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Yellowstone, Teton, and Zion

It's been a while since we've posted. Recently, our family has visited some amazing natural wonders of the world. First, we spent a week up in Teton and Yellowstone, where we saw a lot of wildlife, gysers, hiked a 12 mile trail, and got some great shots of nature. We stayed with family at Teton Village, a great resort. The Tram to the top of the mountain was really neat. The hike was Granite Canyon. No bears, just some good nature shots, and we even walked through a glacier field. We saw a lot of Buffalo in Yellowstone, as well as deer, elk, and mountain sheep (bighorn sheep?)...The scenery was amazing - upper and lower falls, the gyser basins, Mammoth. In Mammoth where we stayed, an Elk came into town - a very large elk with impressive horns...we didn't get any shots though, but he was walking around town for up to 5 hours. Random pictures:




























We also went to Zion for two days. The first day included hikes up the Narrows to Mystery Falls. James was nervous when the water went up to my waist and he was on my back. We hiked to Weeping Rock, and also to the Upper Emerald Pool. It was nice to go to Ponderosa Resort that night, set up our tent, and spend some time in the pool/hot tub. Next morning at 7:30 am, I left to do Mystery Canyon, a popular canyon which has approximately 12 rappels, and some fun downclimbs up to maybe 10 feet. The canyon looks massive from the top. We hiked down Death Gully over 1000' to the base, and did a bunch of rappels. After hiking over and down the landslide (the lake caused by the landslide dam had no water), you go through a small slotted section to the Mystery Springs rappel. It started to rain there, which made a few of us nervous because of the flash flood potential. After going out on the 40' ledge, we set up the ropes in the anchor and made our way down the 120' slab of sandstone to the boulder, and then down the slippery wall into cold springs, which we had to swim. Then, after another 10 minutes of hiking, we were at the Narrows 120' rappel. The anchor is on a rock and you stand in the waterway as you set up. Then, its down the side as the spectators watch below. This was pretty fun. Here are some pics from the trip:

Spry Canyon Trip

On Saturday, Aug. 22nd, a group of us went through Spry Canyon. It started out in a wash, then we ascended a steep part of the left side of the wash and up to the entrance of Spry Canyon. The Canyon has about 10 or 11 rappels, the longest being the 1st at 165 feet and is at an angle. There were only a couple of places where getting wet was mandatory. The most awkward rappel start was one where you had to reach across the drop with your foot and place it on the rock across the overhanging drop and reach across to the bolts, webbing, and anchor to tie the rope in your rappel device. Here are some pics:

Dear Dave

Elder David Barton is on his way to Taiwan. He entered the MTC yesterday. We are so proud of him and love him Sooooo much!

One-on-One

Canyoneering: Capitol Reef National Park - Burro Wash

We went to Capitol Reef over the weekend to do some canyoneering at Burro Wash. It was awesome! We missed the first turnoff and ended up climbing up a cliff. Then we got to the entrance at the top of the slot. There are probably 3-4 great sections of narrows and slots. Water was waist deep at times. There was a bit of downclimbing - maybe 10'-15' at the most. It was a blast! Here are links to a description of the route:

http://climb-utah.com/Capitol/burro1.htm

http://www.ajroadtrips.com/go/trips/capitol-reef/burrowash.html