. ee ae ae Oe ee nag eae om . ve ¢ PS ® Pala wr AN i ON J eis BN ~ - ENN — IRIN EONS . ht - Ee ep ~— ~ ei es Pr NAY ae oe ONG 5 le ae E - pace ny Apion ta Rint tiles By ys“ Wa Ct kL Naar Se ines leek tt NT Sat hee y wo -w ig) eeag & Hid Bin AY gee ca re Se RTS Te yr on e foals sities IS SARICty aioe NR OE fe tes So RE Ney ee. i eto ae gD) “ae ARE comet asia eRe > Ni TNS ae nt oe aN iy ie LO PED, re ay EMEA Ot AS lagen Sore NOS P apt cg ghia” Tho Bal pay Biba) ANI SSLOE eteet er eno SaCE MN Sela Re AGA Ae Be PRL A ots terete gs i at EI dp alan saan tas t ee ae ate ee Ree SS Fo ee Tr ER Seas na et bi aS ee as ae Ue eae ae Po PAT Swacdert toate phd gad bulge eee TOON = ft = Wasatch Canyon Reporter, April - Mid-May 1995. Page 7 Pain, reality and romance in the desert By Ron Penner friend Marta. We were camping in a remote canyon in Southern Utah when disaster struck. The rock horribly crushed both of Marta’s legs, split my knee in half, and last time alive; her my hands ever been I was snow possible, and temperatures arm. The rock was soft sand- bombardment. expected to drop. When we went to sleep the sky was stone and disintegrated on impact. I awoke thinking the clear, but the wind increasing. a kiss and told her I loved her. As I left her I was acute- former ly aware that it might be the called for a cold front to move through with was | The Badger Lodge Anasazi ruins are in the back residents pound had fractures I gave Marta I would see her life was clearly in as nobody’s had before. trying to hurry, but I was having great difficulty as my knee was not normally. We set about 100 yards off trail, on the other behaving up camp the main side of a Continued on pg. 15 | returned with a vengeance. A giant hole in my $600 down sleeping bag sent feathers everywhere and served o further disorient us. repent ctr thrashed my arm - missing my head by inches. It was Spring break, lead to amputations and that immediate action was needed. I placed all the gear within her reach and partially pulled the ground tarpaulin out from beneath her and wrapped it around her. Luckily both headlamps had survived the fateful night, spooked more than any other. It the last of three nights we were tired from hikfor the past three days. weather forecast had tities girl- wind was even stronger powerful enough to dislodge a large rock. The guiding force of gravity, wind, and incredibly bad luck dropped that rock 300 feet squarely on Marta’s legs with a less direct blow on my knee and a smaller rock hitting my that me was and ing The | to me, but also to my ruin we decided to sleep near trmeeettnenmn cette actin entities To be awakened from blissful slumber by a rock crashing on me from 300 feet above is my vision of Hell. A vision of hell that actually happened not only Dit ii i | ne shad actually happened. However, the 1rrr| = tram atmen allen ma te” itr atte tf ete i titties llooked inside the two leeping bags that we ad zipped together. alf and a bone was ticking out. On her right leg it looked as ’ though her femur was jsticking out just above jher knee. There was a eee ass hae eRe eee eee ROE a ay Balin cte Self Portrait 5 before catching a sandstone boulder 1995. Marta and I were on a casual backpacking trip in Grand Gulch Primitive Area, an area near the four corners. It is a deep, beautiful, twisting canyon with many well preserved Anasazi ruins. The Anasazi abandoned their dwellings over 800 years ago for unknown reasons, although drought and resource depletion are suspected. The deserted ruins remain for our speculation about a lifestyle long extinct. It seemed the perfect place to relax in the sun and forget about the soon to resume pressures of higher education. | Anasazi ruins spook me a little. Badger Lodge, the of a giant, protected overhang. The ground sloped down from the ruins and we Slept in the only flat spot around. Laying on our backs, we could see the edge of the giant overhang directly above. We did not have a tent, but we had picked an uncomfortable looking spot to bail to if the weather became bad. We quickly fell asleep. I awoke briefly when a few snowflakes brushed my face. The stars were no longer visible and I thought to myself that we would move if the weather pul worse. The wind was strong in the canyon floor, but higher up along the canyon rim the jlarge cut on my knee, ‘but at least no bone was howing. My composure wasted no time in deserting me. This was by far the worst situation I had ever been involved in, and the fact that we were far from anybody or anything, in the middle of the night, exacerbated the fear factor. Adrenaline instantly kicked in to energize the situation. All I could think was that I had to get help. We had passed a group of what appeared to be high school students earlier in the day. Hoping the rocks would stay put, I tried to move Marta further under the overhang, but with no luck. Marta was incredibly composed. Both Marta and I had been EMTs in the past, but they had long since expired. We were both very aware of the fact that com- | Specialized Shoes Stiff, light , and comfortable! | Ground Control Sport Ground Control | 59.99 79,99 SPECIALIZED Ground Control Ultimate 119.99 OGDEN SLC 3259 Wash. Blvd. 399-498 | 707 E. Ft. 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