. the two groups had hiked down to he river as stranhers on suiccessive days earlier in the week .
the couple's arrival in northern arizona had coincided with the advent of high pressure . the tour singles hiked down from rim to the foloor A day later , during the first blush of the infernal heat . once the six had arrived at the bottom of canyon and discovered that because of a reservation mix-up they were sharing an eight bunki cabin , they began connecting as friends . after a hot holiday spent swimming and hikeing swimming and eating and partingand swimming together , they were p-reparing to hikebackl to the rim together .all were packed and fed and hydrated and as ready as they could be to hit the daunting north kaibab trail back out of the canyon the moment the breakfast was done and first light yawned that friday morning . during the previous evening 's supper they'd agreed to leave as early as possible in an attemp to minimize their exposure to the solar salamander that promised to broil them as soon as the sun arced overhead . had there been sufficient moomlight that night - and had the lodge been willing to provide a middle-of-the-night meal -the hikers would have tried to get an even earlier start by initianing their traverse of initial switchbacks off the canyon floor while daybreak was still a dream . and while temperatures in the canyon hovered neaar their overnigght lows of one hundred degree .
but the lunar phase wasn't coopreating . the moon hung in the black sky like a bent sliver of tarnished chrome , its form not even visible from the botttom of canyon , its ligh inconseqwuential on the floor -to-rim trails .
a shirtless man approached the group odf hikers as they made final equipment adjustments before their ascent . the intruder wasn't a big man - he was no more than five feet nine , but he had a chiseled chest , swimmer's shoulders , and the kind of abs that make other men's eyes still and their jaws tighten involuntarrily , the kind of abs that motivate the competion to do at least a couple of weeks' worth of crunches .
the couple's arrival in northern arizona had coincided with the advent of high pressure . the tour singles hiked down from rim to the foloor A day later , during the first blush of the infernal heat . once the six had arrived at the bottom of canyon and discovered that because of a reservation mix-up they were sharing an eight bunki cabin , they began connecting as friends . after a hot holiday spent swimming and hikeing swimming and eating and partingand swimming together , they were p-reparing to hikebackl to the rim together .all were packed and fed and hydrated and as ready as they could be to hit the daunting north kaibab trail back out of the canyon the moment the breakfast was done and first light yawned that friday morning . during the previous evening 's supper they'd agreed to leave as early as possible in an attemp to minimize their exposure to the solar salamander that promised to broil them as soon as the sun arced overhead . had there been sufficient moomlight that night - and had the lodge been willing to provide a middle-of-the-night meal -the hikers would have tried to get an even earlier start by initianing their traverse of initial switchbacks off the canyon floor while daybreak was still a dream . and while temperatures in the canyon hovered neaar their overnigght lows of one hundred degree .
but the lunar phase wasn't coopreating . the moon hung in the black sky like a bent sliver of tarnished chrome , its form not even visible from the botttom of canyon , its ligh inconseqwuential on the floor -to-rim trails .
a shirtless man approached the group odf hikers as they made final equipment adjustments before their ascent . the intruder wasn't a big man - he was no more than five feet nine , but he had a chiseled chest , swimmer's shoulders , and the kind of abs that make other men's eyes still and their jaws tighten involuntarrily , the kind of abs that motivate the competion to do at least a couple of weeks' worth of crunches .
No comments:
Post a Comment