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

Heading East

“Hey Wyatt, are you up?”

“Not really grandma, why?”

“Well we should get going…”

Lying on the floor of the Sprinter van, my shoulders are touching both sides of the aisle. Stretched out in my sleeping bag as if it were a straightjacket, I’m shivering. It’s the coldest I’ve been in months and I can see my breath. Rolling over, I click the on button to my Iphone that reads 6:30am.

Currently my grandma and I are driving East to visit my cousin in Iowa and to do some exploring in the Mid West. Waking up outside of Reno Nevada, my grandma and I are on a time crunch to reach my cousin while he has a lull from college testing. Exhausted from driving the day before, we successfully beat an incoming storm hitting the Sierra Nevada Mountains. To reward myself, I only want to curl back into my sleeping bag. My grandma still young at heart thinks otherwise.

Figuring out routes the old school way

My grandma says, “Figure out what’s quicker on your Iphone, taking Highway 80 or Highway 50 to Iowa.”

Groggily I dial in the points of interest.

“Well what does it say?”

“Hold on it’s loading… It looks like Highway 50 is a couple hours shorter.”

“Looks like we’ll take Highway 50. I’ve taken Highway 50 a few times before. It’s the loneliest highway in America. There’s nothing for miles, and miles, and miles.”

Highway 50 - The Loneliest Road In America

                       

Climbing into the front seat, I buckle up and get ready to drive onwards. Turning off onto Highway 50, a well-weathered billboard says, “The Loneliest Highway In America.” Turns out it is the loneliest road I’ve ever been on. For miles it’s vast expanses of sagebrush and brave tumbleweeds that skip across the road. Passing another car is about as rare as a shooting star. It almost seems to be foreshadowing the unpopulated and rural places that lie ahead in the Mid West.

Space landscape located in Utah

Future Forest

Veil Colorado