Up before the sun.
All night a warm breeze washed over me, and I woke twice to add new shooting stars to my collection. Unlike the last two mornings I didn't have to knock ice off my bag, and try to wiggle into fleece and jeans before slipping out; it was so warm I just got up.
After starting the fire I got busy taking photos until the coffee was ready.
Since we were the only people camping (and probably within ten miles) I loaded in a CD of Navajo Flute music and cranked the stereo to full volume. Two cups of coffee and a dozen cookies and I was out exploring.
As the sun rose I was high on a promontory over the Dirty Devil River, looking upstream where it flowed through the canyon. The light changed the image minute by minute, a swallow rode the updraft over the edge, then dove back down; the flute music echoed from the truck a quarter mile away, and I sat and soaked it all in.
To remember the spot I built a rock stack, then balanced another rock on the edge of my sleeping area, point down.
Sometimes the most elegant statements are simplest.
That one rock was centered on the universe. It is a masterpiece of rock-balancing.
Fantastic scenery and lonely roads, driving Hite to Natural Bridges. Somewhere along the road we named a rock, "Cupcake Butte," then we had to stop while three real honest-to-gosh-darn rootin tootin cowboys drove a herd of cattle across the road.
Later, we stopped dead in the middle of the road to talk to a traveler from Alaska without a worry of anyone coming up on us.
At the junction of 163/191 we suddenly entered civilization and traffic. I followed the speed limit, and sure enough there was a Utah State Highway Patrol, the first of our trip. It seemed to take forever, driving the speed limit, to go the last ten miles into Blanding.
I have a hiking friend, Don Blanding, and the town somehow revolves around his relative back close to 1900. So we stopped at the Blanding visitor center, where a very helpful and friendly lady made me a copy of the "Origin of Blanding" notes. I took some photos of what might or might not be the touristy sights (it is a very small town) and we were off.
We got to Montecello where we stopped at a mom and pop RV place (empty except for three trailers that looked pretty permanent) and got hot showers.
Oh. My. God. Hot. Shower.
Gas, another bag of ice for the chest and we were off, up up through the mountains. Aspen groves grey, white snow, black fir and pine, all under the blue sky.
We dove down, down thousands of feet into the heart of the desert, into the Canyonlands.
We stopped and tried to read Newspaper rock, admired some outstanding buttes, then crossed the park boundary.
The campground was full (we'll try early tomorrow) so we took a great hike where I was most impressed by the hand prints painted on the ceiling of an overhang, about 800 years ago. We took another little hike, then headed back down the road five miles to camp among the red buttes in Lockhart Basin, on BLM land. Thank God for the BLM.
We had another great campsite, tucked in by a cliff under a couple Junipers. I explored a canyon (no footprints in the sandy bottom but mine and one huge deer), we climbed up on the buttes, then returned early to our campsite to drink (Jameson's), eat (Dennis made bacon and cheddar on cracker appetizers), drink (this Pinot I am drinking right now is great), read, write and drink.
So, tonight the plan is steaks, fire, guitar and drinking.
Tomorrow an 11 mile hike from Elephant Rock to Chesler Park, along the joint trail and back.
God, I love the Canyonlands.
It's true: Utah Rocks.
Day 4 cookie count: 18 Trip Total: 46
We got up early after a warm night (I half crawled out of my bag, unzipped it 'cause I was sweating so) and after the usual two cups of coffee and ten cookies (60 eaten so far) we packed up to head into Canyonlands.
As we were leaving our campsite a couple in a red Toyota 4WD pickup came and asked if they could have our campsite? I told them about the way better one we had discovered up the side road when we were hiking. They came back by in five minutes, thumbs up...
This good karma would pay off for us in short order.
So we got into the Canyonlands, and on our way to the Elephant Rock trailhead we cruised through the "full" campground. Sure enough, a SUV pulled out of campsite #5 so we just pulled right in and BINGO! We won.
Good Karma.
After dropping our stuff and crap (I swear to god, if anybody steals tonight's wine I am gonna call the rangers, FBI and Homeland Security) we drove out to the Elephant Rock trailhead.
Truth be told, up to this point Dennis was kind of wondering if I had gone off the deep end with all this "Oh, the Canyonlands is so great" crap... But today's hike turned him into a true believer.
We spent an amusing ten minutes at the trailhead watching (and to my horror, listening to, the crunch and screech of metal on rock; people screaming, "STOP!!!" rocks skittering and tumbling) as a GMC Suburban with street tires tried to navigate the FIRST step and turn on the four-wheel drive Elephant Rock (expert only, permit required) Road.
Later, we found out he and the lead jeep both just backed down that first section and headed home.
The next five miles we could only talk about that poor sap and his now thrashed truck.
Well, within the first mile of the hike, Dennis was a believer. The weird rocks, the maze of canyons, the slots you could barely squeeze through, the red and white striped needles and massive rock cathedrals...
A six hour, 12 mile loop to Chesler Park, then onto the Joint Trail made me think twice about my commitment to job, house and a normal life.
We returned to our Karma Campsite, overlooking the Needles and the Butte and Shoemaker Arch. It was my turn to cook.
Fried brussels sprouts (olive oil, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese) filet mignon, potatoes au gratin and my favorite Zinfandel, Mossy Roxx. Oh my god, between the view, the food, the wine and the music (as Dennis played - did I mention he has a CD out?) I think to myself: can life get any better?
The sunset tonight was a long, grand light and shadow show, as the colors deepened and slid, shadows dancing and flitting around, colors intensifying into a burst of flame. Just as suddenly it was black, and the stars shone bright.
Tomorrow we head into Moab, hopefully find a shower so I can smell somewhat like myself again, then head into Arches National Park for three nights.
Day 5 cookie count: 14 Trip Total: 60