My Travel Nursing Story

By Hannah Netherton

I took a last minute trip to Zion National Park before my assignment in Utah came to an end. One night at the local bar I met an older man who had had all of his toes and both of his heels amputated due to frostbite in Canada, and he was still walking and hiking! After a few beers we decided to meet up in the morning and attempt to conquer “The Narrows.” The water was near freezing, so we rented booties, shoes and pants. This several mile hike through knee/waist deep water was an adventure for sure! Seeing icicles dripping down the rocks while I was submerged in the river was surreal. One of my best travel experiences!

My friend and I found Baker Hot Spring one night on Google and decided to make the trip early the next morning. Needles to say, our destination ended up being an hour further than we had anticipated. We got lost in volcanic terrain and had to plug in actual GPS coordinates, nearly ran out of gas, got stuck in wet clay mud and had no cell phone service! Thankfully we found the little hot spring and every bit of stress was worth it! It was fun figuring out how to channel the hot water into the tubs using only a few dirty rags and rocks…an afternoon well spent and now one of my fondest memories!