Escalante

NARROWS OF HELL

I have lost my cool and am afraid.

This 5.2 rated downclimb through canyon narrows was expected to be easier. But a lack of chimney-style experience has quickly tired me. Wet and muddy slippery shoes do not help.

I let myself jump into an opaque pool of unknown depth, hoping to stay mostly dry and avoid an ankle sprain, but sink underwater instead.

The water is frigid and shocks me alert. I gasp, gasp, gasp.

Making for water's edge to retrieve my pack i am refused access, pushed back by the slippery slope into the middle of the pool. My head keeps going under... I am now a panicked fledging bird. This ain't a swim but a desperate attempt to stay afloat.

I claw myself out of the pool. Out-of-control quivering, teeth clattering, a field of vision subject to the same staccato. Spasmic muscles tetanizing and refusing to obey (to protect its core, the body shuts down operation of the limbs). Thoughts jumble up... can't think straight.

The slot is deep, dark, cold. The wind carries a stench that hits me long before i turn a corner and come upon the decomposing corpses of two cattle stuck between the walls ― which i have to climb over. This does nothing to help my confused mental state.

These are narrows of hell. How much further... How many more climbing problems above frigid pools i will be in no state to negotiate?

I have lost my cool and am afraid.