An adventurous weekend

I really should be studying for the two tests that I need to take today, but instead i decided to create a blog- go figure.
Well this weekend sure was an adventurous one! I guess my weekend officially began on Wednesday night when I went to a Goo Goo Dolls concert and to P.F. Changs with Grady. It was really fun! Believe it or not, I had no idea who the Goo Goo Dolls even where before tuesday night when he asked me to go. We got home so late from the night out that Jean and I had to miss our classes the next morning to get ready for our next adventure- BACKPACKING!
My Outdoor recreation class left for southern Utah around 1 o'clock on thursday to go on a big packpacking trip. After 5 hours in a 12 person van and 1 hour on a very unpleasant bumpy, rocky road (which included a broken window from a rock hitting it) I was very relieved to see the mountain ledge which we would be sleeping on that night. Jean and I pitched our tent right near the edge so that we would have an awesome view when we woke up. I was kinda surprised that the rest of the group chose to sleep near the van instead... Anyways, the next morning we got our packs together and hiked through the desert down to the valley and then in to a canyon. The hike was about 3 miles long and not to strenuous because it was almost all downhill.
When we got to where we were going to camp it was raining so we set up our tent as quickly as we could and made lunch. By this time jean and I were so freezing that we decided to climb into our mummy bags for a nap! At about 2 about half of our group (including the teacher and TA) decided to go for a hike through the river to Neon Canyon. The rest of us didn't want to go because we didn't really believe that we would dry off by nighttime. When Jean and I woke up around 4 we went for a hike out of the canyon and on to some cool cliffs. When we got home the group still wasnt there. At 8 when it was almost completely dark and the group wasn't back we started to get worried so we came up with a plan to hike back to the car and go get help.
Jean and I were a little bit scared because we were a camp made up only of girls so we moved our tent next to the other girls so that we felt safer. Then I went to bed to one of the girls reading scriptures to us to make us feel better. The next morning we woke up and hiked back to the car in an hour and 20 minutes (great time) and started driving back down the rocky road to look for help. When we were about a mile down we passed a truck with a horse trailer on the back and flagged down the man who was driving. As luck would have it, he was a member of the search and rescue team! It was our lucky day! So he called the sheriff's office and several more people were sent down to help look for our group.
Once all of the searchers had left we were supposed to go back to the campground in groups of 3 to get our backpacks and head back up. The first group left and got back in about 3 hours. While they were down there we saw the patrol planes look for our group. Once the girls got back they told us that there was still not sign of our group back at camp. Then I went down with my group of three. Part of the way down the clouds got really bad so we had to hurry. We barely even took a break at the bottom. The way up was VERY hard. It was uphill most of the way with 30lb backpacks on walking in sand-NOT FUN! About half the way up it started to rain. At the very end of the trail home you have to climb a really big mountain to get to the cars. I was already so exhausted that I wasn't sure I would make it. But by this time it was thundering and lightning in the valley and it was beginning to hail. So i did by best to climb up this mountain. About half way up the hail was coming down so hard that it actually hurt when it hit you and it was starting to create little muddy rivers going down on the pathway up. I really thought that I wouldn't make it but by this point the thunder came only a second or 2 after the lightning. I really thought that I might get hit. Jean and Rebekah from our group were at the top of the mountain cheering us on and they said that they saw a lightning branch out and hit in the valley right behind us- SCARY! When I finally made it to the top I could barely walk and almost fell over several times trying to get to the car. When we got in the car Jean and Rebekah started passing out dry clothes for everyone else to change in to.
Once the storm passed (around 5 p.m.) we got out of the car and went to talk to the Sheriff who told us that they still hadn't found them. The sheriff also let us get into his car and call whoever we needed to call- he had a special antenae on his car that gave him cell phone service. i called my mom and the bishop and told them what was up. After everyone made their calls the sheriff asked us to find the parents numbers of the kids who were missing. He also wanted us to call their parents! We graciously turned down that opportunity! They also told us that the news had been alerted and that there were helicopters looking for our friends.
We waited around until 7:30 and then decided that we needed to go in to town to get a hotel room for the night. We began to pull away in the big van when we saw helicopters flying that looked like they were about to land! We all hopped out of the car and ran over to see what was going on! It was SO exciting to see our group hop out of the helicopters! Everyone was safe which is a pretty big maricle considering that they spent a night without food, water, flashlights, or fire and dressed in wet clothes in 40 degree weather for an entire night! That night we went into town and stayed at a motel.
The next day we went back to the ledge so that those lost could hike down and get their packs. The rest of us spent the time cleaning the car, having a small sunday devotional and getting VERY sunburnt. It was pretty fun though. As we were about to leave we noticed that the trailer had a flat tire and that the spare was also flat! We thought the trip would never end! The ride home was about 7 hours but when we were finally home (a day late and very tired) it was magnificent... until the tests started....