Into the Abyss

Every March, my family and I journey down to Moab to rock climb, hike, and to relax. This morning we hiked into a small canyon and repelled down two different rocks (using the word "rock" in a relaxed sense). Last year we just rock climbed, so canyoneering was a whole new ordeal. Skipping all the details, in summary we went with another couple (the husband was an ex-army repelling teacher) and a guide. 

The picture quality inside this first canyon was to be desired, so instead I am only posting the photo I have from above. In this photo you can see our guide, setting up the ropes to go down into what seems like a big, never ending, hole. It was also extremely windy, and I can still feel the sand in my hair as I write this post. Like many things, the worst part of repelling was getting into the mindset of relaxation and enjoyment. Another hard part was leaning back, into your harness, into a very unnatural position. Putting these things aside, looking back repelling was a very liberating experience. 

Here is a photo from inside the canyon (try to ignore the slight graininess). After it rains this whole thing turns into a huge waterfall, which would be amazing, yet frightening to see. The next repel was a short walking distance from this one, but looked a whole heck of a lot scarier. 

This photo does not do the repel, or the rock justice. The first kind of "bridge" is actually an arch (Morning Glory), and we repelled down the wall next to it. The following photos are from when my dad captured some of our descents down.

In this last photo you can see the arch in the background, surrounded by the many other rocks in the area. 

I hope you are enjoying/or enjoyed/ or are going to enjoy your spring break!!!! I am personally going to post this, take a shower, and then binge watch American Horror Story :)

As Always,

xoxo Em