Misadventures in the Great Unknown AKA Hiking with Tyson

Sight from climbing. Actual hiking footage soon to come!

Do you ever have those days where you encounter endless opportunities to remember how incredibly accident prone you are? Yeah. Today was one of those days. And I have a feeling that I'm going to have the wicked scars to prove it for a heap long time. I awoke early this morning, much to my chagrin, to go on a hike with my broskee Ty and my friends Tasia and Rex. We hopped in the manly Grand Am drove ten miles or so and pulled off on the side of the road. After squeezing our way through some nasty barbed wire, we started on our journey. The beautiful, ominous cliffs loomed in the distance and needless to say, I was kind of nervous. Not marked path. All free climbing. City girl with no climbing experience, who thought 'roughing it' was not showering for a few days and sleeping in a tent. However, the band of explorers I decided to venture on this 'hike' with are practically hippie woodland children, bred to live in the wild, climb like apes and hum as they traipse down gargantuan cliffs. No joke. So, after a clear lapse in judgement, I proceeded down the ravine to begin an exciting adventure that left me more bruised and beaten than a lone summer peach in a rickety chevy pickup.
The ravine was be-speckled with jagged igneous rock, remnants from volcanic eruptions from thousands of years ago. It looked like a scene straight from Lord of the Rings. I was half expecting Gollum to jump out, beat me up, and bite off one of my fingers. Tyson and Tasia took the more difficult and direct route westward, while I walked straight down to swoop around and meet them on the other side. I always manage to make things more difficult than they have to be.
As I was trekking down, I looked over to see where Ty and Taz were positioned to see how much farther I would have to climb. Before I realized what was happening, I was already face down in the rocks, chewing rocks like a bad bran breakfast cereal. Not even ten minutes into our hike and I already biffed it so hard I couldn't remember who my grandparents were. I sat on the ground, laughed at how pathetic it was that I fell in a place that wasn't in any way an understandable place to cut a deep gash in your leg. I was among shale, pebbles, tufts of grass and I was near tears, laughing about my predicament and praying that no one but God witnessed the atrocity of said fall. I got up as nonchalantly as possible in a way only an injured clutz can and tried to proceed forward, trying to forget the pain. I finished my trek down the ravine and swept around to meet the group. We started to free climb upwards. The pain was still seething and I didn't want to walk, let alone start an ascent to my death. okay. I know that was overly dramatic. but you get my point. We were climbing up and through these narrows to get to three peaks. After climbing the sandstone onto a shelf, i stopped, swallowed what little dignity I had left and told them of my embarrassing disaster because my soiled pants (with blood. sheesh) were making said injury worse(and to top it off, I'm a germ-a-phobe), we laughed and bandaged up my leg and continued upward.I found that if I kept moving, I forgot about my pulsating injury. Thank goodness we did A LOT of moving.

I found that climbing constantly had me introspecting and thinking of parallels to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (for more insight, call the Heather hotline) As we ascended higher, I kept thinking to myself "There is no way I'm getting to the top of this thing! There's no way!" But I kept going, no matter how many times I fell, how many times my feet slid out from under me and I hung in desperation, I trailed at the back of the pack like the fat kid in gym class. I feel bad for the jungle children I hiked with, but they were so great, supportive and fun to hike with. Halfway through, I realized my two week old space phone had disappeared, I nearly got eaten by a tree, and was at the point where I was willing to just sit alone in a hobo chair we found and wait for the others to come and get me. But I hate giving up, throwing my hands in the air and quitting. Its not who I am. Yeah. The hike was definitely more difficult for me. So? If anything, it was motivation for me to keep going. We finally reached the peak about forty-five minutes later, stood on the top and could see everywhere. We could see Sand Hallow, Dixie Downs, everywhere! It was so beautiful. And totally worth it.

We started down climbing off this peak, which I'm sure looked absolutely hilarious, and shouts of exasperation hung in the air. (Ty: okay Heather i want you to put your right foot in the air, hold on this hand hold and jump. H: Ty, not on your life. T: Trust me! It'll be just fine H: Are you kidding me? that's suicide! Really, Ty, Really!?') I couldn't have gotten up or off of that cliff without him, so I am truly in his debt. He was amazing. I love that hairy broskee of mine. So after four hours of hiking, falling down more times than i can count on my appendages on the way down alone, sweeping the ravine for my phone but to no avail, an allergy attack at the end, and being shishkabobed at the end by the awful barbed wire, we loaded ourselves back in the grand am and drove home. On our drive back, I looked down at my raw hands- cut, bleeding and bruised. On my left hand, I looked at my ring, rather smashed from all the climbing, but the words inscribed on the band rang true. "Nothing is impossible." I did it. I climbed it. I didn't die. My phone did, but not me. I felt like I'd been through four bar fights, but the satisfaction that surged through my body at that point was rather profound. I can get through incredibly daunting things, if I know where to put my trust, have a little faith, and look to my support system, Nothing is Impossible. I'm truly grateful for the opportunity I had to go on this hike, to just walk out my front door and try something crazy with some of the most amazing people ever. I woke up early to do something good for me, to have an adventure and do something I've never done before. I failed physically most of the time by the world's standards, but I did my best. I tried. and did pretty darn good all in all. Its an experience I hope to never forget. It was truly awesome.

Here's hoping you go and have an adventure this weekend, learn some things about the greatness within yourself and the things your Father in Heaven has in store for you, and to be surrounded by great influences for good in your life. Live, laugh, and love kids. Adios!