The Tale of the Lost Ring

A Family Story: The Tale of the Lost Ring
Here's the picture we took of our rings on our wedding day. They were nice and new and shiny then! Mine still is, but your dad's looks a bit different. I figured it was time to remind you of the story behind the replacement wedding band, so that you will be able to tell it to your children some day.

I guess it's not much of a story, but last month on our anniversary I was reminded that while many things have lasted for 30+ years, this wedding ring wasn't one of them. Maybe someday you'll wonder why.

It all begins with your dad's goal to hike every single trail in every single national park. We first went to Capitol Reef National Park in 1989. (See here.) However, we weren't able to hike all of the trails that first trip. (Here's the post for our Labor Day trip in 1991.) Capitol Reef also has several trails that just aren't conducive for family hikes with toddlers. So, on the Memorial Day weekend in 1990, Wayne decided to go to Southern Utah with his brother Greg and his sister-in-law Vicki and do another hike. They went to Brimhall Arch.

After they had been hiking a while, his fingers started to swell, so he removed his wedding ring and put it in his pocket. Many miles and hours later, when they had returned to the car and he decided to put it back on, the ring wasn't in his pocket. That's when he also discovered there was a hole in his pocket. Since he wasn't about to re-transverse the sandy, difficult trail again to try and find it, we dealt with its disappearance.** Who knows, maybe it was the answer to prayer for some later hiker who might have discovered it!

Brimhall Arch and Hall's Narrows
If you want more information so you can take this trail again - after all, maybe the ring's still buried in the sand - here are some links to websites describing the trail to Brimhall Arch, complete with maps and more pictures.

Capitol Reef National Park - Things to Do

Natural Arch and Bridge Society

Brimhall Natural Bridge - Utah.com


David Muench photo

Brimhall Double Arch

**Since we live on Wayne's salary, and it just didn't feel right to have him pay for his own ring, we waited a couple of years and I saved the money I earned personally through giving piano lessons. Then we went ring shopping again. Because we had learned more about each other's likes and preferences over the years, we both actually like the second ring better! And just to have it documented for posterity, the second purchase with "piano money" was a freezer for the garage.

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