127 Hours: A movie review

Josh loves scary-situation/"I shouldn't be alive" entertainment. He made me watch Frozen, which I couldn't even watch most of. But when we heard they were making a movie based on the book Between a Rock and A Hard Place, written by Aron Ralston, we wanted see it. 127 Hours was actually being filmed this spring when we were in Robber's Roost/Hanskville area.

As avid canyoneers and lovers of the desert, we had to go see this movie.

The premise: Aaron is a bad-boy outdoor enthusiast who takes a solo (first mistake) trip to the outer area of Canyonlands, Utah to descend Blue John Canyon. He triggers a choke stone to fall on top of him, pinning his arm between the stone and the rock wall of the canyon. There he sits, stands actually, for six days until he finally frees himself by cutting off his arm with a cheap and dull pocket knife. All this we knew going into the movie. So I knew it was going to be somewhat painful to watch and was bracing myself for an hour and a half of being stressed out.

Before seeing this movie, I held ZERO respect for Aron Ralston. He was stupid and careless in his quest for adventure, and I do not approve of his selfish and self-righteous attitude. And to top it off, he made millions by doing what you're not supposed to do.

There are simple rules that Josh and I always follow when going into the backcountry.

1- Never go alone

There is safety in numbers. Had Aron been with another person, that person could have left him with water and food and gone for help, he would have only had to sit in that canyon scared and worried for a day at most!

2- Be prepared for the worst

Always carry more water than you'll need, and an extra layer and some extra food

Aron kind of followed this, no one is ever prepared for a week-long stay when setting out for a day trip- but he could have had more water.

3- Tell at least TWO people where you are going and when you plan to be back.

Everytime Josh and I go anywhere away from home, we tell someone in Jackson, usually a friend who knows the area in which we are headed and then Josh's mom, or my mom... they are most likely to worry if they don't hear from us and call SAR (search and rescue). Now make sure the first people you call when returning to civilization are those two people so tax dollars are not unnecessarily spent. And stick to your schedule! don't take side trips too far off your plan! No one will find you if you're not where you said you'll be. Aron didn't answer the phone when his mom called and told no one where he was- even remotely!

4- Check the Weather!

Especially when decending into canyons, once the walls are high, you can't see the sky anymore and rain in the desert=flash floods. Of course, mountaineering and climbing and even just backpacking can be very dangerous if the weather turns on you. SO check the weather and check it again before you leave for any kind of backcountry trip. Aaron, luckily did not get caught in a flash flood, otherwise most likely would have drown.

Okay- so all that being said about why I did not respect of like this man, the movie was fabulous!

James Franco is very nice to look at and more importantly is a phenomenal actor!

The movie kept close-up pain staking footage to a minimum and used a lot of flash backs and hallucination scenes to break up the monotony of "Aron" being pinned by a rock. He had lots of revelations about how is actions have lead up to this time in his life. He realized he should call his mother and sister more often. He realizes that he is alone figuratively and physically because of the choices he has made in his life. Walking away from the movie, I almost liked the guy again. But still hold no respect for his foolish actions.

My only real problem with the movie is that it showed my favorite place in the world and truly captured it's essence- bad for us, it may send lots of gorpers to the canyons of Utah we hold so dear...

Our first canyon, only a mile or two from Blue John where Aron was trapped.

I swear this tree was in the movie

Pine Creek in Zion, UT. The most technical of canyons we have descended thus far.

It's like a cave-but cooler!

Antelope Canyon, totally non technical that if you're interested in Canyons, you should start here, in Page AZ.

Overall I recommend you see the movie. But (Mom, Barb) if you do go see it, know that Josh and I are safer than this-don't let it scare you. You cannot control nature, and we know that! We are always prepared for the worst, and we never descend a canyon that we can't get out of. We never pull a rope until we know that we are in the right place, and we always tell you where we are going!

Miss me?

Well!! We have been all over the map since I've last found the time to blog. Please check out the full array of photos on Facebook. I'm currently sitting in Denny's trying to get all the pics on the Internet so that friends and family can see... but finding the time to type out all my journals and thoughts is a different story altogether. The short story is: we spent two, maybe three weeks in Escalante, Ut down Hole-in-the-Rock road. Then headed to Zion National Park for about a week and in both places got in some really cool slots canyons!! Our technical canyoneering skills are being honed every day. Along with our physical skills, our photography skills are also being honed. (While we're at improvements- my legs and arms are getting rather toned as well!)

The highlight of our technical canyoneering career took place in Zion just three days ago. We hiked/rappelled Pine Creek. Pine Creek is considered a "classic moderate" technical slot canyon (the advanced technicals will have to wait until next year- they are a bit of a jump up in skill level from what we are used to) Pine Creek had six rappels: the first one just 100 yards from the parking lot! We geared up in full wet suits, complete with booties and gloves, and boy were we glad we did, because we did some full-on swimming! and boy, was it CHILLY! We had to carry two ropes with us, one 10 meter and one 60 meter. We were able to use the shorter rope for most raps, as they were short and sweet. The final rappel, however, was 96 feet, and free-haning! the idea of it was a little scary at first. Josh and I both, strangely enough, are a little fearful of heights when ropes are not in the equation. The scary part, is setting up the ropes and clipping in, but once your are attached and secured to the rope, it is one of the most exhilarating experiences ever!

I promise to post pictures soon, with commentary so you can follow along. But, like I said, we're dealing with shotty Internet (at best) and I cannot overload my poor browser with uploading in more than one spot at a time. We are leaving Page, Arizona post-haste headed for the Grand Canyon and from there we will be in Las Vegas. Once we get to Vegas (and get a hotel room) I'll have more time to commit to blogging (maybe...) either way, stay tuned!!!

Okay, okay, I'll give you a little teaser:

After Little Wild Horse/Bell Canyon we moved our camp just down the way to a spot more sheltered from the wind

We stayed in the San Rafael Swell one more night then headed south to Escalante...

We stopped to have a beer and gather local info at the Escalante Outfitters. It was here, that we ran into some old friends of Josh's. Tulsa and Mac were on vacation from Montana with their dog Shackelton. Shack rode in the side car of Tulsa's enduro bike...

Plans were altered... we camped with Tulsa and Mac (and Shackelton) for two nights and did a little hiking with them

Josh took Shackelton for a spin

Then we said our goodbyes to our friends, said we would come visit them at the Yodeler Motel(which they are the proud owners of) and parted ways.

Tulsa and Mac (who by the way is from Alabama... who knew I'd meet a fellow 'Bamaian way out here in the desert?!?!) went north towards Moab and we headed to the Hole in the Rock road.

The Hole in the Rock is famous in the Mormon community for the trek made back in the 1800's from Escalante to the San Juan River... it was one heck of a trek by horse and wagon let me tell you- 'cause it was a long ride in the Subaru.

The first day we spent looking for the home. It took a while, we went to several open houses, we walked around a few nice lots- but we went back to the first one we looked at and moved right in. It had everything, a view, shelter from the wind, a nice neighborhood- unfortunately it was in a bit of a drainage, but this is the desert, so it doesn't rain-- right?!?

We spent three days playing in slot canyons and taking pictures... doing what we do...

Lake Powell is at the end of the 54 mile dirt road and down a STEEP trail about 1/2 a mile... but totally worth the haul to see clear water

Then wouldn't you know, at 5 AM this morning, Josh woke me up to inform me it was "game time" it was pouring and we had to pack up and move out of our humble abode before we got washed away. So we drove to town and got a room at the Outfitters (we were going to just get a tent site, but the temptation of a queen sized bed for only $30 more was too much) and started planning our backpacking trip in the Escalante National Monument. We're off in the early morning and we'll be back in about a week. With plenty pictures and stories to tell!

Have a great week!!

xoxo

Trish

So much to report...

Well, we're sitting in a cabin in Escalante, Utah right now. We have showered, eaten and ingested some beer... now we can safely move on to pictures and recapping the last week or so. Where did I leave off?

(April 22) Green River.... After spending a day in Green River, Utah golfing and hot tubing...

(April 23) We headed East to Moab to catch the infamous car show and hit up the gear shops to get more books on Canyon Country.

We also did a bit of laundry- while we waited for our clothes, we did some hiking and exploring near town.

After our laundry was finished and we were done in town, we head out in search of the perfect camp site. The search turned into a scenic drive up Potash and into the back of Canyonlands NP... We keep finding these gnarly roads!

Turns out, the car show brought more people to Moab than we thought, and we ended up at a group camp sight just outside of Canyonlands- not ideal, but we'll set up where we can when we have to.

The next morning (April 24) we rose early to get to Arches NP and hike the Firey Furnace. One of our friends from the Raft Trip said if we liked the Dollhouse, we would also enjoy the Firey Furnace- and Ali is a rather trustworthy gal...

After Arches, we headed back to the San Rafael Swell. We got there in plenty of time to have camp set up in time for a sunset beer- unfortunately the wind was not cooperating and we had to take in the sunset from the car window, and cook in the tent. We played Go Fish by headlamp.

(April 28) The next morning we went to check out Little Wild Horse Canyon. We'd hear good things...

This canyon is actually two canyons- Little Wild Horse and Bell. It's an eight mile loop suitable for just about anyone. We knew this because upon arrival we saw a family with a toddler walking back to the parking area. It was well worth it, even if we weren't the only people in that canyon that day.

okay, all this blogging (indoors) is making me stir crazy. I'm going to go the restaurant, I'll be back with the rest of the story later...