Wundering through southern Utah

For the last couple of months I have been able to work with one of the local Boy Scout troops. It has been a great experience for me to give back just a little to an organization that taught me a ton when I was a kid. We've been able to do a ton of fun stuff with the boys. We went camping in the dead of winter, and I froze my little Hawaiian 'okole (rear end) off. I showed the boys how it's done in Halo 3 at an overnighter we had, and we've been able to play a ton of basketball. This past weekend, we went on an amazing hike.

Down in southern Utah, near Escalante and Boulder, there are some world famous slot canyons. We were able to hike two of them: Peekaboo and Spooky. This was my first time hiking a slot canyon, and as you can tell from the picture above, the name "slot canyon" is dead on. What you can't see, are that those walls extend about 20 or so feet upward. The slots themselves were formed by water over time (hence the smooth edge on the rocks), and it feels like you're on the moon (not that I've ever been there or anything). Before going, I went online to see pictures and videos of the canyons, and I honestly felt that I wasn't going to make it through. There were seriously some times when I needed to put all my weight on my back foot and push through with all I had. I made it out, and it was a "gut check" that I needed to get a little more in shape.

Needless to say, it was one of the coolest things that I have ever done with the Boy Scouts (including my time as a scout), and believe me, I've done some pretty cool stuff. The pictures to the right are just some of the shots we took, but they do the slots no justice at all. It amazes me, I've been in Utah for about total of four years, and I've never ventured to do something like that (kind of sad isn't it). I guess however, that "wundering" around really pays off. If you're going...call me, I'd go back again in a heartbeat!