Camping, Canyoneering, and Climbing — My Pretend Spring Break

BYU is the only college within all of Utah County that does not have a spring break. Why, you ask? ... Ya I ask myself the same question every time mid-semester rolls around in the winter. It's the time of the year when your mind hits a wall. And you physically can not get past without a vacation. I think some smart people somewhere realized that and made spring break. And then BYU crushed all of its students' hopes and dreams by getting rid of it.

Well, this year I decided if they wouldn't give me a spring break. I would pretend they had. My mind could not do it this year. I needed that getaway. So we took a random trip to Moab with a random group of friends.

I've only been camping once. So when we showed up to the campground at 12 am and my friend Davis declared that we were sleeping under the stars in 30 degree weather I may or may not have had a slight panic attack. The first night I froze. Then I learned how to properly zip up my sleeping bag and I was pretty good the second night. By the third night, I decided camping was a thing I liked. If done right.

PS. Hand warmers are my new favorite. For using always. Not just camping.

The first day we went rock climbing. I love rock climbing and it's even better outside. But it's also harder. And I have never lead-climbed before. Davis and Matt know that. But for some reason they got it in their heads that I could do it. Lead climb for my first time ever with like 5 minutes of training outside on a route that I'm pretty sure would make my head bleed if I fell. But I did it! And I only fell once, but it was close to wear I was clipped in so the fall wasn't bad. Now I love rock climbing even more.

                                      

One completely new experience for me was conyoneering. This comes pretty close to rock climbing for me now. We hiked through the canyons and literally had to scramble up some rough parts that were a bit sketchy. For instance, at this one point I had to shimmy down a rock, stand on the edge, jump and grab the branch of a tree and inch down the tree. Well, in my attempt to transfer from the branch to the trunk of the tree I slipped and said the longest swear word ever. I don't usually like to swear but for some reason climbing and canyoneering bring it out in me. It started with Shiiiiiii.... as I began to fall and then by the time I hit the ground I was in shock at how stupid that fall was that it took me a couple of seconds to finish up with the T. What was really scary though was repelling down a 175-foot cliff. But boy was it exhilarating :)

                

It was a pretty great pretend spring break, I must say.