April 28, 1997

April 28 – May 1st 1997 – ← UK General Election

On the invasion of the cabin by a band of roving Brits (and one token American!) :–

Ashley Aikens
Ruskin Hartley
Colin Ellis
Sharemya Jyori Najumbdar (?? Sorry cant read the writing clear enough)
Sumerset Lowry
Judy Stephenson
Paul Foster
Simon “Des” Emery

All being friends who met as Jesus College, Cambridge. And who’ve come to experience the great American Southwest.

We arrived in our “Mystery Machine” (a la Scooby Doo) and set about making the cabin our home. First things first. Hang the Union Jack from the flag pole of course. We nervously tried out the death slide – our apologies to those who follow and attempt to work out that whichwe failed – how to remove the slide-pat from the high rope!

The fire was crowed up for an evening of campfire songs and charades – no one could mime “Tess of the D’urbervilles”.

Zion Canyon via Echo Canyon and Observation Point was our day’s destination. But only after a traditional fy-up! Whilst Colin and Ruskin get about delivering the car to the canyon, the rest of the party set about causing mischief. Des stood on a nail – it went through his shoe and Someset decided to fertilize the forest with the ashes from the fire BAD MOVE! The pine needles were soon blazing nicely. Some quick thinking and ???? shoveling later and everything was under control. Someset (previously deemed sensible) hung his head in shame.

Observation point was as beautiful as ever. By promising an ice-cream to Judy, we all managed to make the descent to the valley floor. Paul and Jyori did some deft moves to ensure that Paul was always near the dangerous side of the canyon! We also made the less arduous hike to the start of the Narrows. Some paddled and turned red! The evening … was pasta and noodles with Jim, Barbara and Trisha – yum!

In the evening Ashley played the role of Bob Barker for Family Feud (fortunes where we come from). Sharemya got the most amazing price for misunderstanding the rules of “quick money” and going for the most obtused answers. On Sharemya’s accent, the “tootie-wa” has been renamed the “Dunnie” & hence we all now go for dunnie-runs.

After short stacks of pancakes the next morning we all piled into the wagon and headed for Petroglyph Canyon. Everyone saw the carvings and some ventured further up the canyon in preparation of the later ascent to Angels Landing. Only the forward party made the summit. Others wandered up to the pools. Even Somerset (a hardened walker) conceded that the chairs were a great comfort in several places. The view from the top was well worth the effort and vertigo. We wound down by playing Frisbee in the lodge before heading to the liveliest bar in Utah — the Bit and Spur! Ashley translated the menu for the Brits and waved Somerset away from too spicey dishes. Food was great and the all-girl table behind us was lively. We took the opportunity to hold a sweepstakes on the election results, everyone predicting a labor victory (except for Ashley on a
Jonny roo). This included ‘True Blue Des’. The predictions are recorded for posterity (fingers crossed). The evening was spent singing songs around a nother blazing fire. We even managed a campfire rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody! Its now our last morning and we are packing up readying to move on to Bryce. We’ll all miss the rustic comfort of the cabin. Sherm likes to have an excuse not to wash . Hopefully we can all return one day in the future to do it all again. So thankyou to the cabin.
— Ruskin