2 comments/ 25506 views/ 1 favorites Red Rock Canyon Day 01 By: LuciousBi-Writes4U Day One: the hike into the park Shelby and Paige had decided to go to Red Rock Canyon for the second weekend of their spring break. After spending Easter weekend with their families the two girls were ready to get back to nature, and to the solitude and tranquility of being without their parents and grandparents and pesky younger siblings that wouldn't leave them be for 5 seconds at a time. Always asking about boys and college and are the college parties as fun as they say etc. They'd planned three trails to hike. Each would take a full day and they graduated in length and difficulty from novice hiker to advanced. And each was a little further out into Mother Nature than the other. It was a great time of the year for hiking there during the days as the rocks warmed in the spring sun and the flowering vegetation had just begun to bloom. The nights however in the lower elevations of the canyon were still going to be very chilly-as much as 30 degrees in difference from daytime to nighttime. They'd brought along their insulated sleeping bags, both of them big enough for two people and they were the type that could be zipped together to make a big warm burrito out of the two of them if they needed to huddle for warmth. They'd remembered all their gear, a small tent, cooking supplies first aid kits in both packs, hikers whistles cooking utensils and preparations, lanterns-the works. On day one they parked Shelby's SUV in the east side hikers lot so it would be easy to find. They'd made sure to call home and let their families know which entrance trail they would be taking into the canyon and what their general game plan was. First rule of a good hiker...always leave adequate information in case of disaster...written plans and be sure that someone other than the person with you knows where you are heading and when they should expect you to return. On the other side of the park that morning were two young lawyers fresh out into the big bad world. They'd taken their vacations together right at the time that they'd had spring break for the 4 previous years. It was still hard to fathom that they would miss that small break and many others around the different holidays now that they were apprentices at Decker and Lowell, the most sought after law firm in the city. They too were looking forward to getting away from it all. Sleeping out under the stars no cell phones, laptops, pagers or PDA's to disturb them for the first time in over a year. Being an apprentice meant they were heading in a great direction. And it was a very coveted position to land. But it meant being virtually on call to the firm's partners 24-7 for the last year and a half. That morning Chad and Rex threw their cell phones in the glove box locked it and Rex's truck and never looked back. As they stepped up to the west parking lot trail the smell of the fresh heather in the cool spring morning's breeze was like a fresh breath of freedom for the young men. As they traveled along the trail they ran through their plan for the weekend. Unlike the girls, they'd brought no tent...just their sleeping bags-wanting to make the most of sleeping out under the stars. The weather channel had called for it to be clear through Monday evening so they thought they were adequately prepared and would be fine from Friday morning through midday on Monday. Back on the east side of the canyon the two college girls started to move toward the north. They spent the morning with field journals in hand putting what they'd learned in botany class to work. Good practice for the identification portion of their upcoming mid-term. They gathered samples of all the vegetation and tried to identify each one, grabbing two samples of each to use for their upcoming lab project tucking them away in their nap sacks. They found a shady spot under the ledge of the canyon wall to have their lunch by mid afternoon. They had been working their way from the east outer parking lot to the center of the park. Which was where they'd planned to stop for the first day. Make camp and then start north from the center. They explored around the edges of their campsite for a few hours after lunch, taking care not to get too far off the trail from where they'd pitched their tent for the evening. They'd readied their campfire and cooked a couple cans of soup, topped off with fresh smores just like the ones they used to cook years ago in the Girls Scouts. Then settled in for the night, knowing the next leg of the trip would be a full day of uphill hiking. Shelby and Paige were hoping to find a lot more vegetation that grew only at the higher elevations of the canyon-they were sure it would help with the ID section on their exam and seal their A+ on the upcoming project for the second semester. The two young lawyers made their way from the west towards the center of the park as well. Stopping for camp about 5 miles to the north of the girls' campsite. No tents required little setup for the night allowing them to keep hiking for the additional 5 miles out. They feasted on fresh rabbit they'd caught earlier that afternoon. Cooked over their open campfire for dinner. Reminisced about their old fraternity days and wonder what some of their frat brothers might be up to at the moment. After downing a few beers and a few toasted marshmallows they hit the sack knowing that they'd need to rest up for the hike into the higher elevation of the canyon the next day. Red Rock Canyon Day 02 Day Two: On to the Higher Elevations After some pan-fried griddlecakes smothered in fresh berries and syrup the girls packed up camp and started northwest. They planned to make it up the trail to the next tiers of the canyon. The weather reports had been favorable for the entire weekend. And it was indeed a brisk, but sunny and clear Saturday morning. 5 miles or so ahead and a bit to the northwest the to lawyers, Chad and Rex boiled up some fresh oatmeal and topped it all off with some strawberry jam. Stomped out their fire pit and used water from their canteen to make sure it was out. Then they rolled up their sleeping bags—grabbed their sacks and headed up and to the northeast from the center area of the park. All four of the young hikers would soon be in for a big surprise when by midday the clouds had begun to roll into the blue sky above and the temperature shifted at least 20 degrees in only a matter of hours. Shelby and Paige hoped like hell that the breeze would send the clouds above passing right over them without any trouble. But having come from a family of hikers Shelby knew to look around for extra cover while they continued their field study and sample collections for their project. They knew that they had the cover of the tent, but they also knew that it would be no match for any type of high winds. About 10 miles from where they'd started they noticed the entrance to a small niche or cavern in the wall of the rocks. Paige suggested that they use some hikers ribbons; little plastic strips of bright red material to tie off a reminder of the way back down the trail to the niche. Just in case they needed they'd thought. After all they were two young women alone in the canyon for all they knew. It had been a long time since either Chad or Rex had been hiking at all—not since their spring break trip as seniors in college. Which had now been followed up by four more years school and a year and half out in the world of corporate law. Chad was never that great of a Boy Scout and Rex had never been a hiker until they'd drawn each other as roommates in the freshman housing lottery—therefore he knew even less. They boys hiked forward to the northeast for about 5 miles before stopping for lunch and a rest. They noticed red flags attached to some of the vegetation leading away from where they were. Looking around to see what might be worth marking this particular spot on an open and winding trail Rex came across the cavern that the girls had discovered earlier that day. After their lunch Chad and Rex set forward for about another mile when around 3 PM the harmless cloudy skies turned into threatening menaces. The guys decided to take cover under a ledge of the canyon wall. But when the wind began to whip and the rain began to beat down, the cover of the ledge just wasn't enough to be of any help. The guys were at a loss for what to do, they'd brought no tent...they were soaked to the bone. Then Chad remembered the hikers ribbons and the cavern they'd seen a while back. And they headed for its warmth and safety. The girls on the other hand had figured it out before the rain and hail had begun to fall and they'd set up their tent right at the mouth of the cavern—actually right to its inside so that they could stay dry inside the cavern and warm within their tent and sleeping bags. Luckily they'd kept all their supplies dry as well. It was obvious by the already steep drop in temperature that the evening would be even colder. The two young lawyers finally reached the cavern to find that they might not be allowed its safe haven after all. Meeting the two girls, Chad thought they were screwed—but Rex thought that their ship had come in. "Hello Ladies. I'm Rex and this is Chad." "Nice to meet you. I'm Shelby and this is my friend Paige. Looks like the weather got the better of you two." "Yes, what gave it away—the soaking wet sleeping bags and knapsacks and clothes or the undoubted red marks on our faces from the hail hits in the face as we boogied back down the trail..." Chad remarked in a sarcastic chuckle. "We didn't realize that the hiking ribbons we'd seen earlier were fresh from this weekend, we figured they were left a weekend or two earlier. We figured that we would have the safety of this cavern if we needed it." Rex explained. "Yes, I marked the trail myself after we ate our lunch here. I come from a family of hikers and I could tell that the day was probably going to go badly when I saw how funky the sky looked this afternoon." Shelby remarked. "Do you think there's anyway we could share this little safe spot until the storm passes?" Chad asked hopingly. "I don't see why not, you certainly don't seem like the uhhh...axe murdering freaky types..." Paige replied in a nervous giggle. "Yes, it seems like the only smart and humane thing to do is to share...after all no one owns nature...and as we can see Mother Nature has a huge mind all her own. But I've seen these storms pop up out here before on other trips in the past and I think you'd all better get used to the idea that we may have to bed down in here together overnight to ride this thing out." Shelby elaborated. "What HORRIBLE luck—NOT"! Rex thought to himself with a chuckle.