Thursday, September 9, 2010

Hole In The Rock

So this July we were lucky enough to have my cousins from Oregon come to Powell with us...

Here is why we were SO excited to have them come:

#1- Jason is the funniest cousin I have (sorry to my other cousins) the man is definitely not a teenager anymore... but don't try telling him that!
#2- Jason's wife Stacey is amazing! I have ALWAYS loved Stacey and look forward to hanging out with her every time we go to Oregon!
#3- Jason and Stacey have the cutest little kids ever!! I absolutely love them! Everytime they see you, they run to you and give you the biggest hugs!



So one of the days we were at Powell we asked Jason if he'd want to take his family to see Hole In The Rock. He, very excitedly, said absolutely!!! So, we packed up the boat and headed up lake to Hole in the Rock.


For those of you who don't know what Hole in the Rock is, it is this incredibly narrow little canyon in the middle of Lake Powell. The history behind it is that in the fall of 1879 a Mormon expedition was trying to find a quick route from Cedar City to Blanding, UT. They chose a direct path which took them beneath the Straight Cliffs, and fairly simple terrain. However, evenutally they ran into the 1200 foot sandstone cliffs at Lake Powell. They found (and named) Hole-in-the-Rock, a narrow, steep, and rocky crevice and sandy slope that led down to the river.

They worked for months to prepare the road, using blasting powder to widen the upper section and hand chisels to carve anchor points directly into the sandstone. On January 26, 1880 the expedition (250 people, 83 full-sized wagons, and over 1000 head of livestock) began their descent to the river.


Here are just a few pictures to help you fully grasp what a huge task this was:


These pictures were taken at about the same time- looking down, and then up. Pretty drastic right? These don't even do it justice either!


Anyway, a bunch of us climbed most of it... only Stacey, Megan, and Dustin made it all the way. But it was a great experience and definitely makes you appreciate the pioneers and all they went through!



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