camping

Ahoy,

I'll be the first to admit camping is not my thing. I'm not over the moon whenever he poses this activity. I like modern conveniences, plumbing, flush toilets, etc. I've done it before, and I'll do it if I have to. But it's not something I outrightly request. Also, I should say I'm not typically one to have a lot of girlfriends or hang out with a bunch of girls. I would say I'm typically more comfortable with a bunch of boys, more so than girls. So there's that. All that being said, I agreed to go camping for a week with 2 other girls. This would be the longest period of time I would spend camping and with only girls. I was filled with anxiety at this prospect.

But it was a great opportunity and I just couldn't pass up the Grand Canyon, Bryce, and Zion. I departed with the girls on a Monday, leaving the comforts of technology and testosterone. I couldn't even begin to imagine how the rest of the trip would progress.

We departed a little later than anticipated, but we made good time to Grand Canyon. We still had about an hour or two of daylight by the time we arrived at the campsite. H showed me these firestarter log thingers that make it super easy to start a fire. You just light up the brick and it burns for a long time to get the wood logs going. What a revolution it was to me! So we just set up camp, cooked dinner and tucked in early for the night. N snored like a truck driver right next to me and I'm pretty sure I got little to no sleep that night.

The next morning, H & I were up bright and early to wait for the other one. Little did I know this would be the normal routine henceforth. After taking her time, the 3 of us departed for the day aboard the shuttle. We started out from the visitor's center to walk around the South Rim. After about 5 minutes on the trail and a few photo ops, N left to go back to the campsite. I have to admit I was really glad she did. I was pretty close to strangling her. H & I spent the day on the South Rim trail, which was really flat and easy. Weather was unseasonably mild, I was told because there should have been 10-15 feet of snow on the North Rim, but there were no feet. Regardless, the views were sweeping and grand. Pictures cannot capture it.

The next day we were on to our next stop at Bryce Canyon!

elevationally practiced,
jt