Day 125: Bryce's Canyon, Cowboy Ranch

Friday 8th April

Hiking down into Bryce's Canyon, looking at Hoodoos

Cowboy ranch including steaks, fire, marshmallows, and s'mores

Distance:

Total Distance:

Bryce's Canyon National Park encompasses what is technically not a canyon but an amphitheater. At the top of the miles of cliffs one stands looking out onto an ever decreasing gradient as the land falls away. The beauty of Bryce's Canyon though is not in a simple view out towards the distant mesas (the flat topped hills seen in every Cowboy film ever), but in the hoodoos carved by wind and rain that stand along the wall of the amphitheater and down to its floor.

Hoodoos are columns of the local sandstone left behind as the surrounding cliff erodes more quickly. They too are slowly eroding, but are left first as wide sand covered buttresses branching out from the cliff, then as the edges are sloughed of they become narrow ridges of rock. These are further washed by rain and sand blasted by wind, becoming thin until holes appear. Becoming larger and more numerous the holes, or "windows", join together, leaving the pillars behind. The wind smoothies these into increasingly rounded structures, each of unique design. 

The place is littered with hoodoos. It is like a petrified forest. We walked for 3 hours, first along the rim taking in the view, before descending down to walk amongst them. Our tour guide said that he always thinks they look fake. As if Disney Land had just built them all. It's too bizarre, too unusual, too unique. There's just so many of them, and they're so big. I can kind of agree with him. They're so strangely haunting. But amazing and beautiful and well worth spending the three hours exploring.

Then it started raining.

The late afternoon and that night were spent at a ranch. A cowboy ranch. They had the bulls horned skull over the gateway, wooden veranda with swinging doors, horses, amazing views, a barn to party in, everything. Even people in cowboy boots, cowboy hats, leather chaps with tassels, the accents, the works. We were given a steak dinner with potatoes, corn, American style baked beans and homemade lemonade.

It was great.

Except for the rain.

We got the tents up just in time for the heavens to open. And they did open. Within minutes we were hidden under shelter watching out tents getting battered downpour in the middle of a desert. I ran down and got the cooler of beer out of the trailer as firewood was brought in off the back of a quad bike. We watched the rain until bored and cold before retreating into the barn. A couch was dragged over to within a couple of feet of the fire and here we sat, hands and feet spread forth to soak up the heat.

A few marshmallows, a couple of beers, and we decided to forgo tenting for the night. All of our camping gear was hauled up to the barn and here we slept, by the fire, warm and dry, away from the storms outside.

Day 48: Shotover Canyon Swing and Nevis Bungy Jump

Friday 22nd January

I jumped off a cliff, then got pushed off the cliff in a chair, then jumped out of a cable car in the middle of a canyon. 

"LOL", "YOLO", etc.

Distance: Bus, 100km, free fall 0.8km

Total Distance:  5431km

I won the Canyon swing after a fancy dress party (turns out that phrase doesn't translate well- it's British English for costume party) at Lake Mahinapua where I dressed a Gandalf the Grey, complete with light on the end of my staff.

A group of 5 of us got a minibus from the centre of Queenstown out to the Shotover River Canyon, where we would be jumping, and the place where canyon swings were first commercialised.

The idea of a canyon swing came from the glorious sport of rock climbing. When we climb we are attached to a rope, which has a small measure of elasticity to it, the rope being attached the the wall and running down to a friend on the ground. Thus, when one fails and falls, the rope pulls tight (but with enough spring so as not to jolt and cause spinal damage), and hangs one from the wall, controlled by the well grounded friend (hopefully). We do like a good overhang for climbing though- where the wall's gradient hangs over head, such that the climber is not just holding onto the wall but hanging. There is still, if not more so, still the problem of falling. Because we are normally climbing above the last point we attach the rope to any fall pulls us backwards, towards that point, creating a pendulum as one falls, with a small free fall at the start.

Multiply this up a few hundred times.

That's a canyon swing. Starting on the cliff we each jumped off, free falling 60m, before the rope caught up and we swung along the bottom of the canyon, just above the river and rocks.

Great fun!

There's a whole bunch of styles and ideas- forwards, backwards, sideways, on a chair, on a child's tricycle, with a ukulele or a friend. As you can see my the photos I posted a few days ago I went with the no hands sideways pin drop and the leaning backwards on a chair over the abyss.

The guys there are very nice and very cool, with good music often changed to suit the jump if you're doing something particularly stupid- resulting in the jump seeming far less daunting. They laughed in amazement as my cool exterior when jumping fell away as I jumped, me screaming "like a dying cat" as I fell. I've got some great photos of them laughing their heads off as I fall.

In the afternoon I was off to New Zealand's largest Bungy, the Nevis, at 134m above the canyon floor. Just getting in the cable car taking us out to the platform gave me the jitters as it has a mesh floor. I could see all the way to the valley floor. When I'm climbing heights don't tend to worry me. Falling is a different matter. 

Once geared up I stood on the little plinth, well worn from countless jumpers, staring out, down, to my apparent doom.

Behind me they shouted.

"3...2...1...go!"

"No" I quietly replied, and without thinking took a step backwards.

The jump master came to my rescue.

"Look right a head", he told me, "into the mountains. Then jump"

"OK", deep breath

"3...2...", I jumped. Well, technically I just fell of the edge. Just like my bridge jump there was no finesse to it. I just fell off. Screw jumping.

I plummeted down, barely able to see, air rushing past me as I took in a breath...only to scream my way down. And up. And down. And up. And down.

There was a little tag to pull which would bring me to lateral by releasing my feet (waist still attached) to make the ride up more comfortable. I'd met a girl who hadn't managed it and came up feet first. All the blood had rush to her head, leaving her red faced and with a day long head ache. I was potentially going to be in the same position as the tag became caught around my ginormous hiking boots. It took some effort to release it, then release myself. Thankfully I got it and was able to enjoy the rest of the journey up and the beautiful view.

Back at the top the adrenaline and endorphins kicked in generating euphoria and a giddy sensation resulting in me jumping up and down on the glass floor section of the platform and telling all the people yet to go that it was amazing and not to be worried. 

'Cos clearly a nutter telling you to chill out is extremely reassuring.

Afterwards I went for a wee walk whilst the hormones dwindled, leaving me tired but happy.

My dreams that night were a strange breed of heights, falling, flying, terror and joy.

Photos! Canyon Swing!

Just a couple of photos from my 2 Shotover Canyon Swings

I screamed. A lot. Again.