Southern Utah Trip 2004, Part 2

June 20, 2004
Natural Bridges National Monument
Middle of nowhere, Southern Utah

We didn’t know that this is where we would be tonight, but it is, and I am happy about it!

We left Arches today and went back into Moab to see dinosaur tracks and to go into some shops. I can’t believe that I actually saw prints of beasts that are so long extinct that humans know not what exactly what they looked like! Next time I am going to put my hands inside of a dinosaur track and feel it. Next, we headed out to Four Corners to say that we stood in four states at once…the only place that you can stand in any four of the United States at once! After standing in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona at the same time, I bought some Hopi jewelry. I watched the Hopi lady making a necklace until I got bored and then chowed down on a Navajo Taco…yum! It was quite tasty. Four Corners wasn’t quite what I expected but it was cool and now I have standing in four states at once to add to my list of feats. After leaving Four Corners, we rode around on some BACK roads (one of which turned to dirt and climbed steeply up a plateau and caused us to overheat. It was even worse than the time we overheated at Brian Head on the way to Cedar Breaks because we were in the middle of NOWHERE this time!)

We finally arrived here at Natural Bridges and it so nice. You can see the bridges from a viewpoint without even hiking, though there was a short walk to one viewpoint. That really made a couple of guys unhappy that we met who were complaining about the walk and the fact that they had already seen five stinking natural bridges today. Okay, so this place is called Natural Bridges National Monument, so if you don’t want to see bridges, why are you here? Hello! One of them asked me, “How much farther is this thing?” Then when I answered, “Just down here, not much further,” he turned to his friend and said, “This is ridiculous! Does it have to be it so far? Ridiculous!” Goofball, Best Friend, and I had to try really hard to stifle our giggles. We had lots of jokes from then on about how “ridiculous” it was for God to place that bridge way out there instead of right along the road. What was He thinking? We had many other comments about other “ridiculous” things we came across such as our walk to the bathrooms and having no showers! Anyway, the bridges look awesome and huge. The canyons are breathtaking. And there are some Hopi ruins, called Horse Collar Ruins, down in a canyon. I can’t wait to take my zoom lens and photograph them tomorrow along with all three bridges. The light was bad this afternoon, but it should be just right for photography tomorrow morning.

Tonight it seems that we are really sleeping under the stars. Our campsite is all set…with no tent! Just the cots out. Why bother with a tent for only one night when it is such a beautiful night? Okay, so the real truth is that we don’t want to deal with that dastardly excuse of a tent tonight.

June 21, 2004
Capitol Reef National Park,
Torrey, Utah

We really did sleep beneath the stars last night. No tent. No rain. (whew!) No problem. Just under the stars on a chilly night, but the kind of chilly just right to be wrapped up in a sleeping bag. I gazed up at the stars as I feel asleep. I think I saw the stars for the first time in my life last night. I mean really saw them. There are so many, many more than I ever conceived in my small brain. Not that I think I am small-brained as in stupidity, but everything compared to that starry sky is small…even Texas. I think that the world might be alarmed to know just how many shooting stars pass through our atmosphere on any given night. I lost count of them. Talk about wishing upon a star…I will be rich, find a sexy rock climber husband, travel the world and basically have anything I want with all the wishes I made! The most amazing part of the starry experience was how close I felt to the stars. I know that we are at high elevation, but in that completely dark, completely silent night I could hear the meteors hiss by me.

Later, I find out through Best Friend that this place has less light pollution than any other place in the lower 48. Too bad I didn’t take out that slide film and tripod for star trail shots!

This morning we rose early and photographed the bridges in the park and the Indian ruins. Then we were off to our next destination…Capitol Reef.

We went through Capitol Reef today stopping at the pull-offs. We saw some petroglyphs and a waterfall. The Fremont River here reminds me of a familiar mountain stream I know back in Georgia.

Now we are at the Thousand Lakes Campground in a cabin…our first chance at a shower for 3 days! Couldn't wait to hit the shower! We nearly fought over it! The cabin is just outside the National Park and we have cliffs as a backdrop. Not only was I lusting for a shower, but apparently was extremely hungry, too. We went to our campground’s cookout and ate a huge steak. It was wonderful and I ate every last scrap like a starving dog. We met and dined with a nice elderly couple. Another great thing about this trip is the interesting array of people I have encountered.

On the way to the park, I saw a bit of the now nearly dry Lake Powell as we drove along the Glenn Canyon Recreation Area. We had such a discussion on the Lake Powell versus the natural unflooded Glenn Canyon debate. Lake Powell is beautiful even as it recedes to expose the very treasures it buried. Still, when I think of those lost treasures…the Anasazi Ruins, the natural arches and bridges, other geologic formations and God only knows what else…I am saddened and even a little angry about the damming of the mighty Colorado River, the very wild river I had rafted only days before. And to think that a couple hundred miles later, it is dammed again at Hoover Dam when it becomes Lake Meade. It’s no wonder that only a small percentage of the Colorado even makes it to the Pacific! Oh well, there has to be a way to power up all those lights in Las Vegas, right? Still, I can see why the Lake Powell/Glenn Canyon debate has been so heated to Utah’s people. But I digress…! It was very scenic through the recreation area but shortly afterward, we hit a boring spell that lasted until Capitol Reef National Park.

Capitol Reef has red, pink, and yellowish sands, rocks, and cliffs. What makes it unique is how the Fremont River makes host to lush green plants. Also the pioneers that settled here left behind fruit orchards that still bear fruit for visitors to pick today is quite a treat. Best Friend was mad that nothing we came across today was ripe. Maybe we will run across something tomorrow just right for picking.

June 22, 2004

Today was wonderful! We did a lot of hiking! First we walked through all the “goblins” at Goblin Valley State Park. Some of the formations were funny, some a little spooky, and others just down-right weird. I can see why it was the chosen setting for the movie “Galaxy Quest”. I could imagine the figures coming to life and chasing me like they did Tim Allen. Yikes!

Back at Capitol Reef we hiked 2 trails down the narrows. One of the narrows had pioneers’ names and the dates that they passed through carved on the canyon wall. A living part of history for me to experience. . I felt extremely short standing next to the towering walls of the narrows. All I could think of was, please don’t let there be a flash flood! We hiked a good bit when you combine the 2 trails. And obviously, since I am writing this now, there wasn't a flash flood.

We also found some cherries to pick from the orchards. I climbed a tree to get to some cherries high and out of my reach. Then I was busted by a park ranger! Ooooops! He was very nice (which, of course, means he was young and cute!) And yum! Where those cherries good! I guess it was worth the “scolding” from the ranger, though I have to admit that I am traumatized by the thought of violating a National Park rule! With my intense love of the parks, I hate to think of myself in the same category of the idiots who let their kids play by the thermal pools at Yellowstone or the buttheads who trample across the frozen tundra in Rocky Mountain N.P.! Anyway, apparently the fruit is good even if it is unripe…at least to the deer. I saw some really huge bucks on hind legs reaching for the fruit on high branches. Bet they didn’t get in trouble by the rangers! Oh well, I guess I should just go and buy the hat in the visitor center that says, I am the one the park ranger warned you about. Actually, Best Friend has bought that one already for herself!

So tomorrow we leave our cozy cabin and refreshing showers for the wilderness (or at least a campsite) of Bryce Canyon. I can’t wait to see it. Every picture I have ever seen of Bryce looks mystical and colorful. With it being somewhere I have always wanted to visit, I’ll probably cry when I get there.


So here's me, Outdoorsy Girl, posing at Four Corners. It looks like I am telling Utah and Colorado to kiss my ass. (Except that I am not.)






Here's the view of Kachina Bridge at Natural Bridges Monument. The view was great but that walk was "ridiculous"!









A distant view of the Horse Collar Hopi Ruins at Natural Bridges.








What's left of Lake Powell in the Glenn Canyon Recreation Area.








Home sweet cabin! Our little luxury along the way. We were just outside Capitol Reef National Park in lovely Torrey, Utah.







Goofball and Best Friend hiking through the narrows. (though this shot in "the narrows" wasn't as narrow as some places we squeezed through.)










This photo was taken only moments before my run-in with the park ranger. Oooops! Man, where those cherries tasty!










In Goblin Valley I found the Sphinx's cousin among the hoodoos. Guess it's as close to Egypt as I can get right now.