Stupidity at Sliding Rock

There's a place in Alpine, UT called Sliding Rock. It's a series of gigantic rocks that are rather smooth and a large stream (small river?) runs over it (I'd guess 3 or 4 cfs). When you watch someone start at the top and start sliding down it like a waterslide, it looks violent and painful (Especially for those wearing skimpy bikinis). But I decided to try it and it wasn't painful at all. It was amazing. I would never have believed that there could be a natural rock waterslide as long as this (25 feet to 30 feet). (Maybe I'll just put this whole blog in parentheses--just remind me to close with a parenthesis. We then hiked up the stream. It was GORGEOUS, green, and heavenly. I brought a friend from Michigan who's here on an internship. She was probably weirded out by all of us mormons, but she was polite and had a good time I think. It was fun to have her, but the end of our trip was plagued by my own stupidity. On our way back down the stream hike, we got to the Sliding Rock again which was the bottom of our trip. We decided to slide down one last time and I handed her my car/house/church/anotherhouse/churchcloset/oil vial/leatherman/lock keys and told her to throw them to me once I reached the bottom. I should have just held on to them; a little water never hurt anything. I got to the pool at the bottom which was about waist high and she threw them. It wasn't a far enough throw and they slid down into the pool. They ended up right where the water plunges violently into the pool so the water was all frothy and freezing cold. You didn't want to stay in there forever. So, we took shifts trying to find the keys. It was my ONLY key and I could go on and on and on about why that would have been SO bad had we not found them but suffice it to say that by the time we reached our cars at the trailhead, somebody came running down the trail saying they found my keys. We didn't just have my group searching for them but every tattooed, smoking, bikini wearing yahoo in the territory. Someone in my group ended up finding them, but I was SO grateful to everyone who spent much time in those frigid waters risking life and limb (a slight exaggeration but a definite sacrifice) for me. I lost my other key at the bottom of the Green River two 6th Ward superactivities ago. This is already too long.)

I Hate Swimming

But one thing I would LOVE to try is SCUBA diving. I mean, who wouldn't want to be greeted in the morning by the likes of this guy.

When I roomed with Doug and BJ, I was frequently greeted in such manner, except the eel has a little more color in his face. Now that I've insulted half of my readership, I think I'll end by extending the offer. If anyone want to go scuba diving (is feeling rich), let me know. I have a friend who can certify me, and we'll go shark hunting. Isn't the underwater world fascinating? It's so unknown. To me, the whole oceanic life scene is just another witness to my testimony of the gospel. The End.