The elusive windlass...found at last!

I'm feeling a little guilty...and euphoric.  Guilty because right here at the end of the school year when I'm so ready to be done, I get to take a few days off because Ms. Godfey is doing the mandated individual testing of the kindergartners. (I could be there making materials, but technically I'm not supposed to be...and I'm taking advantage of that technicality.)  She deserves a break much more than I do. Euphoric because it feels just like the last day of school only like I somehow cheated it and got out early!  So I'm trying to pack the days with fun, and then I'll go back, get out and then go back again for summer school.  Monday we decided to go to Water Canyon, first to check it out for a possible Scout trip and also in the process we hoped that this time, with a better map than ever before, we would finally be able to locate the old windlass that they used to lower logs down from the top of Canaan Mountain to Canaan Ranch way, way down below.  Paul used his amazing compass skills to interpret the map and we found it!  The day was pretty cool and the hike steep but we came off the mountain feeling stuffed with beauty!

The windlass...found at last.  Now that's some heavy duty equipment.  Check out the drop those logs had to make to get down to Canaan Ranch. 

Ahhh...the water! If only it had been warm, I would have been in it!

Amazing rocks - White Domes, Black Rocks, The Notch - all of these were route markers we needed to find to know we were on route to the windlass.  Every time we found one, we got more excited knowing we might actually find it this time.  You can also see Zion in the background looking majestic.  Also pictured is Canaan Arch and me when we reached the top of the Water Canyon Trail saying hallelujah!  

Here's some other fun stuff and Paul doing his compass thing.  One of those dead trees looked like a giant spider coming to get us.  The flowers were beautiful and the little pebbles were laid in the cracks so perfectly.  The old pot was at the windlass site.