Rim

We contoured around the butte most of the day. It was a long day. By the time we came down off the slickrock I was wiped. My feet were really hurting. It wasn't blisters but deep down soreness. Everything from my knees down was aching. But we still had another mile (that's a Missy mile) on the trail to get to camp and to another water source.

Missy pushed us to keep going and we did. She asked if I wanted to change into my sneakers but I just wanted to get where we were going. I just put one foot in front of the other and plodded on. It was killing me. My eyes were tearing, my nose was running, but I made it.

As soon as we got into camp we decided we were going to need to put up tarps because the sky had gotten cloudy. (No wonder Missy was pushing us to go on.) I rested for a few minutes.

Dan and Susan (our heroes!) went to get water and within a few minutes it started to pour.

Missy quickly changed and went off to find Dan and Susan because it had gotten dark quickly and they were without raincoats and lights. She left the rest of us to watch the stove and finish the tarps. Then the lightening came. Missy later said she saw it light up the whole valley.

While Jamie and I were working on the one tarp, the wind kicked up and the stove foil blew away. The open bag of peanuts fell over and spilled all over our sleeping area. I abandoned Jamie while screaming something ridiculous like, " The stove! The food! I'm going after them. Stay with the tarp! " The low/no impact hiking Missy was teaching us had obviously fried my brain. I was more concerned about leaving peanuts on the ground than setting up our shelter.

Susan and Dan were on their way back when Missy found them. Susan had run into a cactus and had needles sticking out of the side of her leg. I had the priviledge of plucking them out for her. How fun!

By this time, it was teeming. We cooked and ate under the tarp. It was fun but we couldn't believe it was actually raining. According to Missy, this area only gets 10 inches of rain per year and it comes in small doses and spurts. It never storms like the storm we were having. Murphy's Law incident #2.

Missy, Susan and I slept under one tarp and Margaret, Dan and Jamie slept under the other. Our area quickly became flooded so Susan ran to the other tarp. The desperation was in her voice, "Give me the shovel! Give me the shovel! (Note to those who have never camped. A shovel is a must have but it's not for digging in the traditional sense. It is used to dig a very small hole to bury and cover up your waste so it will decompose faster.)There was rustling under the tarp as Dan triedfeverishly to get the shovel out as quickly as possible. "Here", he said as he thrust the shovel upwards outside the tarp. Margaret, however, thought something was missing. "Dan, it's obviously an emergency! Give her some t.p.!" But Susan was already gone.

Susan proudly came back to our tarp saying she would dig a trench. Missy quickly dismissed that strategy because we were supposed to be practicing no impact camping. "No, Susan. We can't dig any trenches." About then, the rain kicked in even harder and the water began flowing freely through our sleeping area. Missy suddenly had a change of heart. "Dig, Susan, dig!! We'll fill it back in in the morning. DIG!!"

Susan was on a mission. She dug a thin trench all around our sleeping area to re-direct the flow of water. I wanted to help but we didn't have anymore tools for digging. I felt pretty lame following behind Susan trying to "perfect" the trench with a serving spoon.

The trench was a success. Well, at least for a while...

We chatted a bit while brushing teeth, changing contact lenses and generally settling in. We made sure all belongings that needed to stay dry were under the tarp.

When we first lay our heads down it was strange. The rain beat heavily on the tarp and the wind made it flap, sometimes violently. But eventually, the rain slowed and we dozed off.

After a time, I woke to the sound of heavy rain again. I turned on my flashlight to make sure the trench was holding but to my great disappointment it was not....and the water was inching toward my sleeping bag. "Shit! The trench is overflowing!" (I'm sure I woke every animal in the entire valley.)

Susan was up in a flash. Before I had one sneaker on, she was dressed and re-digging the trench, this time adding a little dam effect here and there.

The water flowed into a circular area beyond our feet. That area, however, was not set on much of an incline. Thus, the water was building up and creating a small pool. We wondered if it would force the water upwards back to us and soak us `til morning.

When we settled back in I asked Missy what time it was. I was hoping it was about 3 a.m. so we didn't have much more of this nonsense. It was 10:45 p.m. - a mere 45 minutes after we had gone to sleep. Ugh! I didn't think I'd sleep through the night. I did though. It's amazing what sheer exhaustion can do to your sleeping habits.

I definitely gained a new-found appreciation for shelter. And when it was all over, we had laughed an awful lot.

Me / Our Patrol / Our Fearless Leader / On the Way Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 / Day 5 Day 7 / Day 8 / Day 9 / Day 10 Things To Remember / Outward Bound / The Anasazi

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