The Crack: Reflection

This was easily the hardest hike I've done this year and probably in the top five or ten ever. I was so depressed when I hit the dead end boulder after having glassed it lots of times with binoculars to be sure there was a route. As I got into the Chinle (green stuff) it was really loose and I started climbing, crawling, up rock slides, as they were the only place I could get a rock large enough to get a handhold and not have it go tumbling down next to me. As I got closer to the top I had one boot fill up with pebbles. I found a sort of stable rock and took that boot off to shake it out and when I did I noticed all the material fell in the other boot. I took that boot off and while I was shaking it out I dropped it and it fell about 20 feet down the slope. I crawled down in socks to retrieve it and then had to squeeze out my socks before I could put them back on and then the boots.

Early on the way down I slipped, fell, and picked up a bunch of fine cactus needles in my left arm just below the elbow. A couple were in the tips of my fingers but so small I couldn't find them until I'd grab a rock to hold on to. I was so tired I'd see where my foot was suppose to come down but I'd miss sometimes and other times I thought I had lifted a foot over a boulder and I'd trip over it. Knowing my judgement wasn't too good I went down a lot of the Chinle on my butt. I lost my tracks from the way up early in the down journey. I knew I was a rockfall or two further to the left than I wanted to be but I couldn't find a way over so I just kept descending where I could.

This is the monster ant I found on the way down. You'll have to click on the picture to make it larger. It was about half the length of my index finger. I figured no one would believe me so I got ready to put my finger down next to it to show the size when I realized I hadn't seen a single critter on the way up or down except this monster ant. Then I started thinking he might be a super ant and it's probably why there aren't any other critters because it ate them all.