An Amazing Way to Spend Easter

I'm incredibly spiritual. In my own way. Definitely Christian, but not really affiliating with a specific denomination.

That being said, this was the first Easter that I did not go to a church building.

I specify building, because I feel that I went to church on Easter. I have never before experienced the wonder of God's creation like I experienced it in Karijini National Park. It was such a religious experience being in this amazing place on the day that defines my faith.

We woke up with the sun again and ate breakfast before driving to the visitor's center as soon as it opened. We were unsure if we had enough water to get through the day because we were going on an even more intense hike, and it was even hotter than it was the day before. After purchasing several bottles, and a new calling card to be able to talk to Tyler more, we drove forty minutes to Hancock Gorge.

Once again, as it had been on the day that I went cliff diving, my fear of heights was tested. Instead of a staircase to get down into the gorge, this time it was simply a ladder. It was not a very tall ladder, but I was still frightened because I had no way of knowing how sturdy it was. We got to the bottom in one piece and discovered the wonders that awaited us. Luckily, a random adventurer warned us not to take our cameras with us. He said that there was way more water than there was in Dale's gorge, and at times, we would have no choice but to submerge ourselves to continue along the gorge. Also luckily, Mallory had a water proof camera, so we were able to still document what ended up being the experience of a lifetime.

The person who told us to leave our cameras behind was right. We did have to submerge to get across. Mallory, Terry, and Elizabeth were able to rock climb to get to the other side. My pack was too heavy, and I'm not that steady on rock walls. I only do those when I have to. Therefore, Becca and I put our packs on our heads and headed to the other side.Two seconds after this picture was taken I slipped and fell and my backpack went under anyways. Not to mention the fact that as you can clearly see in the picture, the strap got stuck around my neck. Terry almost jumped in to help me but I got it untangled quick enough. Close call! But not the closest call I had that day . . .

This gorge was the perfect one to do on a day that was so much hotter because there was so much more water to cool off in. We did not end up drinking as much as we thought, but we did not need to either.

Hancock Gorge was a much tougher hike than the day before. There were times where we had to trek through water, times where we were forced to climb on the walls. And Reebok did nothing to help me. I love my tennis shoes. I have a pair of the Reebok Easytone shoes that are supposed to help tone your legs as you walk. I don't know if they work or not, but one thing that they do not have is traction. But I adjusted. And I took them off a lot too. And I definitely slipped and fell a bit. But it was all part of the experience. For the most part anyway. One of the most interesting part was the Spider Walk. This was one of the times that we were forced to climb on the walls of the gorge. I was slightly nervous, but we got some great pictures.
At the end of the Spider Walk, was the rope ladder. And this was where I had the closest call of the trip. Change that. The closest call of my life.

I realize that in this picture it looks like it is water at the bottom of this rock wall. It isn't. It's rock. Slippery rock. And at the top, more slippery rock. And my shoes didn't like it. I slipped at the very top, and fell down the wall. I grabbed hold of the metal railing at the top. It took a few seconds for me to register that I hadn't fallen all the way down. I had NO idea how I had time to grab hold of the railing. I should have been on the rocks below.

Enter my savior. Terry had almost thrown himself to the ground when he saw me start to slip and he had grabbed my arms, allowing me to have time to grab the rail. I do not know how he had time to process what was happening and manage to save me, but he did. I definitely owe him. We talked about it later, and we aren't sure I would have died. But one thing was certain. I would not have made it out of that gorge of my own free will.

After bursting into tears for a minute or two, I was able to regain my footing and make it down into the pool. On the other side of the pool, we took a much needed breather. I needed a break after my near death experience, and all in all, we were pretty exhausted.


After the long hike back, through the spiderwalk, rock climbing around the water this time since I was hesitant to slip in water again, and back up the ladder, we were fairly satisfied. It was the end of our time at Karijini, and on to the more restful parts of our vacation. My Easter dinner that night consisted of rice and beans, which I ate because nothing else was bought for me that I would eat.

We took stock of all of our red stained possessions and got ready to pack up the tent long before the sun rose the next day, and then went to bed.

It was the most amazing two days of my life, and it is going to be fairly hard to top it. I have been very fortunate in my life and seen a lot of amazing things. I have seen a snow storm at the top of a mountain in Colorado. I have seen the beaches of Hawaii. I have seen the sand dunes at Sleeping Bear national park. I've seen the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean.

But I've never seen anything like Karijini before. And I doubt I ever will again.

And that is okay. Because the memories I have of the days I spent there, of the people I went with, and of camping in a tent for the first time since I was a toddler will last me a lifetime, even if I lose all of the picture I have from there.

Those two days were enough for a lifetime. And I'm completely satisfied.