the canyoneers who have passed before.  These rope grooves are so deep!  Jason had to choose a different route so that our rope wouldn't get stuck.

I'll just stop babbling now and let the pictures tell the rest of the tale.

All done!  Even though the mileage wasn't that far, we were exhausted by the time we finally made it through all the rappels.  However, we still had a lot of scrambling to do to make it back to the exit at Lower Pine Creek, on the other side of the tunnel from where we started.  Once we had cell service, we were able to call Charles and Susie to let them know we were safe so they could start their drive back to Salt Lake a bit earlier than our crew. 

As for our bunch, we finally met a few humans during the last 1/4 mile as we reached this waterfall.  However, I think our encounters with people were outnumbered by our run-ins with the goats.

All in all, I really would consider this day to be one of the G.O.A.T.  Thanks for making it happen, Peanut Butter.  We love you!