Photo Scavenger Hunt

I put together a photo scavenger hunt for Sam and his friends yesterday as a prom day activity. There were two teams of four, each in one car. The items are listed below, which they photographed with their cell phones. Both teams did really well. The winning team (Sam's) got 22 of the 25 items in about 90 minutes. A good time was had by all.

1. Red-headed adult woman.
2. Horse
3. Elevator
4. Goldfish
5. Manhole Cover
6. Gravestone
7. A mailbox with the number 2359 on it
8. Utah state flag
9. Mini-Cooper
10. Straw hat
11. California license plate
12. Bright red door
13. Bowling ball
14. A man with a mustache
15. A missionary
16. Glass Coke bottle
17. Movie theatre screen
18. Fire(big enough to roast a hot dog)
19. Trombone
20. Airplane
21. A dentist
22. City bus
23. Book about rocks
24. Kitten
25. Blue uniform

A Grand Time

I returned late Monday night from a marvelous four days at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I was invited by Steve Ramras, aka Ram, and this was billed as a "Ramfest." There were quite a few people who came and went, some just to drop by and visit as they ventured into nearby canyons, others to stay a day, and still others, such as Ram, had been there a week already and were planning on another nine days after the fest. That's some serious outdoors time! Here's a brief summary of my trips:

Day One: Down 29-Mile Canyon with multiple rappels into very cold pools with floating disconnects and short swims. Beautiful canyon that empties into the Colorado River, where we blew up our one-man rafts and paddled upstream to exit from the next canyon. Then an arduous hike up a good trail ascending 3000 feet with a full pack, including wetsuit and raft. Long day--up at 4:30a and back to camp at 8:30p.

Day Two: Coolest logistics I've ever seen on a canyon trip. Five of us descended Badger Canyon, leaving fixed ropes in place at the five rappels. Gorgeous. The other six descended the non-technical Jackass Canyon, which empties into the Colorado on the other side from Badger. Once each group was on the river (on opposite sides) we switched places, using the three rafts the other group had carried. Three over, three back, three more over, two back. It was a little dicey crossing with the current, and given the rapids 50 yards below not a lot of room for error. But all got in safely and we carried the rafts back up Jackass Canyon--a beautiful bouldering gem, and the other group cleaned and carried the ropes. Two canyons in one day. Lots of fun.

Day Three: Down the top half of Ryder Canyon, which was first descended a few months ago. I was actually the fifth person to descend this canyon. One big rappel and a lot of wonderful hiking. Halfway down there is the exit, which three of our group opted to take. The other three headed down Lower Rider to the Colorado--a really gorgeous and fun hike. But we were running out of daylight so high-tailed it back, moving very quickly--actually covering the same ground in 45 minutes going upcanyon that took us an hour going down. We managed to hit the foreboding exit with a little daylight left: a steep and exposed 1000-foot climb over about 1/4 of a mile with constant exposure and scree/loose talus footing. I would not want to do that in the dark, although we had headlamps in case of emergency. Great day.

Day Four: The group was thinning and most went to hike Cathedral Wash, which has a glowing reputation. I decided to take on Seven-Mile Canyon and was joined by Sonny L., a recently retired prison psychiatrist, which gave us all sorts of interesting things to talk about. This turned out to be another very nice canyon down to the Colorado River, then hiking up and along the treacherous rockfall bank to the next canyon to exit, where we saw a mountain goat hopping gracefully above us. Just enough exposure and elevation to keep your attention. But a great trip, followed by a long drive home.

The weather was cooperative--it got down to 21 degrees one night, but no rain or snow the entire four days and I was warm and cozy in my tent. I had to pound down thousands of calories to keep my body warm during the day (in the water especially) and energized enough to make the climbs out. Met some fun and interesting people, shared a campfire and stories at night and was enraptured by the beauty of the area.

Also, some pictures from other folks--much better than mine:
GC Day 1
Badger/Jackass Loop
Ryder Canyon
Seven-Mile Draw
Rider Canyon
Badger/Jackass Canyons
Rider Canyon
Badger/Jackass Canyon Loop (from Ram)

Random Thoughts

Today in the grocery store the girl at the checkout asked me: "Did you find everything?" I immediately replied: "I wasn't looking for everything." There's a little devil in me, I know, that has been finding language absurdities everywhere I look lately. For instance, take a look at the photo of a sign I saw in Trolley Square which conjured up all sorts of interesting ideas and imagery. That Harold has one twisted sense of humor.

On a more serious note, Rebecca and I were both struck by something we heard in church last week. Someone told a story of a poor young island boy who gave his schoolteacher a gift of a beautiful seashell. "Thank you so much," she said. "It's so lovely. Where did you get it?" "On the other side of the island," the boy replied. The teacher, realizing what a long journey on foot that must have been for him, said: "You didn't have to go all that way to get me a seashell." The boy replied simply: "Long walk part of gift."