The Road To Zion - National Park

Looking up at the towering geologic formations overhead, it's hard to believe that a river shaped them, let alone that they are real. The rock cliffs standing at least a thousand feet over head seem like they are the masterpieces of a great artist from long ago. The cliff faces have the texture of an oil painting. But the overall coloring of the rock looks like a watercolor that has faded from too much sunlight in a living room. It's these rock structures in Zion National Park that have bewildered many generations of people.

The walls of Zion

My grandma and I are climbing up the rocky trail in solitude. The only human sounds are our footsteps and the continuous rhythmic tapping of my grandma's walking stick. Skipping from stone to stone easily, I turn around to hear my grandma say, "they should have taken out these daa-gum rocks to make it easier to walk." Seeing how easily I hike the trail she calls out to me, "I remember when I was faster than you. Looks like the tables have turned."

It's true. When my grandma used to take me on hikes when I was younger she was much faster than me. Dragging my feet behind, she would often be out of sight and extremely adamant to complete whatever hike we were on. Catching up with her, we would take a break and she would name all of the wildflowers around us - scientific name and common name.

To this day, she is still just as persistent about finishing a hike. Maybe even more so now. Making it to the first viewpoint I say, "you want to continue to the next point?"

"Of course! I haven't gone to those other viewpoints before... If only they'd take out these daa-gum rocks..."

My grandma pausing to look at a patch of wildflowers calls out, "we don't have shooting stars like that in California!" "I think those are called Wallflowers and look at those Penstemons!"

All the way up the trail and all the way back down we stopped to view all of the flowers and all of the sights. There is something to be said for going slow and enjoying each and every bit of a hike. I guess it isn't about how many miles you hike but it's really about how much you see.



Here are a few other photos of Zion National Park as well as Bryce National Park.

Life In The Desert

As of the last few days, we have left the grasslands and deciduous forests for a much more desolate landscape. Heading through New Mexico and up North through Arizona and Utah, the scenery has become barren. For miles and miles, there is little except for the monolithic geologic formations. The only thing in the distance that obstructs the views of the surrounding area, is the heat rising off the Earth. The heat creates a shimmering effect warping the distant mountains. The mirages create mirrors off the pavement. It's just how life is in the desert.

Passing through

Life in the fast lane


With a parched throat and cracked lips, this environment makes me smile for some reason. It might be because some of my first memories are playing in the cactus filled desert of Baja. It might also be because the environment is so extreme that it's harshness bewilders me. How does anything survive out here? Months without water and months of extreme temperatures that desert life has to endure. But it's not just the harshness that I find fascinating.

It's partly because time never seems to exist in the desert, yet time is probably most easily seen at desert locations. For example, once when I was a little kid in Baja, I wrote my name in clam shells. Year after year I would come back to that same place and my name would still be there. Nothing changed... until they built a highway over it. Yet, time is also the most existent here. Millions of years of weathering has created the present environment. Millions of years of water movement has created caves, canyons, and the rock formations that we admire today. There is no other environment where time is more apparent.

One thing is for certain to me however. The desert is incredibly beautiful. The Earth meeting the crisp blue sky. The desert air tinted a light lavender color. The rock formations carved away to expose every color of red, orange, and brown. A desert sunrise and a desert sunset. Without a doubt it's a pretty spectacular place in all of it's harshness.

 Valuable words of wisdom

Sunset upon the Grand Canyon