West and a tad south

As much as I wanted to continue staring at jarring peaks and glacial cavities, eventually we had to head south.

From Glacier National Park in Montana to Zion National Park in Utah, it would be a monumental drive. We decided for the sake of sanity to split the drive into two parts. The first day we would drive a long haul to the Great Salt Lake in UT and the next day we would finish it off by reaching Zion.

Only in America, would you need twelve hours of driving to ensure a change of scenery. When the ragged glacial peaks of Montana disappeared, the less impressive mountains of Utah showed up. The lush greenery that hounded us across Montana and Idaho gave way to more sub coniferous shrubbery. Until we got to Zion, and then everything changed!

Zion is unmistakably placed in the land of canyons. A solitary river carved its way for millions of years to carve itself a gorgeous canyon. Sandstorms of pre-historic eras did their part to color the canyon tops sandstone white. It was a different kind of a beautiful. The desert yellows hung in the air with the dirt and sand. We quickly packed up soft-shell jackets and rain gear. We would need none of it here. Our tents lost their rain-fly and our sleep was punctuated by heat, windy early mornings and ants.

The hikes here were just stunning. We braved ourselves up to Angel’s landing over a walkway that was at times only two feet wide and with sheer drop offs on both sides. We also hiked within the depths of canyon itself in the river, waist deep at times. But the narrow canyon allowing shades of sunlight down the sides installed us with a sense of amazement. Another laborious 13 mile hike took us up to the Observation point where I saw a view that would never forget. I won’t forget the hike either as I ran out of water as I made it to the top. Coming down without water was tough on my throat and my knees.

Luckily our campsite had a cold river run right through it. We would walk back from our day’s travels, strip and just sit in the running river water to re-energize. We also had a cute neighboring town that took take of our dinner options, including gallons of frozen yogurt for dessert.

This was as south as we would go. Our trip was now coming towards its tail end and we would soon head east. On our way back to Denver, we stopped at Bryce canyon. This allowed me to teleport my imagination into thinking that I was on an alien planet exploring its terra firma.

Nature shaping nature had been a constant recurring theme. But in that constant loop, I escaped my routines. Where paychecks did not lead to more dishes to be cleaned and carpets to be vacuumed! Walking over streams replaced water cooler stories. My camping skills improved each night. And my quarter life loneliness was forgotten amongst exhausted calf muscles and a glowing campfire.

If that isn’t a vacation, then I don’t know what is. Like I said, go west. It’s peaceful there.