Happy Easter!

Greatest man in history, named Jesus, had no servants, yet they called him Master. Had no degree, yet they called him Teacher. Had no medicines, yet they called him Healer. He had no army, yet kings feared Him. He won no military battles, yet he conquered the world. He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him. He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

Backpacking Coyote Gulch!

Coyote Gulch, down in Escalante, UT, is an amazing canyon full of red rock, green trees, and rushing water! A group of 9, including me, headed down April 14th, and after a long 30 mile and very irritating bumpy dirt road (more so for the drivers, which I was 1 of 3), we were at the trail head! Liz Gerke, Justin Rae, Curtis Sorenson, Becca Vikari, Anna Pugliano, Adam Gwyn, Diana Cuadrado, Lauren Eliason, and I had a great time exploring the canyon! The way down into the canyon involved us scaling down a pretty steep face, which I took my pack off and slid down carefully on my bottom; however, the way back out of the canyon was another story. Adam scaled up the rock like a lizard and attached the rope to a tree and then with a ~ 40lb pack on, we pulled ourselves up the face! It was pretty scary, no lie, and I'm not too excited to do it again, but it was an adventure! Our adventures in between these two moments involved kicking, splashing, and enjoying a great hike through the canyon! P.S. most of these amazing pictures were taken by Curtis Sorenson, I wish I did!

My ~ 40-45 lb pack!

Justin...need I say more!

Myself, Justin, and Liz at one of the beautiful falls!

Amazing, right!

Curtis, the picture taker, and Adam in the background!

Adam, Diana, Lauren, Liz, myself, and Justin heading out on the trail to Coyote Gulch!

Enjoying the beauty and sun of the canyon!

Justin running to catch up with us! I love the angle of this picture!

These trees were pretty cool, debris smashed up against the tree, evidence of a previous flash flood!

Natural Bridge!

The group, myself, Liz, Diana, Lauren, Justin, Anna, and Becca!

Lauren up top, and Liz, taken before the descent into the canyon!

 

Oh Justin, after I took the picture he told me to take a look at it. What a guy! We were almost to camp! Can you see how exhausted Adam looks!

 

Curtis making his way through the currents!

I love the texture Curtis captured in this shot!

Liz and I hiking through the river!

 

Liz captured in a great moment! I wish I knew what she was smiling about! :)

 

The upward ascent, Justin is trailing behind helping us up the face! The pack suddenly felt much heavier!

 

Three friends enjoying a beautiful day in Coyote Gulch!

Camping & hiking in beautiful Zions National Park!

Zions National Park...one of my favorite places to camp, hike, and thoroughly enjoy life! My friend Erin Johnson and I planned a few months ago to go this weekend, not thinking ahead that it could be the same weekend as conference and since it was we didn't broadcast the trip and decided to keep it just the two of us. We had a blast! Erin had never seen anything in southern Utah as far as National Parks go, so we originally had planned Bryce Canyon because I haven't seen it in a long time, but instead went with Zions because it was going to be warmer. And it was warmer! We had beautiful weather, 70-80s, and just a few rain sprinkles as we were heading out Sunday morning. I took this picture coming down from the Upper Emerald pools.

My tent on the right and the beautiful view (minus the trailer) we had each morning as we unzipped our tent!

 

The ever inclining trail to Angels Landing!

Erin and I on Angels Landing trail!

Scout's lookout right before the accent to Angel's Landing! It's a beautiful view, but a scary 1400ft drop (hence the picture below)! 

Overlooking the beauty of Zions!

I pay attention to this sign every time before attempting Angels Landing. It saddens me every year to hear of another fatality on this hike.

Is this what that sign was warning about? :) A 1400ft drop? Luckily I don't have much of a fear for heights!
I actually get a little nervous looking at the picture though, funny!

The chains of Angels Landing!

When I came a year ago, there wasn't a waterfall here at Weeping Rock, yet this year there was. I loved how the wind was blowing the water and how it ran down the rock.

The Lower Emerald pools, the walkway underneath these falls is quite interesting to walk through. Mud...red mud!

Erin took this amazing picture, the sunlight was streaming down at the perfect moment over the Lower Emerald falls! 

On Friday night, we ate here, the Bit & Spur! It is a nice, Mexican restaurant, with obviously a little flair! I'm not so sure what the snake and spider were about, but the food and especially the fresh avocado dip was amazing!

Burn embers...burn! Obviously we didn't earn our Eagle Scout award or we would've ate dinner a lot sooner! I was bummed we forgot to buy coals, they would've worked a lot faster and easier than burning wood!

Yum, I love tin foil dinners!