Southern Utah stirs my Soul

Weds May 22 -  Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, Utah

Tripometer  3070

Under a Full Moon

Photo by Eloise - Sunset approaches at Dead Horse Point State Park

“The eastern sky was red as coals in a forge, lighting up the flats along the river. Dew had wet the million needles of the chaparral, and when the rim of the sun edged over the horizon the chaparral seemed to be spotted with diamonds. A bush in the backyard was filled with little rainbows as the sun touched the dew.

It was tribute enough to sunup that it could make even chaparral bushes look beautiful, Augustus thought, and he watched the process happily, knowing it would only last a few minutes. The sun spread reddish-gold light through the shining bushes, among which a few goats wandered, bleating. Even when the sun rose above the low bluffs to the south, a layer of light lingered for a bit at the level of the chaparral, as if independent of its source. Then the sun lifted clear, like an immense coin. The dew quickly died, and the light that filled the bushes like red dirt dispersed, leaving clear, slightly bluish air.”

Larry McMurtry

Lonesome Dove

Over the last 10 Days we’ve hiked in Canyonlands, Arches, Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks, and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument - all in Southern Utah.

Canyonlands and Arches

The grandeur of the landscape and skyscape is bringing a lot of awe into our lives these days.

We feel fortunate to have had groups of friends from Virginia and Colorado visit with us in Moab.  Good times were had and I enjoyed several days of epic, world class mountain biking.  Honestly some of the best mountain biking trails I’ve ridden.

I just finished reading Lonesome Dove.  It was a great read while driving through the landscapes of Kansas, Colorado and Utah as much of the book takes place in the same geography.  I came to the book in an interesting way.  My buddy Eric turned me on to the author’s son, musician James McMurtry, one night when we were out on the town in Charlottesville and James happened to be playing at The Southern.  Eric mentioned that his father was a famous author and had written the great western epic Lonesome Dove.  I knew the book’s name but wasn’t familiar with it.  A few weeks before our roadtrip began I found the thick tome at a little free library.  For those unfamiliar, it’s a lovely piece of fiction that is loosely based on Nelson Story’s real life 1866 first ever cattle drive from Texas to Bozeman, Montana.

We’ve recently been traipsing around all the places Edward Abbey first put into my imagination when I was reading his books in my 20’s.  His works are for sale in all the book shops around these parts, including in the National Parks gift shops - which I find interesting and exceptional given his outlaw environmentalist outlook. I was thinking his book Desert Solitaire might be my next read but it is The Monkey Wrench Gang that is available right now from the library on my Kindle and I started it last night. I’ve seen a couple “Hayduke Lives” bumper stickers - first in Moab, and now in Escalante.  They make me smile.

A family mountain bike ride on the Dead Horse Point trails.

From our hike into the slot canyons of Grand Staircase Escalante and our quick peek into Bryce Canyon today.

I love the forthrightness of the signage out west.

"But love of the wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need - if only we had the eyes to see."

Edward Abbey

The Monkey Wrench Gang