Jase & Reens Excellent Adventure

France
14th > 19th July

Monaco
18th July

Italy
20th > 24th &
29th > 31st July

Vatican City
22nd July

Greece
25th > 28th July

Austria
1st > 3rd Aug

Czech Republic
3rd > 5th Aug

Germany
26th > 27th July
5th Aug

Switzerland
6th > 8th Aug

Netherlands
9th > 11th Aug

Southern Utah, Arizona and New Mexico

Posted: Tuesday, June 6 6:43 AM by reens

[Bryce, Arches & Grand Canyon's Photo Journals (33 Items)]

[Slide Rock, Sedona - Arizona Photo Journal of natural water slide & 8m cliff jump (20 Items)]

[Arizona & New Mexico Photo Journal (3 Items)]

Somebody phone Mulder and Scully coz we've had a close encounter of the 3rd kind!

A week leading up to the incident, we had hiked through Southern Utah's National Parks - Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP & Arches NP. At Bryce, Jason and Nigel attempted to break Utah's record for most varied amount of alcohol ever consumed.

Then we drove south to the very hot and dry Phoenix (Arizona), where we cheered on Nash and chanted 'defence' with the crowd at our first ever NBA match (Double Overtime Phoenix Suns vs LA Clippers, Game 5).

Slide Rock State Park in Sedona was our next stop on the way to the Grand Canyon. This naturally formed water slide was recommended to us by a friendly mechanic in Reno. When the air temperature reached 40 Celcius (110 Farenheit), the melted snow they called water felt quite refreshing.

At Grand Canyon NP, we obtained a Backcountry Permit and found some hiking buddies (Leland & Sarah, Tim & Jill) for the journey into the canyon. As instructed by the ranger, we started hiking down at 6am to finish by 10am (before temperatures reach unbearable). Down in the canyon we tried cooling off by dipping our sore toes into the Colorado river before we passed out in our scorpion-free tents. At 3:45am we woke to discover our legs had turned to concrete as we all fell out of our tents in a pack-up frenzy. While we munched on our salamis like they were carrot sticks, the promise of burritos on the top kept us going. Eight hours later, six weary bodies stumbled onto the grand canyon south rim and threw down their backpacks to capture their victory on film before beginning their next quest - the search for burritos.

Descending - South Kaibab Trail. 6.3mi/10.3km. 4,860ft/1,433m elevation change. Our hike time: 6am - 10:30am (4.5hrs).

Ascending - Bright Angel Trail. 9.3mi/14.9km. 4,460/1,359m elevation change. Our hike time: 5am - 12:30pm (7.5hrs).

Next we returned to Phoenix to stay with a couple we had met in Bryce Canyon - Christian & Meghan - (Jason and Christian were wearing the same BRW triathlon t-shirt which is how we met). We had an awesome time there eating Mexican take-out, being educated in all things geology, experiencing the best bagles in the world and learning a bit about Native American culture at the HEARD Museum.

We woke up one day and FREAKED OUT when we found a small metallic implant in our thumbs. When did this happen? Were we abducted by aliens? Are we apart of a government conspiracy? The truth was out there, and we knew it was in Roswell (New Mexico), where UFOs and conspiracy theories had all began.

Upon arriving at the International UFO Museum & Research Centre, the experts put our fears to rest informing us the metallic implants were metal bits from our toothbrush (they hold the bristles in place) - quite a common case. With our faith restored in the government, we watched an alien autopsy on our way out. It's ok, folks. You can tell the FBI that there's nothing unusual in New Mexico - no X-File here.