Southern Utah in August isn’t a very good idea. Well since I left Salt Lake City, I’ve been in the dessert of southern Utah. First I went to Arches National Park, which was hot and the campground did not have showers, which when your hiking and it’s a hundred degrees isn’t a great combination. The Camp ground otherwise was by far the coolest campground I’ve been at. It’s about 18 miles from the gate at the end of the road in the park. So you basically camping amongst the Arches and Red Rock fins that stick out of the dessert. Plus there are three hikes that leave directly from the campground. It was really cool waking up in that environment plus that far out away from civilization you can see I bet every star in the galaxy. I never knew you could see bands of the Milky Way Galaxy but you can and it looks amazing there were so many stars that when I got up at one in the morning to use the bathroom, too much water, I didn’t even need to use my flashlight the sky was that bright. While camping there in Arches I met this really nice Texan/German, who was naked bathing in the sink in the bathroom. Ever since I left arches I’ve been bumping into him and his girlfriend. Even tonight as I sit here in this coffee shop, I ran into him again. Next I spent a night in Bryce Canyon, which is totally unreal. I swear it’s not real but something manufactured. The colors of the rock and the shapes it just seems impossible for nature to have created them. By far one of my favorite places I’ve been. It was really cool to hike down into the canyon amongst rock formations. After Bryce I headed to Zion National Park, while impressive indeed I still enjoyed Arches and Bryce much better. Although the hiking here in Zion has been really fun. Yesterday I was scrambling, and bouldering over boulders and rock falls in Hidden Canyon, and today I hiked in a river though the Zion Narrows. The Zion Narrows was really fun I rented some gear in town, a hiking stick and some shoes, and set off. Of course me being not very graceful and I tend to get hurt now matter what I’m doing; I did slip at one point in the river bashing my knee to the rocks below. I’m fine but as the night rolls on it’s getting a bit soar. The Narrows also became like a reunion tour of people I’ve met along the way. I ran into the Naked German again, he was clothed, and a man and his son that I met the day before on another hike I was on. After the narrows I did Angles Flight, which was really scary so I turned back and didn’t make it all the way to the peak. The last half-mile is made up of climbing over sandstone with a chain attached and a 1400 foot drop to one side. After falling in a river and my only moderate performance yesterday in hidden canyon I decided it wasn’t for me. I did meet a nice family from Pennsylvania who also didn’t continue on and we sat at a viewpoint and talked as we rested from the climb up. I’ve had a great time here in southern Utah and it is really one of the most beautiful and diverse places I’ve been on my trip. I think I’ll be coming back someday.
One interesting thing since I’ve arrives in Utah is that I feel as though I’m in a foreign country. Every campground, park and restaurant I’m in all I hear is German, Italian, and French. Even the servers in the restaurants and cafes also seem to be from another country? So over the past week instead of falling asleep to Mormon Folksongs and celebration, I’ve been serenaded by a cacophony of Italians and Germans talking and sometimes screaming as I fall to sleep in my hot tent.
I'll post pictures later when I'm not sitting at a coffee house using there connection.
see ya
-Stephen
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