So There I Was…
By Brian Diaz
A few of my buddies and I were hiking and mountain biking through Utah’s Grand Escalante National Park when we got a little off course and had to cross a river that was dark gray in color and flowing fast. While holding our bikes and packs overhead and taking numerous trips to cross, the poles to a two-person tent slid off the side of my pack and fell into the water. After spending several minutes trying to dig them out with our feet and resigning myself to thinking of ways to spend the sub-40-degree nights in the canyons without the protection of my tent, one of the last people to cross over felt them on his feet and he stopped dead in his tracks as I went back in after them. I was relieved, and more importantly, my tent partner was not glaring at me anymore! We slept warmly that night and enjoyed some beautiful slickrock that trip.
