10/20 Day 6

Today was primarily a day to travel and prepare for the float trip, but I'm still so amazed by Monument Valley.  I'm also even more pleased than usual at my decision to shell out for a mesh-bodied tent.  I'd wake up in the night and turn my head to see the Mittens silhouetted by the starry sky.  I woke before dawn to see the colors of the sunrise warming the horizon so I got up to take photos.  I'm not sure whether the sunrise or sunset was prettier, but I loved them both.

Taken from the doorway of my tent.  Heck yes.

After breakfast, I hiked the 3.2 mile loop around the West Mitten.  Down on the valley floor, I was able to get some great views of even more of the monuments.  At one point, stopped in my tracks because the air smelled so sweet.  I turned and realized that shrubs full of yellow blooms were giving off the fragrance.  It was a lovely scent and a nice thing to suddenly notice.

East Mitten Butte, framed by a juniper

The "back" of West Mitten Butte

After that, it was on to Moab.  I would have liked to make a side trip to Natural Bridges Nat'l. Monument but I was tired and it was too far out of the way.  The hike to see all three is an all-day one and I figure if you're going to do something, do it right.  And this is especially true of viewing natural bridges.  Besides, I really wanted a shower and a nap if I had the time.  Oddly enough, shortly after I arrived at the hostel, Stefan pulled into the parking lot as I was unloading my car.  I wanted to ask where he'd been since Kanab, but I was so busy getting ready I never got the chance.  I never got that nap, either.

I'm SO nervous about this canoe trip and I know I shouldn't be.  I'm really tired and I feel like I could use a bit of a break from all the natural grandeur before throwing myself into my longest backcountry trip so far, my longest solo trip, and my first float trip.  It's just so much and I'm kind of afraid I won't enjoy it as much as I feel I should.  I've so looked forward to Canyonlands; I just hope I find all that anticipation worthwhile.

10/19 Day 5

"Dad, I gotta go, the sun's coming up now!"

This "travel day" turned out to be pretty remarkable.  Completely out of character, I woke up at 5, broke camp quickly, and got to Yaki Point on time exactly as planned.  Good thing, too.  The sunrise was breathtaking, and I really enjoyed watching the light play over the contours of the formations as the sun rose higher.

I decided to do a bit of poking around the more touristy features of the park before leaving.  I visited Kolb Studio, which was showing a collection of paintings depicting or inspired by the canyon.  I also went to a souvenir shop and had breakfast at the Bright Angel Dining Room.  My next stop was Navajo Nat'l. Monument, which is very small but features a well-preserved Hopi pueblo ruins in a cliff face in a beautiful canyon.  I finally got some use out of the telephoto lens Dad gave me!

Cliff dwelling ruins in Betatakin Canyon

Go go gadget telephoto lens!

After that, I had a short drive to Monument Valley, which is absolutely incredible.  I'm completely baffled at how so many beautiful mesas, buttes, and other formations came to exist in such close proximity.  It's no wonder the Navajo/Diné have always thought of this as a sacred place.  The campground is situated perfectly, overlooking West Mitten Butte, with East Mitten Butte just behind.  I arrived (exclaiming, "I'm sleeping here tonight!?") just as the sun was setting.  It was breathtaking.  The desert is so full of so many radiant colors, and they were all in their glory with the fading light.

West Mitten, East Mitten, and Merrick Buttes, as seen from my campsite

10/18 Day 4

Fee-free/permit-free camping in Kaibab Nat'l. Forest

Bright Angel Trail day!  I woke up at around 6:45 but poked around with the camera a lot, so breaking camp took way too long.  Tomorrow I'm getting up well before dawn, throwing everything into the car, and heading back into the park to watch the sun rise before I head out for either Navajo Nat'l. Monument or Monument Valley.

But anyway, I started the trail at 11.  Jeremy was right; it's an incredible trail.  The S. Kaibab offers impressive views, but the Bright Angel Trail itself is really stunning.  I hiked the 4.5 miles down to Indian Garden (3,800 ft. down from 6,850 ft.) and back, which was a bit tougher than yesterday's hike.  It was well worth it going all the way down to Indian Garden, which is lush and green and has its own ranger station and primitive campground.  I'd love to come back and stay there sometime.

Just as the shuttle was pulling back into the visitors center parking lot, a bull elk came striding into view and across the bus's path.  I'd never seen a wild, live elk before and tried to get a good shot of him.  However, some idiot kept following him, driving him away.  I was irritated until the bull started bugling. That was a pretty thrilling thing to hear.  

Two cows were also grazing nearby.  I also saw some mule deer, ravens, a blue bird (similar to but probably not an eastern bluebird), many many squirrels, and a woodpecker working a branch right next to the trail not far from Kolb Studio.  This last was generous enough to stick around for a few photos.

Kolb Studio at the Bright Angel Trailhead.  Once the home and photography studio of the Kolb brothers, now a gallery space and book store.

One thing I forgot to mention about last night's conversation with Clara: Noam will be in Vegas on 11/13 for a conference and Clara might join him!  I plan to take advantage of this awesome coincidence by spending my last night or two of this trip in a fancy hotel suite.

10/17 Day 3

San Francisco Mts., about 20 miles outside of Flagstaff

Finally got myself to the Grand Canyon, though later than intended (as usual).  I did a little more hanging out with Jessie and Catharine before leaving and picked up a tempeh BLT with avocado for lunch.

First view of the canyon.  I said to a woman standing nearby, "you know, they tell you it's big, and you see it on TV and in pictures and all that, but you just can't grasp how really HUGE it is until you're here."  It's that gorgeous, too.

Just as I was about to get on the South Kaibab trail, I heard huffing and puffing and looked up to see Stefan coming off the same and giving me a bewildered look.  He'd been hiking with a Frenchman and a German from the hostel and the three of them had plans to head up to Kanab [UT] next.  After a short chat, I began the 3-mile descent to Cedar Ridge (6120 ft. down from 7260 ft.) and I'm pleased to report that I made the return trip in roughly 40 minutes.

View from Cedar Ridge, 3 miles along the S. Kaibab trail 

Makes me feel pretty confident about doing the Bright Angel Trail (up to 12 mi) tomorrow.  The elevation didn't affect me too much at all.  I was concerned about having plenty of daylight to find a campsite in Kaibab National Forest but I made out all right.  I found I actually had really good cell service there and in my nervousness, successfully resisted the urge to call either Clara or Jesse.  That is, until I heard shrieking in the distance.  I called both.  Clara, being the more likely to help, didn't answer right away, so Jesse made sympathetic sounds at me until Clara called back.  She knew what it was immediately: coyotes, known to scare the bajeezus out of those toughest and manliest of Americans, the cowboys.  And Clara knows plenty about cowboys.  Satisfied that I wasn't going to become a snack for some wild cat, I finished my dinner, got out of my rental car (yes, I was hiding), and went to bed.  Addendum: but not before seeing a shooting star!

Post-hike permagrin

10/16 Day 2

I met some very cool travelers over breakfast and just as I was starting to head out for the Grand Canyon, some of them were sitting in the reception area and invited me along to Sunset Crater and Wutpaki National Monuments.  Of course, I couldn't resist even though I need to be careful how I budget my time because I need to be in Moab by the 20th.

Left to right: Jessie, Marty, Stefan, and me at Sunset Crater, with the San Francisco Mts. in the background

Though I'll have less time at the Grand Canyon, I am SO glad I went.  We saw massive lava fields, impressive ruins, and the Painted Desert, which defies description.  It was heartbreakingly beautiful, but what was probably most striking was the absolute stillness.  Not the hollow roar of cities, not the whisper of cars on a highway, not the rustle of leaves, NOTHING.  Such a change from the East Coast.

This was the closest Marty was able to come to doing the Painted Desert justice.  My camera battery died and I didn't  bring a spare, so shame on me (though I would have done no better).

Ruins!  Also courtesy of Marty.

There's something really special about hostelling.  People I met over breakfast were good friends by dinner (which we ate at Mountain Oasis -  I had an amazing spinach ricotta ravioli).  Marty just arrived from Dayton, OH and will work at the hostel while he transitions to living out here.  Jessie lives in Salt Lake City with her sister Catherine and both are from State College, PA.  Jessie studied anthropology and Catherine sells her handmade jewelry to high-end boutiques.  Stefan is from England.  He has been traveling for ages and has no intention of going home.

10/15 Day 1

Note: All posts beginning with the date and "Day X" are transcribed from my hard-copy journal.

I flew into Vegas today, landing 20 min. early.  Got up at 6:15am after only 3 hrs. of sleep because of Jesse's sketch comedy show and going out for a beer after.  I had a brief moment of panic while sitting in Whole Foods in Vegas, thinking, "I don't know if I can really do this; maybe I just want to go home."  But I took my month's worth of TVP and packets of freeze-dried bananas and soldiered on.  Driving to Flagstaff, I got just beyond the mountains surrounding Vegas and the landscape opened up to a gorgeous expanse of desert and more mountains.  The reality of being here hit me again, but hard.  I started half-laughing, half-sobbing, saying, "oh my god, I'm here.  I'm doing this," over and over.  There was one turn that revealed a mind-bending view of several peaks that seemed very close and made me think of huge swells on the ocean.  The view of Lake Mead was gorgeous but the sun sinking into the mountains was one I was sorry to have behind me.  The 4-hour drive was otherwise uneventful and I got to the hostel at around 10.  A woman in my dorm happened to be from Philly and now lives in Santa Fe.

The Grand Canyon Hostel in Flagstaff, AZ

AUGH

So much has been happening every day that I'm pretty certain I won't do much updating here until after the trip ends.  I'm keeping up with my journal (it's almost up to date) so I won't forget all my experiences before I get the chance to share them, and there are SO many photos already that I'll never get through them all.

Right now I'm in Moab, UT (mountain biking capital of the US), taking a break from trying to wrangle all of my gear and plan my meals and not be so nervous.  This will be my first float trip, and my longest backcountry trip so far.  I've done 3-night trips but those were with Clara and in familiar territory.  I'll have my SPOT unit in tracking mode, I'm sure there will be other folks on the river, and unfamiliar territory or no, I know what I'm doing.  I know this is going to be an awesome trip that I'll always be glad I did; I just wish my nerves would shut up already.

Flagstaff is adorable

It really is.  I wish I had a bit more time to check the place out but I think exploring the Grand Canyon will prove to be a better use of my time.  Today I'm doing a dayhike in the Canyon and then camping out in Kaibab National Forest, just outside of the park.  Unless I can get a backcountry permit tomorrow morning to camp out in the canyon itself, that's what I'll be doing for a few days until I move on toward Moab.

CHANGE OF PLANS!!: Going hiking at Sunset Crater with some cool people from the Hostel, saving Grand Canyon for tomorrow.  Not sure where I'm sleeping tonight, but I could always just come back here tonight.

It's getting real!

After nearly bursting into tears I'm not sure how many times* between my house and 30,000 feet above New England, I've found myself at the intersection of "oh my god, I still can't believe I'm actually doing this," and "it's happening; this trip is real now".  Also riding out a 2-hour layover in Providence, but that's not important.

I've never done a whole lot of traveling and have been itching to dive into a big, way-outside-my-comfort-zone trip ever since I started working for the Parks.  Of course, a month of organic farming in Peru would have been an absolute dream but it just always seemed a bit too intimidating for someone with so little travel experience.  At some point while working at EMS last winter and lamenting another winter of lost travel opportunity, I realized that there's a ton of excellent stuff to see and experience here in the US that I've never even thought to explore.  I demanded of myself, how the heck have I been working in outdoor rec environmental education for so long without ever setting foot in an honest-to-god National Park?  Sure, I've visited NPS lands bearing other designations, but the likes of Canyonlands, Zion, Joshua Tree, and Yosemite were starting to whisper beckoningly.

So I started doing the requisite homework and little by little realized I was actually making this trip happen.  For once, I actually went beyond visiting kayak.com and going, "how much for a flight to Australia!?" and then essentially abandoning the idea.  I crunched numbers (of the spending type), watched flight prices on Southwest.com, compared gear features.  But the first thing that really brought home the fact that I was actually going to follow through on this one was when I ordered an $8 driving map of Canyon Country and a used UT hiking guide online.  My heart pounded as I went through the payment processing pages because trekking poles and sleeping pads are things I can use over and over again for trips to various locales, but these things were just for this trip.

And so it begins.  I'll update this blog when possible (aren't hostels great?), and keep a hand-written journal in the backcountry to be transcribed here later.  To all of you following along, I wish so many of you could have joined me but part of my intention was to travel alone, and it'll be comforting in my lonelier moments to know that you're keeping tabs.  Thank you for that.


*I think mostly because I got very little sleep last night.  I blame sketch comedy, beer, and awesome friends.