Smoky. Real Smoky.
Trip Start
Aug 18, 2009
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Trip End
Aug 23, 2009
Where I stayed
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
Thursday, August 20, 2009
- We woke up and spending a few hours checking out the Islands in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park, we got back on the road and drove west.
- We stopped for a snack and sat under the shade of the cottonwood trees as a Capitol Reef National Park ranger told us about some indian paintings on the wall and how a troop of Boy Scouts had defaced a series of similar paintings nearby. Do they give badges for that?
- I listened to some serious bluegrass as I drove us up Utah's Grand Staircase and Boulder Mountain while everyone else slept. When they woke up we stopped at a gas station, drank Red Bull knock offs, and questioned the attendants about the nearby polygamist population. "Oh there's some Polygs that live around these parts," she said. "One came in last month with two of his wives, and he was a mean son of a bitch." At least we now know the lingo.
- After setting up camp in Bryce, we walked to the canyon's edge to find a thick haze from nearby forest fires. The heavy smoke made for some interesting colors and photos.
- After campfire-made fajitas and microbrews, we contributed to the haze and walked back to the canyon at night. I still have no idea how we didn't fall over the ledge, much less make it back to the campsite. The goddamn canyon was talking to me.
- A morning of omelets, a hike through the highlights of Bryce Canyon under a smoke-free sky that was as blue as I've ever seen, polarization, and off to holy mount Zion.
- Chilling in the Zion National Park's Virgin River and not finding any.
- Finally arriving in Vegas, baby, Vegas, and not finding any there, either.
