Left: Cooking a traditional Christmas dinner. Note tinsel on tent :-)We had a really good Christmas in Utah. Nothing went to plan though. I'll talk about the bad things first, because apparently it is better to finish on a high (or a song, but that isn't really applicable in this case). We ended up setting off a day late because Andy was ill, then having to leave a day early because I was ill. On the way back, we had the now customary car failure, when one of the back tires blew out. We spent around 4 hours sitting at the side of the road, mainly due to the incompetnace of the people manning the emergency phone line - apparently being broken down in Utah but being closest to a city in Colerado is mind-numbingly confusing. Andy had to explain so may times where we were, I don't know how he kept his patience. At the very least he should have tried a range of silly voices for variety.
We couldn't ski or snowshoe because the snow was too thin, and we weren't very sucessful climbing, mostly because of me having a big girly wimp attack. I had my first lead fall, something I have been dreading for about two years. I was very frightened because I had made some bad decisions (which was an educational experience). The fear went away as soon as I fell off, since that removed any element of control I had over the situation. I did have a moment of relief then panic when my puny size one nut briefly cammed into the crack and stopped my fall momentarily, before pinging out. I was finally stopped by the rope coming tight on a bolt, and some first class belaying by Andy. I ended up rather ungracefully suspended in a spikey bush, with a few bruises and dented confidence. I didn't feel like leading anything else that day and we didn't get to go back as it was Christmas the next day. I am out of practise, but I'll get better and nail it next year :-)
Left: Delicate arch at sunset
So positive stuff... We had a good laugh, the Arches national park is beautiful, and barbecued turkey sausages make an excelent Christmas dinner. We also learend some lessons from our trip to Yellowstone, and managed to not freeze to death camping.
We opened some presents there, but we have just opened our presents from Andy's family, so we got to have a second Christmas day. Thanks if you read this, more personal thanks will be dispatched forwith (oops slipped into 19th centuary mode by mistake there).
Below left: Andy in Turret Arch, Arches NP. Below Right: Sunset at Delicate Arch #2
2 comments:
You didn't say you threw youself of a mountain when we all met up in London? Good to hear that you (and the bush) were both OK...
Yeah I did- we had a conversation about climbing! You and Nick obviously wiped out a few brain cells with your continued drinks binge :-).. The bush was fine, it's just slightly flatter than it was :-)... And thanks for the comment, I don't get many (cue the faint, far away sound of a very small violin playing a lament)
Post a Comment