MATT'S LAST (PRE-MISSION) HURRAH

Last weekend was the last one before Matt's 2 year mission to Jamaica. So he and I took off on a motorcyle trip to southern Utah. We left on Thursday after work and rode to Cedar City. After spending the night there, we rode about 10 miles to the south of there to a very tiny town called Kanarraville. I had heard thet there was a good slot canyon hike there. So we rode in blind and hoped to find it. The town was much smaller than I had anticipated and we saw like no-one to ask about it. We finally saw a man working in his front yard, so we pulled up and asked him if he knew anything about it. Fortunately, he did. It turned out that it was just up the street from his house. We talked for a while and he told us that while there were no parking signs at the trail head, the town was so small that it did not actually have any parking regulations in place so there was no way to enforce the no parking signs. He also said that many people parked at the Mormon church parking lot (which was right across the street from his house) and then just walked up the street from there. After riding up to see scout out the trailhead, we came back and parked in the church parking lot. No need riling up the natives. We found a short wall hiding the air conditioners near the church and took turns changing out clothes. This was after waiting for two little old ladies sitting in their car (and who asked if we had any questions about the church) to leave. Fortunately, they left shortly after we talked to them. We then walked over to the "general store" (the office of a KOA campground) for a couple of water bottles. The proprietor asked if we were going to hike the falls and recommended that we pick up a long stick along the way to ward off rattle snakes as they were common on the hike. We heeded his advise at first, but not seeing any snakes at all (fortunately), discarded them after a while. The trail was just an ATV trail for the first half mile or so and we were beginning to think it was going to turn out to be a dud, when we came across the river. We hiked alongside the river for a mile or so and then ended up hiking right up the stream bed. It was a very beautiful canyon and before too long we hit the first the first of three slot canyons (narrow walled canyons with sheer walls rising on either side, sometimes hundreds of feet high) and a river or stream running through it.


Here are some pictures of our hike:

below: Mat on the top of the same waterfall

right: Dave and Matt --with a good view of a slot canyon in the background

Matt at the beginning of a slot canyon.
Just to the right of Matt's ear you can see a tiny patch of green on the other
end of the canyon

After we hiked in Kannaraville, we rode to Hanksville for lunch. While we were eating at Burger King, I pulled a sheet of paper from my pocket and dropped it in front of Matt. He about gagged when he saw it was a printed internet page for a local skydiving outfit called Skydive Zion. He has been wanting to skydive for a long time now and I told him no, I didn't want to kill him off before his mission. He was (massive understatement) very excited. The reservation was for about an hour later, so we cruised out there after lunch was over. After about an hours lesson, we were off. Since there was only one instructor, one plane, and one pilot, we had to take turns. Matt went first. Here is a video clip of his landing, and post landing:

And here is a clip of Dave's landing:

The conquering hero:







After our big skydiving adventure, Matt and I rode into St. George for the evening. The next day, we rode into one of the most beautiful places on earth, Zion National Park. There we parked the motorcyles and changed clothes behind a huge rock. We then boarded a shuttle into the main canyon and got off at the trailhead for Angel's Landing. Without a doubt, Angel's Landing is my favorite hike ever. It is awe inspiringly gorgeous at the top, and a very fun hike to get there.

right and lower: on the lower part of the trail

Believe it or not, this is only a little more than half way up, and yes it is a sheer wall on the far side.

Here are a couple of pictures from the top. There're real . . . and spectacular!!

After decending from Angel's Landing, we rode home, grateful for a safe trip. I think that both Matt and I will always remember this trip with very fond memories. I know I will.