I had no idea what I was in for. Thankfully I did R2R with my little family in September. I knew getting out of the Grand Canyon was going to be hard. But this.... was hard-ER! Ang, Katie and I drove to St. George but due to a total traffic jam outside of town we took an extra hour to get there. We got to Laceys house and did some packing. Eliminating a few things and distributing weight. We woke at 4:00 to head out. About 2 hours of dirt road in Arizona we finally made it to a grand look out.
There was no trail down Kanab Zero just some GPS marks that we tried to follow. You don't really want to get stuck on a cliff with no way out. But at one point we did have to rope up to rappel down a few cliffs. It was a bit discouraging when we got to a cliff and realized it was a dead end. We had to hike back up the slick slope and try for another path. But eventually we made it down the cliffs to the red rock.
There weren't a lot of small rappels this trip. Just big huge long ones. Some drops we hooked our packs below us and some we put them on our backs. My pack weighed in at about 50+ pounds our first day. So coming down those steep hills were tough on the knees. On one rappel we had to drop down 200 feet to a ledge then drop down again another 200 feet. Super grateful our ropes never got stuck!
After a few rappels we got on our wetsuits. It actually felt good to stand in the water and let my tight let muscles have an ice bath.
The last of the 10 rappels was in the dark. We made two mistakes. We left one rope sitting at the top of the rappel. (we were hurrying and it was getting dark) and then the other mistake was trying to pull the rope in the dark and it got twisted. Ang had to ascend the rope the next day and get it out. We loved our camp spot. Right by the river with a big open sky above us. We drank so much water. The second day was so nice. Walking through the river. Jumping off rocks into cool pools. Rehydrating. By 2 we were turning off the Colorado River and heading up Scotties Hollow Slot Canyon. By 5 we hit the end of our water source. We filtered about 30 Liters of water. Had an early mountain house dinner and even made up our mountain house desserts. With every things filled to the top with water we headed out for another two hours. So much logistics getting through the next part of the canyon. It was a slot canyon with big boulders blocking our way. It was a total team effort to get over, under and around those rocks.
It was getting late and we could barely see around us but we hadn't found a place to camp yet. We hoisted Katie up over some massive boulders and she found a perfect alcove for us. We ate our mountain house dessert and fell asleep to shooting starts and frog noises. The third day was up, up and more up. We scaled rocks that were steep and you didn't want to drop on. We had to get up and over so many obstacles. But when we finally got out of the slot canyon and could see where we still had to go - I think we all wished we had more slot canyon to go.
We sat inches from the sun- not wanting to start the ascent. We had some GPS coordinates and you could see cliff bands and one spot without cliffs. We headed there! We made small goals to make it to certain spots and then would hydrate and eat. We had gotten up at 6:00 AM. We were trying to beat the hot sun. We almost ran into a rattle snake. Thankfully it hissed before we stepped on it.
When we got to the cliffs we found a small trail for a little while. A trail has never been sweeter! It may have been next to a 2000 foot drop but it was a trail. It was great to see our exit route. It was so steep. Crawling on hands and knees sometimes. Some saint put a few rock cairns up which gave us hope and direction. We made it to the top with a liter or two to spare. We had gatorades and donuts in the car. It would have ended perfectly but I got a flat tire and an email that a ward family member had died.
But all in all... it was an amazing trip. lots of good growth and good memories.
love note from Abby when I got home
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