While Arches blew out minds, it didn't even compare to Zion National Park, which is where I am writing from now. Zion is outstanding to say the least. If you have never been here, it's well worth a visit. I might even go as far as saying it's a necessary visit. I am not exaggerating when I say that this place is what I would imagine paradise to look like. It also looks a lot like the place where the filmed Jurassic Park... Either way, it's drop dead, jaw-dropping beautiful. On arrival, my jaw literally was open. Nothing but massive, red and tan walls, thousands of feet shot up skyward on either side of the road. The rocks here are various in shapes, sizes, texture and color. there are flat rocks, round, blocky, red, white, brown, even blue rocks. There are smooth rocks, crusty, flakey, crumbly, solid, and crinkly rocks. Massive boulders to tiny tumble rocks to huge mountainsides. We arrived to Zion two days ago late in the day and tried to find a camping spot before it got too dark. We found another spot outside the park which looked promising, but was rather close to the road and with a fire we'd be very visible and potentially kicked out. We decided to go to a primitive camp spot Zion offers up north. It was a long drive, but a beautiful drive nonetheless. We saw wild deer prancing in the rose red sunset. The bucks antlers silhouetted in the sky. We even encountered horses feeding on the mountainside while on our drive. They were friendly fellers. Even let us pet them! I will attach a photo of one of the ponies. LOVE this photo by the way. I hope you enjoy it as well. It's only a sample of the thousands of photos I've taken so far. Some of the horses even let us come up and pet them!
We got to the campsite and by then it was far to dark to see anything. Using our flashlights and headlamps we set up camp (the camp ground was closed for the winter by the way.. but it was too late. We were here and too dark to find another spot). We set up camp and started a much needed fire only to find out that where we were was bear infested... awesome. Just awesome. I hate bears. I was on edge the rest of the night twitching at every snap of a twig. We managed the night just fine though. In the morning we realized we had to make it back up the ice, snowy dirt and gravel back road we came up on. We have a two-wheel drive Pontiac Vibe by the way. Kinda important to know that in this story. We didn't make it more than a half mile before the poor little hatchback spun it's tires to it's defeat on a steep, ice-sticken hill. We were stuck in the middle of no where on a long back road which was closed for the winter and with no cell phone service. No big deal right? Yeah well.... There were houses and ranches all over the place, but go figure they were all summer homes which rich folk only occupy in warm months. We were all outta luck. We walked miles trying to find a solution and just when we got hold of an ax, can of gas and a shovel (don't ask how) and we were making our way back to the car, a white truck reveals itself! Nice ol' fellows in cowboy hats and boots with spurs. Called us idiots for taking a two-wheel drive down an icy slope... Can't say I didn't blame him for thinking that as I thought the same thing. But he helped pull us out of the mess and we were saved, never to return to that forsaken campsite again. We actually went back to the first site we thought of and that's where we spent last night.
I have more to write but the sun is going down and we need to be getting back to camp before dark. I am on shooting a star trail or two tonight so keep looking for more photos on here and especially on Facebook! www.facebook.com/beanart!
There are many more stories I will try to fill you all in in the future but time is of the essence now. Stories such as climbing Angles Landing with thousands of feet on either side of a narrow (and I DO mean narrow) "path" with nothing to hold on to but a chain build into the stone. It was an adrenaline rush to say the least and my brother Keith woulda died for it. I'm kinda shocked I actually did it because I am not one for heights. But this definitely tested that fear to the limit. I was flippin out. Anyway I can't talk anoymore!!!! keep in touch!!!
Next stop: Grand Canyon
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